Latest science News

India’s Liquid Mirror Telescope Is Ready for Its Close-up

The International Liquid Mirror Telescope will use liquid mercury to give scientists a view of the sky, and observations are set to begin later this year.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Just Detected a Possible Roaming Black Hole Out in the Milky Way

This discovery appeared in our galaxy nearly 5,000 light years away.

Does Hot Water Freeze Faster Than Cold? Physicists Keep Asking.

Decades after a Tanzanian teenager initiated study of the “Mpemba effect,” the effort to confirm or refute it is leading physicists toward new theories about how substances relax to equilibrium.

SpaceX Mounts Starship Booster on Launch Tower Ahead of Orbital Test Flight

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says Starship will be ready to launch in July, but the private space company has not yet secured permission for liftoff.

Sea Corals Found To Be a Source of an Elusive “Anti-Cancer” Compound

Researchers find that sea corals are a source of a sought-after "anti-cancer" compound The ocean floor is riddled with mysteries, but scientists have just discovered one of its best-kept secrets. For the last 25 years, researchers have been looking for the so…

Hubble Space Telescope image shows distortions of galaxy cluster

NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning new view of a massive galaxy cluster named Abell 1351, which distorts the view of more distant galaxies in the background.

NASA's Europa Clipper may crash into Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, at mission's end

The spacecraft's demise may even become an experiment in itself.

NanoAvionics satellite pulls out GoPro to take stunning selfie over Earth

Consumer-grade camera was refitted with custom housing and software to survive in the vacuum

ESA - Impact in 2052 ruled out as ESA counts down to Asteroid Day

Good News! The Solar System Is Going to Hold Together For Now

If you've been laying in bed at night, fretting that the planets of the Solar System are going to go ricocheting off throughout the galaxy, you can set your mind at ease.

World's oldest trees reveal the largest solar storm in history

1859's Carrington event gave us a preview of how catastrophic the Sun could be for humanity. But it could get even worse than we imagined.

This Giant Kangaroo From 50,000 Years Ago Isn't Even Related to Australian Ones

Long ago, almost up until the end of the last ice age, a peculiar giant kangaroo roamed the mountainous rainforests of New Guinea.

SpaceX cargo mission delayed again, to July 14

The CRS-25 flight had been scheduled to launch on July 11.

MIT proposes Brazil-sized fleet of “space bubbles” to cool the Earth

A raft of “space bubbles” could be used to reverse global warming, according to an MIT group's solar geoengineering proposal.

This Tiny Satellite Used an Off-the-Shelf GoPro to Take an Epic Selfie in Space

The new high-res views are sweet, but the exercise suggests consumer cameras can be used to test and verify a satellite's operations, too.

US Space Force's X-37B space plane nears orbital record

The X-37B is just a week away from setting a new mission-duration mark.

Largest star in Milky Way is DYING and could collapse into a black hole...

Physicists confront the neutron lifetime puzzle

To solve a long-standing puzzle about how long a neutron can "live" outside an atomic nucleus, physicists entertained a wild but testable theory positing the existence of a right-handed version of our left-handed universe. They designed a mind-bending experim…

How to See Rare 'Night-Shining' Clouds, Thanks to Climate Change

It's noctilucent cloud season. Here's how to see these elusive and beautiful clouds.

OK, whose rocket just hit the moon?

You know you’re living in the space age when a rocket hits the moon, and the industry as a whole points to the sky and, like an angry teacher holding up a paper airplane, asks “Who launched this?!” Truly, that is what occurred this week as an unidentified roc…

NASA Approves Continuation of ICESat-2 After 3+ Years of Big Results

As ICESat-2 mission receives the green light to continue operation after successfully completing its three-year primary mission, scientists highlight what it has already discovered.

Wild solar flares are causing satellites to plummet back towards Earth and it’s getting worse, experts c...

Surprise solar storm with 'disruptive potential' slams into Earth

Experts were initially unsure what caused the freak geomagnetic event.

