A recent update caused ChatGPT to turn into a sycophant, with the chatbot excessively complimenting and flattering its users with reassurances even when they said they'd harmed animals or stopped taking their medication. OpenAI has now reversed the changes.

Vesta, thought to be the second-largest asteroid in the solar system, could be a piece of an ancient, unknown planet, a new study hints.

Earth has a number of companions in space; of course the Moon is the most well known but there are a host of smaller objects that visit us, complete a few orbits then head off again. A team of astronomers have detected four objects like this and have performed spectroscopic analyses on them. They found that their surface composition is similar to eh Moon suggesting that its a major source of these temporary satellites instead of the asteroid belt.

The Orion Nebula is a fabulous example of a vast cloud of electrically charged gas which is emitting bright radiation. If the atoms in the gas are cool enough though, they can form giant molecular clouds that obscure light, these are known as dark nebula. A team of astronomers have now found an enormous cloud of molecular hydrogen in our own cosmic backyard just 300 light years away. The cloud contains 3,400 times the mass of the Sun and if we could see it, it would stretch nearly 40 times the width of the Moon across the sky.

How do robots feel in space? This is both a practical and possibly an existential question. Still, today, we'll focus on the practical side by looking at a review paper from Hadi Jahanshahi and Zheng Zhu of York University in Canada that discusses different tactile sensor types and their advantages and disadvantages for use in space.

Ion drives are renowned for their efficiency. They're extremely efficient compared to chemical rockets, so they're preferred for deep space missions where propellant supplies are critical. New research shows how they could run on simple water, making them even more efficient.

It's nearly impossible to overstate the effect supermassive black holes have on their host galaxies. When actively accreting matter, they release colossal amounts of energy as winds, jets, and radiation that shape their surroundings. But stellar mass black holes also shape their surroundings with energetic jets.

Nothing wows new observers like seeing Saturn for the first time. I always check out the ringed planet if it's visible, and telescopes down the line at any star party will invariably be pointed Saturn-ward to a chorus of ohs and ahs. but 2025 gives you another reason to gaze at Saturn, as its largest moon Titan completes a series of rare shadow transits.

NASA's Psyche mission launched in 2023 and has now successfully demonstrated that laser technology can transmit high-bandwidth data across millions of kilometres in space, making it promising for communications from Mars. However, researchers simulating Martian conditions found that while this optical communication works well under normal circumstances, performance degrades during dustier periods and fails completely during global dust storms.

What kind of spacecraft can be used to explore and study the subsurface lunar environment? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) hopes to address as an international team of researchers discussed the benefits of a mission concept called LunarLeaper, which will be designed to traverse and analyze the various aspects of the lunar subsurface environment, including moon pits and lava tubes.