An alien iron rock the size of the Arc of Triumph strikes the atmosphere. Travelling much faster than the sound it turns into a fireball and slams the Earth surface. The blast is as furious as a nuclear bomb. In an instant, loads of soil spew high in the air, the extreme heat melts the rocks raining back into the ground, flora and fauna vaporize at ground zero, the shockwave flattens the trees hundreds of square miles around. This spectacular event occurred 50.000 years ago —leaving a round scar almost a mile across we can visit today in Arizona, USA.

…

Quiet and attentive, inside the Russian capsule Soyuz, the astronauts gaze at the glow of the surrounding flames. In a few seconds, the window blackens. About seven minutes of tension and silence follow. Communication with the base on Earth is off. The die is cast.

Prior preparation was crucial: the sequence of operations should have been performed flawlessly.

Three hours ago, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Roscosmos space agency flight control received the signal from the International Space Station. Up in the sky, 400 kilometres above the sea level, the capsule had undocked and was heading to Earth. The room is…

The case against the satellite mega-constellations

During a solar eclipse in India on October 20th, 1868, English astronomer Norman Lockyer noticed a peculiar yellow shade in the light spectrum. He and chemist Edward Frankland concluded that it was caused by an element unknown on Earth. They named it helium after the Greek God of the Sun, Helios.

Twenty-five years later, Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay managed to isolate helium from a terrestrial uranium-rich mineral called Cleveite.

For centuries, scientists thought that the Milky Way was the whole universe. In 1929, American astronomer Edwin Hubble published a work that changed our view of the cosmos forever. He…

Deep in the Colombian plains, amidst the armed conflict between guerrillas, paramilitary, and the army, Juan Camilo Guevara grew. From his school classroom, he could listen to the frequent clashes. The spectacle of warplanes flying over his hometown, Paz de Ariporo, was not rare. Despite the disturbing environment of his early years, Juan Camilo developed a profound love for science.

Becoming an astrophysicist was a dream that came true for him in 2017. …