Help NASA Scientists Find Clouds on Mars

By identifying clouds in data collected by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the public can increase scientists’ understanding of the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

Help NASA Scientists Find Clouds on Mars

By identifying clouds in data collected by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the public can increase scientists’ understanding of the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

Rare 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' star survives supernova explosion

In a galaxy far, far away, a celestial "force ghost" appears for the first time.

USA's Docked Cygnus Spacecraft Successfully Maneuvers ISS in Important Reboosting Test

Russia’s Progress vehicle is the only other spacecraft capable of adjusting the space station's orbit, and Russia's space chief has threatened to ditch the ISS.

Study identifies a tidal disruption event that coincides with the production of a high-energy neutrino

High-energy neutrinos are highly fascinating subatomic particles produced when very fast charged particles collide with other particles or photons. IceCube, a renowned neutrino detector located at the South Pole, has been detecting extragalactic high-energy n…

New method significantly speeds up the search for dangerous asteroids

There are a lot of potentially hazardous asteroids out there that could impact Earth. A new method, THOR, has been developed to find them a lot faster.

SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy rocket prototype moves to launch pad for tests

The giant Starship and Super Heavy booster may shoot for an orbital test as soon as July.

The Costs of NASA's Modern Moon Mission Are Really Adding Up

Commentary: Let's talk about the fiscal footprint of NASA's latest lunar endeavor, Artemis.

Rare, effortless: This is how it looked when Venus came face to face with Sun

This event will not happen for another 100 years and the next such transit of Venus will only happen in 2117.

The Organization | [Rush Duel] The Ace Cards for the Go Rush!! Saikyo Battle Decks!

Plus, pack art! Box Art for Shining Velgariva RD/SD01-JP001 バニシング・ヘリアカルライザー Vanishing Heliacal Riser Level 7 LIGHT Galaxy Effect Monster ATK 2400 DEF 1500 [REQUIREMENT] If you have 2 or less cards in…

A huge solar eruption may be headed toward the Earth

ESA's autonomous tool spotted a coronal mass ejection on the Sun this Sunday. But we do not know if the ejection is heading towards the Earth or not.

Can we time travel? A theoretical physicist provides some answers

Our curiosity about time travel is thousands of years old.

The Lancet more than doubles its impact factor, eclipsing NEJM for the first time ever

The Lancet has overtaken the New England Journal of Medicine as the medical journal with the highest impact factor, according to Clarivate’s 2022 update to its Journal Citation Reports. And the jum…

BepiColombo Spacecraft Makes Second Gravity Assist of Planet Mercury – Captures Spectacular Close-Ups

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has made its second gravity assist of planet Mercury, capturing new close-up images as it steers closer towards Mercury orbit in 2025. The closest approach took place at 09:44 UTC (11:44 CEST) on June 23, 2022, about 200 km (1…

How the "Einstein shift" was predicted 8 years before General Relativity

The idea of gravitational redshift crossed Einstein's mind years before General Relativity was complete. Here's why it had to be there.

Watch: Five Planets Line Up In Rare Planetary Parade For First Time In 18 Years

Five Planets of the solar system, separated by billions of kilometres, appeared in the pre-dawn skies in rare planetary conjunction that will not repeat till 2040.

There's a Surprising Similarity Between The Brains of Humans And Octopuses

Scientists have already established that octopuses are smarter than your average invertebrate, but a new discovery suggests one of the reasons why: a specific molecular analogy with the human brain.

Two Genes Crucial for Plants Colonizing the Earth 470 Million Ago Have Been Identified

Researchers shed new light on how plant life became established on the surface of the Earth Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have shed new light on how plant life got established on the surface of our planet. They specifically demonstrated that t…

The rise of the giant prehistoric bugs

Insects and terrestrial arthropods have inhabited the Earth since before the time of the dinosaurs, growing much larger to their contemporary equivalents during the Carboniferous period, due in part to a surplus of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. - Heritage…

The Organization | [GO RUSH!!] Cards from Episode 13

Galactica vs Void! Not confirmed for release, etc. et al. So such. パワー・シザジー Power Syzygy Normal Spell Card [REQUIREMENT] None [EFFECT] Send cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard equal to…

A Mars Spacecraft Has Been Running on Windows 98 Era Software for 19 Years, But No More

The software was originally designed over 20 years ago based on the now-outdated Microsoft system.

