Since 1993, TOPEX/Poseidon and the Jason series have produced a continuous global mean sea level record, showing a rise of about 3.1–3.3 millimeters per year with acceleration to over 4 millimeters per year in the last decade and by 2023 the global mean sea level was over 100 millimeters higher than in 1993. Seasat (1978)…
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On 22 June at 10:22 UTC, Maxar released 0.5-meter imagery showing three circular Fordow blast scars about 25 meters across at the portal area. Planet Labs’ SkySat captured higher-cadence shots showing eastward dust clouds and bulldozers arriving by noon local time. Five classic penetrator indicators are visible in Fordow imagery: entry craters, radial debris ejection,…
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Pfizer Inc., in collaboration with BioNTech, co-developed the first FDA-approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty. Roche Holding AG is the world’s largest biotech company and a leader in oncology treatments (Herceptin) and diagnostics. Moderna, Inc. pioneered mRNA vaccine technology and its COVID-19 vaccine was among the first mRNA medicines approved, while expanding mRNA therapeutics for cancer…
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Over 5,400 Earth observation satellites are projected to be launched globally from 2024 to 2033, nearly triple the previous decade. NOAA’s GeoXO program will deploy at least three geostationary satellites (with options up to four more) to upgrade GOES-R and extend Western Hemisphere coverage, following a $2.27 billion contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2024.…
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Relay 2 was a NASA experimental communications satellite built by RCA, launched January 21, 1964, atop a Delta B rocket from Cape Canaveral, designed to relay television signals and study Earth’s radiation belts. Ground support for Relay 2 ended by September 1965, and its transmitters began failing, with the first transponder dying on November 20,…
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Jupiter is the Solar System’s largest planet, about 318 Earth masses, with a rotation period of roughly 9.9 hours per day. It is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, with a metallic hydrogen layer that powers a strong magnetic field via a dynamo. The Great Red Spot is a storm at least 300–350 years old,…
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NOAA Earth in Real-Time offers an interactive, real-time global weather map with live imagery from GOES geostationary satellites, updated continuously and accessible free via nesdis.noaa.gov. NASA Worldview provides more than 1,000 global image layers (MODIS, VIIRS, Sentinel-2, etc.) with many layers updated within three hours of observation, plus animation, date comparison, and data download, all…
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Perseids peak on August 12–13, 2025 with 50–100 meteors per hour in the Northern Hemisphere, best after midnight as the Moon wanes. Geminids peak on December 13–14, 2025 with 100+ meteors per hour and the first-quarter Moon sets early. Quadrantids peak on January 3–4, 2026 with about 120 meteors per hour over roughly a four-hour…
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JWST launched on December 25, 2021, aboard an ESA Ariane 5 rocket to the Sun-Earth L2 point, reaching about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in January 2022. Its 6.5-meter segmented gold-coated beryllium primary mirror consists of 18 hexagonal segments, each about 1.32 meters across and roughly 20 kilograms, designed to fold for launch. JWST uses…
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