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A decades-old pursuit to explore for life beyond Earth has received new impetus with a recent discovery that promises to simplify and make routine the task of searching for life on distant planets where signs of life are hard to detect. A team of astrobiologists, chemists, and planetary scientists built the model to assess whether, based on what’s known about an alien environment but very little else, that environment could host certain kinds of life. It takes into account organism types, environmental variables, and the probability of survival in a harsh planetary climate. The idea is to inform future telescope missions and life-detection strategies throughout the cosmos.

NASA’s New Habitability Model Calculates Odds of Life on Alien Worlds with Limited Data

As per a report from The Conversation, the model, dubbed the “quantitative habitability framework”, was developed as part of NASA’s Alien Earths project. It throws out the usual “follow the water” guideline and rather compares the environmental conditions to the demands of organisms that inhabit Earth or even theoretical alien counterparts. This probabilistic approach quantifies the odds that life might be compatible with

a given habitat and provides realistic expectations for scientists regarding where and how to look for the presence of life in the universe.

The open-source tool, which was built to be adaptable, was further validated with organisms that live within extreme environments on Earth, such as insects that live in the Himalayas and microbes that live in Earth’s depths, to assess their chances of survival in alien environments such as in the Martian subsurface and beneath Europa’s oceans.

Researchers can calculate the likelihood of life on planets or moons using evidence-based approaches, without needing the full chemical and atmospheric data, to help interpret biosignatures and optimise telescope targeting.

The framework is designed to assess whether environments may be able to host known or hypothetical alien life. The framework is intended to grow over time to include extremophiles and simulations.

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SpaceX Launches 26 Starlink Satellites from California to Expand Low Earth Orbit Internet Network

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June 18, 2025

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SpaceX Launches 26 Starlink Satellites from California to Expand Low Earth Orbit Internet Network

SpaceX has launched 26 more Starlink satellites to the ever-growing constellation of internet relay stations in low Earth orbit. The flight took off at 8:36 p.m. PDT (11:36 p.m. EDT or 0336 GMT, June 17) on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base. It was the third trip to space for the rocket booster and reflected the continued push of SpaceX to make space travel more affordable — and more recyclable. The satellites reached their initial orbit around eight and a half minutes after departure. The landing set the stage for precise deployment later in the mission.

As per a mission update on SpaceX’s official website, the 15-9 Starlink group is expected to be deployed following a second burn of the Falcon 9 upper stage about an hour into the flight. Meanwhile, the rocket’s first stage—serial number B1093—executed a precise autonomous landing on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You stationed in the Pacific Ocean. This same booster previously flew in May, making this its third Starlink-related deployment.

The launch comes just days after a similar mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, where SpaceX deployed the final batch of satellites for its first-generation direct-to-cell service. That June 13 mission (12-26) was a game-changer, providing elementary cell connectivity even in the planet’s most isolated areas. But the June 16 launch was not carrying direct-to-cell payloads; it was adding to the base of the primary Starlink internet constellation that already features more than 7,760 operational spacecraft.

SpaceX’s Starlink is its ambitious project to bring high-speed internet to practically the entire planet, with a focus on remote and underserved regions. The system continues to become bigger since Falcon 9 can be launched from both coasts of the US and is meant to be reused. As the constellation becomes denser, people all across the world will notice greater performance and reduced latency.

The launch on June 16 illustrates how dependable SpaceX’s orbital strategy is because it can quickly switch between missions and provide exact measurements for reusability. Starlink is nearing a point where it could provide service to the whole world, now that its network has topped 7,700 satellites. Other features may also be added to upcoming launches, including next-generation, direct-to-cell satellites that would make the service more valuable and easier to use.

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NASA and DoD Simulate Critical Abort Scenarios to Secure Artemis II Moon Mission

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June 18, 2025

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NASA and DoD Simulate Critical Abort Scenarios to Secure Artemis II Moon Mission

NASA teamed up with the U.S. Department of Defence on 11 and 12 June to conduct a simulation for emergency procedures for a crewed lunar mission as part of the Artemis II mission. The combined test was a test of abort scenarios that could affect the Orion crew vehicle during a countdown or in flight as it travels to space. Staged off the coast of Florida, these high-stakes dress rehearsals were dry runs of just how quickly and effectively teams could find and recover astronauts following an in-flight failure, bolstering readiness as NASA aims for its first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.

NASA, DoD Simulate Orion Capsule Abort Rescues to Boost Artemis II Astronaut Safety Systems

As per an official NASA report, these simulations involved coordinated efforts by the Kennedy Space Centre’s launch team, Johnson Space Centre flight controllers, and the Artemis II mission management. A test version of the Orion capsule, known as the Crew Module Test Article, was deployed with mannequins on board to mimic a real crew. On the first day, a simulated pad abort was executed where Orion was imagined to be ejected before launch. Navy helicopters carrying U.S. Air Force pararescuers deployed from Patrick Space Force Base, diving into the ocean to extract the test crew for a mock medical evacuation.

In the following scenario, there was an abort during ascent, which included a simulated mid-flight ejection and splashdown in the water 12 miles off the coast. More pararescuers were dropped, and they used special NASA-DoD equipment to get to the floating capsule. This was necessary for emergency retrieval.

Teams for NASA’s Moon to Mars Program are practising launch day operations with a series of procedures similar to previous Underway Recovery Tests to verify mission safety functionality.
NASA and the Department of Defence (DoD) have practised an abort scenario to keep astronauts safe as they would fly on the Artemis II mission, which will take four astronauts on a journey around the Moon and back as part of long-term human exploration of deep space beyond Earth.

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Brain’s Built-In Signal Threshold Helps Differentiate Imagination from Reality

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June 18, 2025

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Brain’s Built-In Signal Threshold Helps Differentiate Imagination from Reality

A basic but inscrutable brain system may distinguish between reality and imagination. New research has found that there may be a “dial” in the fusiform that may influence whether we interpret something sensory as real or imagined. The research, published in the journal Neuron, also gives new understanding of conditions like schizophrenia, where perception and thought are not properly distinguished, leading the researchers to conclude that this threshold system is crucial to normal cognition and sensory decision-making.

Brain Distinguishes Reality from Imagination Using Signal Threshold in Visual Processing Region

As per a report in Live Science, researchers from University College London used functional MRI to examine brain activity in 26 volunteers as they viewed or imagined diagonal lines on a noisy screen. Half the time, the lines were real; the rest of the time, participants were asked to imagine lines, either matching or differing from the visual cues. When imagined visuals aligned with expected inputs, participants were more likely to report having “seen” something, even when nothing was displayed, indicating the brain’s susceptibility to being tricked by strong internal signals.

The scans showed that both real and imagined stimuli activated the fusiform gyrus, but only when activity exceeded a specific intensity did the brain classify the input as “real”. This finding suggests that a threshold in this brain region helps determine reality perception. Notably, the anterior insula—a region linked to decision-making—also activated in tandem, potentially acting as a “reader” of the fusiform’s signal strength.

Lead author Nadine Dijkstra noted that while imagination does stimulate the same region, the signal is usually too weak to convince the brain of external input. This technology is basic enough that it could aid us in understanding more about hallucinations and other mental health issues that alter the way we see.

Experts say the study paves the way for further research with more complex visual and real-world multimodal integration. The group seeks to investigate how people perceive faces, animals, and things. They’re also curious if applying brain stimulation can be a route to enhancing imagined perception. Thomas Pace, a neuroscientist who wasn’t involved with the research, said that the findings were a big step towards figuring out how reality monitoring works and how it could not work in cases like schizophrenia.

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