6 extinct animals that used to call Colorado home

Colorado has changed dramatically over the last few geologic eras. One report from CU Boulder even suggests that 500 million years ago, Colorado had a coastal environment, making it a

Oil and gas activity linked to most recent earthquakes in West Texas

Since 2009, earthquakes have been rapidly rising in the Delaware Basin – a prolific oil-producing region in West Texas and New Mexico. According to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, the majority of them can be linked to oil and …

Molecular Mechanisms Behind Learning and Memory Identified

Findings reveal the molecular mechanism for acetylcholine in learning and memory.

Intergalactic Viral Video Takes Viewers To 'Edge' of Universe and Blows People's Minds

Intergalactic Viral Video Takes Viewers To 'Edge' of Universe and Blows People's Minds

"So fascinating and yet scary how unfathomably vast space is," comments a user.

Watch private freighter leave space station early Tuesday for fiery death

The cargo craft is scheduled to depart at 6:05 a.m. EDT (1005 GMT).

Amazing Mars Photos Reveal Planet's Startling Past

Photos from NASA’s Curiosity mission might reveal evidence of climate change on Mars that includes the drying up of a previous watery surface. The findings were released last week in a statement from NASA regarding Curiosity’s decade-long mission. “We no long…

NASA Is Working With Startups to Harvest the Moon's Resources | WSJ

James Webb Space Telescope team clears 1st instrument for science observations

The Canadian instrument and spectrograph will do first light detection, and seek out and explore exoplanets.

Why the paradoxes of infinity still puzzle us today

Since at least 600 BC, people have been mesmerized by the concept of the infinite.

Watch Mercury roll by as BepiColombo probe makes superclose flyby (video)

The video reveals a plethora of geological features, including Caloris Planitia, Mercury's largest impact basin.

Scientists Develop an Cheap Way for Any Camera to See Infrared Colors

The tech could revolutionize multiple industries.

The Most Interesting Moons in Our Solar System

You know about the planets. But what about their satellites?

William Herschel Is Famous for Science. What About His Music?

The accomplished astronomer was, one historian said, “the Einstein of his time.” But before he surveyed the sky, he was a prolific musician.

'Super earths' may be even more habitable than our own planet, study says

Planets outside our Solar System with atmospheres dominated by hydrogen and helium have surfaces warm enough to host liquid water, say University of Zurich experts.

Guidelines for measuring reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage in cells and in vivo

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have important roles in health and disease, but are chemically complex and difficult to measure accurately. This consensus statement proposes guidelines and best practices on the nomenclature and assessment of ROS, oxidative reac…

Genomes of six viruses that infect Asgard archaea from deep-sea sediments

Viral genomes that infected two Asgard archaeal phyla recovered from deep-sea hydrothermal sediment metagenomes reveal that these viruses have characteristics of prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses.

Long-term liquid water also on non-Earth-like planets?

Life on Earth began in the oceans. In the search for life on other planets, the potential for liquid water is therefore a key ingredient. To find it, scientists have traditionally looked for planets similar to our own. Yet, long-term liquid water does not nec…

SpaceX Test Fires Rocket Engine Ignitors For America’s Largest Rocket!

SpaceX is moving full speed ahead with its Starship rocket in Boca Chica, Texas after a small but important test this weekend.

Virus discovery offers clues about origins of complex life

The first discovery of viruses infecting a group of microbes that may include the ancestors of all complex life has been found, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin report in Nature Microbiology. The discovery offers tantalizing clues about the or…

NASA to Cover Northrop Grumman Cygnus Departure from Space Station

Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to depart the International Space Station on Tuesday, June 28, more than four months after delivering 8,300 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other carg…

How many ice ages has the Earth had, and could humans live through one?

The Earth has had at least five major ice ages, and humans showed up in time for the most recent one. In fact, we’re still in it.

