December 2023

An artistic illustration of the test of the postquantum theory of classical gravity

An article published in the journal “Physical Review X (PRX)” proposes what is called a postquantum theory of classical gravity. Professor Jonathan Oppenheim of University College London (UCL) offers a different approach to that adopted by most of his colleagues by proposing to modify quantum theory to unify it with relativistic gravity. An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” offers some reflections from Professor Oppenheim’s former Ph.D. students on the consequences of his theory and proposes an experiment to verify it.

The AzTECC71 galaxy (Image J. McKinney/M. Franco/C. Casey/The University of Texas at Austin)

An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a study on AzTECC71, what appears to be a dusty primordial galaxy in which remarkable star formation is taking place. A team of researchers from the COSMOS-Web collaboration led by Jed McKinney of the University of Texas at Austin observed what appeared to be a ghost galaxy with the James Webb Space Telescope. The peculiarity of this study is that AzTECC71 was detected by some ground-based telescopes but didn’t appear to the Hubble Space Telescope. This may be a much more common case than previously thought that requires some sort of ghostbuster to find.

The Progress MS-25 cargo spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

A little while ago, the Progress MS-25 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in the mission also referred to as Progress 85 or 85P. The Russian cargo spacecraft, which blasted off last Friday, December 1, carries food, water, scientific experiments, fuel, and various hardware. The Progress spacecraft have an automatic docking system but in case of problems, the cosmonauts on board the Station take control of it and that’s what happened today to complete the maneuver.

The Progress MS-25 cargo spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket (Image NASA TV)

A little while ago, the Progress MS-25 spacecraft blasted off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After about nine minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and was placed on its route. The cargo spacecraft began its resupply mission to the International Space Station also called Progress 85 or 85P. In this mission, the route used is the one that requires about two days.