Sky and Telescope: The Hubble Space Telescope’s main camera is back online, almost two weeks after a problem with its power supply forced it into safe mode. The camera was fixed when engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center switched the $86-million Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to its backup electronics.The shutdown has given NASA an opportunity to recalibrate the camera’s CCD sensors to operate at a slightly lower temperature ( â77°C to â81°C). This should reduce the amount of background noise in the images by a factor of three.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
Get PT in your inbox
PT The Week in Physics
A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.
One email per week
PT New Issue Alert
Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.
One email per month
PT Webinars & White Papers
The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.