How to make spatial maps of gene activity — down to the cellular level

Computational and experimental methods are bringing researchers closer to their goal of revealing exactly where in a cell or tissue each gene is expressed.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket’s NASA Psyche launch delayed to 2023

NASA says that its mission to the asteroid 16 Psyche will no longer be able to launch in 2022 after engineers were unable to verify the readiness of the spacecraft’s software. What could amount to being a few weeks or months behind schedule will have major ra…

Solar flare expected to hit Earth TOMORROW sparking power grid disrupting geomagnetic storm...

Secret ancient Andean passageways may have been used in rituals involving psychedelics

Hidden passageways used by ancient Andean culture opened for the first time in 3,000 years.

James Webb Space Telescope will study Milky Way's monster black hole

It'll team up with the Event Horizon Telescope.

The Largest Star in The Milky Way Is Slowly Dying, And Astronomers Are Watching

Three-dimensional models of astronomical objects can be ridiculously complex. They can range from black holes that light doesn't even escape to the literal size of the Universe and everything in between.

5 revolutionary cosmic ideas that turned out to be wrong

No matter how beautiful, elegant, or compelling your idea is, if it disagrees with observation and experiment, it's wrong.

Astronomers Found a Crater From The Mystery Rocket That Smashed Into The Moon

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) – NASA's eye-in-the-sky in orbit around the Moon – has found the crash site of the mystery rocket booster that slammed into the far side of the Moon back on 4 March 2022.

Giant Sunspot AR3038 has Doubled in Size and is Pointed Right at Earth. Could be Auroras Coming

Sunspots are typically no real reason to worry, even if they double in size overnight and grow to twice the size of the Earth itself. That’s just what happened with Active Region 3038 (AR3038), a sunspot that happens to be facing Earth and could produce some …

Two Galaxies Colliding 130 Million Light Years Away Are Captured In Viral Video

Two Galaxies Colliding 130 Million Light Years Away Are Captured In Viral Video

An astrophotographer documents an impressive sight.

Remarkable Intelligence: Octopus and Human Brains Share the Same “Jumping Genes”

New research has identified an important molecular analogy that could explain the remarkable intelligence of these fascinating invertebrates. An exceptional organism with an extremely complex brain and cognitive abilities makes the octopus very unique among i…

NASA Scores First-Ever Rocket Launch From A Commercial Site Outside US

NASA's first-ever launch from a commercial site outside of the United States blasted off from Australia's Outback late Sunday, in a "historic" moment for the country's space industry.

Mystery 'surprise' solar storm hits earth leaving forecasters baffled – and impact could last for days...

A 125 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Fossil Has the Oldest Belly Button Known to Science - IGN

Paleontologists have discovered the oldest belly button known to science on a 125 million-year-old fossil of a dinosaur in the genus Psittacosaurus. Oh, the fossil also had the first dinosaur butthole ever found.

Remarkable Photos of Ice Caves Hidden in the Canadian Rockies

“Sometimes, you could even skate inside the ice caves if you're lucky."

Majestic galaxies spotted in classic Hubble Space Telescope photo

Overlapping celestial objects reveal details on the compositions of galaxies they're shining through

Mystery ‘surprise’ solar storm hits earth leaving forecasters baffled – and impact could last for days...

Mysterious Star Survives a Thermonuclear Supernova Explosion

A Tenacious Star Validates a Revised Model of Supernovae A supernova is the cataclysmic explosion of a star. Thermonuclear supernovae, in particular, signal the complete destruction of a white dwarf star, leaving nothing behind. At least that’s what astrophys…

Artificial Photosynthesis Can Produce Food in Complete Darkness

Artificial photosynthesis is being developed by researchers to help make food production more energy-efficient on Earth, and maybe one day on Mars. For millions of years, photosynthesis has evolved in plants to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from …

Signs in Martian Soil Point to Habitable Conditions For Life Over a Long Period

Is there life on Mars? Has there ever been? It's one of the biggest questions we have about our planetary neighbor; now, research points to one particular part of the red planet that could have been able to harbor life several times across billions o

Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD telescope: Full review

This portable telescope setup is ideal for intermediate amateur astronomers who want to get serious.

