On October 15, 2023, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured stunning new images of Io’s north pole—a region barely seen in detail before. Thanks to the powerful JunoCam, three towering volcanic peaks near the day-night boundary were revealed for the first time, expanding our understanding of this fiery Jovian moon.

At just 7,270 miles (11,700 km) above Io’s surface, Juno’s eye caught features that earlier missions like Voyager and Galileo missed. Citizen scientist Ted Stryk then enhanced the raw data, bringing these volcanic giants into sharp focus.

This fresh glimpse of Io’s volcanic activity offers exciting clues about one of the most geologically active worlds in our solar system!

Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
Image processing by: Ted Stryk

Honda R&D Co., Ltd., the research division of Honda, successfully launched and vertically landed a prototype reusable rocket at its testing site in Taiki, Hokkaido, Japan.

The test vehicle stood 6.3 meters tall, weighed about 1.3 metric tons, and reached a height of 271 meters (890 feet). Most impressively, it achieved a precision landing within 37 centimeters of the designated pad after hovering for over 56 seconds.

This test was part of Honda’s long-term vision to develop low-cost, small-scale reusable launch systems that can support satellite deployment and suborbital missions.

By 2029, Honda aims to develop a rocket capable of reaching suborbital space (~100 km altitude), marking a serious entry into the private aerospace sector.

While Honda has not announced any immediate commercial plans, the test marks a significant milestone. It positions the company alongside global players like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and ISRO, showcasing the potential of traditional automakers to expand into space technology.

The successful test also underscores Honda’s ability to integrate its automotive expertise—particularly in control systems and fuel efficiency—into space applications.

Zurich is redefining urban mobility with its new 440-meter Stadttunnel — a dedicated underground route built just for cyclists beneath the city’s main train station. Opened in May 2025, the tunnel transforms a long-abandoned highway project into a modern bike artery, linking two major neighborhoods in a clean, car-free corridor.

The Stadttunnel isn’t just a passage — it’s a powerful statement. With space for more than 1,200 parked bikes and seamless integration with public transit, this project highlights Zurich’s commitment to sustainable urban design, healthy commuting, and reclaiming infrastructure for people, not cars.

#UrbanCycling #ZurichInnovation #BikeInfrastructure #SustainableCities #CyclingRevolution

The European Space Agency (ESA) has made history with its Proba-3 mission, which successfully created the first artificial solar eclipses in space.

This was achieved using two satellites flying in precise formation: one blocks the Sun (the occulter) while the other observes the Sun’s outer atmosphere (coronagraph). Unlike natural solar eclipses that last just a few minutes, these artificial eclipses can last up to 6 hours, and can be repeated twice a week.

Since March 2025, over 10 eclipses have already been conducted, and the first clear, high-quality images of the solar corona have been released.

This breakthrough allows scientists to continuously study solar phenomena like coronal heating, solar wind, and coronal mass ejections—which are key to understanding and predicting space weather.

This marks a major technological leap in satellite coordination and solar research, offering nearly 200 eclipses and 1,000+ hours of corona observation over the mission's two-year life—far surpassing what’s possible from Earth.

A new study suggests Earth’s water may not have come from comets or asteroid impacts after all—it may have been here from the very beginning.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and the UK’s synchrotron science facility analyzed rare meteorites called enstatite chondrites (ECs), which closely resemble the materials that built Earth 4.55 billion years ago. Using a powerful X-ray technique (XANES spectroscopy), they found surprisingly high levels of hydrogen embedded deep within these ancient space rocks.

Crucially, this hydrogen was located within pristine regions of the meteorites, not in areas that could be contaminated after falling to Earth. The findings suggest that hydrogen from ECs could have naturally bonded with oxygen in early Earth’s rocks, forming water without any need for cosmic “delivery.”

This challenges the long-held theory that water arrived later through impacts by icy comets or hydrated asteroids. Instead, water may have been a built-in feature of the planet-forming process itself. By showing that Earth’s ingredients already included enough hydrogen for ocean formation, the study reframes our understanding of how life-supporting environments emerge on rocky planets.

It’s a discovery that simplifies one of science’s biggest questions: where did Earth’s water come from? Maybe... it was always here.

RESEARCH PAPER
Thomas J. Barrett et al., “The source of hydrogen in Earth’s building blocks,” Icarus (2025)