Science News Roundup: SpaceX rocket carries multinational crew toward space station; China gears up to compete with SpaceX's Starlink this year and more

The autonomously flying SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule was due to reach the space station and dock to the platform shortly after 1:15 a.m. EST (0615 GMT) on Friday, nearly 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. China gears up to compete with SpaceX's Starlink this year China's military-industrial complex is set to start building its first constellation of very low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites later this year, the latest Chinese bid to catch up with U.S.-based Starlink.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

SpaceX rocket carries multinational crew toward space station

Two U.S. astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut were safely on their way to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, as their SpaceX ship neared a planned rendezvous with the orbiting laboratory, NASA said. The autonomously flying SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule was due to reach the space station and dock to the platform shortly after 1:15 a.m. EST (0615 GMT) on Friday, nearly 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

China gears up to compete with SpaceX's Starlink this year

China's military-industrial complex is set to start building its first constellation of very low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites later this year, the latest Chinese bid to catch up with U.S.-based Starlink. Starlink, operated by billionaire Elon Musk's Space X, has built a fast-growing network of more than 3,500 satellites in low-Earth orbit. It has tens of thousands of users in the United States so far, and plans to add tens of thousands more satellites to its system, the largest of its kind.

Genetics study lays bare Ice Age drama for humans in Europe

Europe was no balmy paradise during the Ice Age, with the vast glaciers that blanketed large parts of the continent rendering wide swathes inhospitable for humans. But our species - a new immigrant to Europe - endured, though with great hardship. Researchers on Wednesday unveiled an analysis of genome data from 356 hunter-gatherers who lived in the region between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago, a span that included the Ice Age's coldest interval between 25,000 and 19,000 years ago. This enabled them to decipher prehistoric Europe's population dynamics, including the movement of groups of people and some key physical traits.

Factbox-Neuralink, other brain-chip makers face long road to FDA approval

Neuralink, founded in 2016, has yet to receive FDA approval to test its brain chip in humans. Other implant makers have spent years or decades on research to secure U.S. regulatory approvals. SYNCHRON

Studies show how asteroid-bashing spacecraft was 'phenomenally successful'

NASA's DART spacecraft slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos at a spot between two boulders during last September's first test of a planetary defense system, sending debris hurtling into space and changing the rocky oblong-shaped object's path a bit more than previously calculated. Those were among the findings revealed by scientists on Wednesday in the most detailed account of the U.S. space agency's proof-of-principle mission on using a spacecraft to change a celestial object's trajectory - employing sheer kinetic force to nudge it off course just enough to keep Earth safe.

SpaceX capsule delivers latest four-member crew to International Space Station

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) after a brief delay early on Friday, carrying two U.S. astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut on a six-month science mission. The autonomously flying spacecraft dubbed Endeavour docked with the space station shortly after 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, about 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Arianespace says faulty carbon component to blame for failed satellite launch

Arianespace's failed satellite launch in December was likely to have been caused by a faulty carbon component, which Italian aerospace group Avio had purchased from a supplier in Ukraine, the company said, as it published findings of an enquiry on Friday. An Arianespace mission on Dec. 20 carrying two Airbus Defence & Space satellites failed around two and a half minutes into flight when an anomaly occurred with its Zefiro 40 rocket motor.

For toothed whales, sound production is all in the nose

Dolphins, porpoises, killer whales, sperm whales and other toothed whales produce an array of sounds - to find prey employing a sonar-like system called echolocation and to communicate with other members of their species. The exact mechanism they use had long remained puzzling - until now. It turns out it is all in the nose.

Japan reschedules H3 rocket launch to March 6, after Feb. 17 abort

Japan's space agency said it plans to launch what would be its first new medium-lift rocket in three decades on March 6, more than two weeks after the initially scheduled launch was aborted. The final decision will be made taking into account weather conditions, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said on Friday.

Scientists uncover new Easter Island moai statue in dry lake bed

Scientists have found a previously undiscovered moai on Easter Island, uncovering the large stone statue in a dry lake bed on the tiny, remote island in the middle of the Pacific. Geologists were studying the site after fires swept through the area last year. It could mean more figures and tools used by the ancestral Rapa Nui people are buried nearby in the once-underwater site, scientists said.