WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) research team successfully conducted the first reinforcement learning (RL) control of a free-flyer in space on May 27.

Superconducting sensors can detect single low-energy photons. UZH researchers have now used this capability to search for light dark matter particles in the universe.

Astronomers using ESO’s 8-meter telescope (VLT) have caught the protoplanet AB Aurigae b actively accreting material from its surrounding disk. Its light spectrum resembles that of young stars gathering mass, providing the first direct evidence of material falling onto a protoplanet. This confirms that AB Aurigae b is among the youngest protoplanets observed, still embedded within its birth disk.

Astronomers using ALMA have made the first spatially resolved detection of protostellar jets and outflows in the Milky Way’s outer region. Observations of Sh 2-283-1a SMM1 reveal episodic ejections every 900–4,000 years. The results show that while star formation follows universal physics, the region’s lower silicon-to-carbon ratio offers rare chemical insights into how stars formed under early cosmic conditions.