Don't miss Venus meet the moon before dawn on Sunday in gorgeous photo opportunity

The spectacle will be visible to the naked eye or with a pair of binoculars.

SpaceX Lifts 200 Ton Rocket In Air As It Races To Historic Hot Fire Test

SpaceX is speeding ahead with its Starship rocket as part of a campaign for an orbital flight later this year.

David Iserson's “This, but Again” and idea that we're living in a simulation.

Are you sure this isn’t all a computer simulation? Does it matter if it is?

Stunning Mars photos by the Curiosity rover show ancient climate shift

The rover is finding minerals formed amid drier conditions as it ascends Mount Sharp.

LightSail 2 marks 3rd anniversary as end of mission approaches

The mission, far beyond its design lifetime, may fall into the atmosphere in a few months.

Remember the rocket that crashed into the moon? It left a mark or two

Bizarre 'polygons' appear in Mars spring image

Alien infrastructure, or just signs of spring?

This Weird Star Survived a Supernova Only to Shine Even More Brightly Than Before

When it comes to going out with style, nothing comes close to the end of a white dwarf. Their thermonuclear self-destruction ranks among the most powerful explosions in the cosmos, forcing the star to wink out of existence in a blaze of glory.

‘Gobbling Satellites’ – In A First-Of-Its-Kind Mission, UK To Clean Space Debris By Removing Dead Satellites From Earth’s Orbit

Earlier this month, the International Space Station (ISS) had to swerve and conduct an avoidance maneuver to avoid being hit by space debris from Russia’s Anti-Satellite test. It was reminiscent of a similar evasive action it had to undertake last December to…

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Spots Mystery Rocket Impact Site on Moon

Astronomers discovered a rocket body heading toward a lunar collision late last year. Impact occurred on March 4, 2022, with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) later spotting the resulting crater. Surprisingly the crater is actually two craters, an eas…

'I was a Jane Doe': Amtrak train crash mom on surviving the commute from hell

Ritter’s body was hurled from the train with such force that her abdominal organs push through her diaphragm, up into her chest. Or what was left of it.

Astronaut cosplays as 'Gravity' spacefarer in epic space station shot

Samantha Cristoforetti channeled her inner Sandra Bullock.

Harmful pig poop lagoons in North Carolina mapped from space

Researchers tapped into Landsat 5's database to locate swine farm waste ponds.

Mars Express orbiter finally gets a software upgrade, 19 years later | Engadget

The Mars Express orbiter is getting a software upgrade 19 years after it launched..

Stunning Jupiter storm photographs can be analyzed by citizens in new scientific project

Citizens can now help scientists identify the composition of Jupiter's massive and eye-catching storms

NASA Announces Launch Delay for Psyche Asteroid Mission

NASA announced Friday that the Psyche asteroid mission – the agency’s first mission designed to study a metal-rich asteroid – will not make its planned 2022 launch attempt.

Octopus brain and human brain share the same 'jumping genes'

The octopus is an exceptional organism with an extremely complex brain and cognitive abilities that are unique among invertebrates. So much so that in some ways it has more in common with vertebrates than with invertebrates. The neural and cognitive complexit…

The Mars Express spacecraft is finally getting a Windows 98 upgrade

The European Space Agency is finally upgrading its Mars Express spacecraft from Windows 98-era software. The upgrade will allow the orbiter to improve the quality of data that’s sent back to Earth.

Likely Crash Site of Mystery Space Junk Spotted on Moon’s Far Side

An unidentified object hit the lunar surface earlier this year, forming a perplexing double crater.

Incredible footage shows 12000-mile plasma TORNADO erupting from the surface of the sun

Footage of an incredible 12,000-mile-tall tornado 'big enough to swallow Earth' has been captured by an astrophotographer with a home telescope in Illinois, USA.

How NASA might protect tomorrow's astronauts from deep space radiation

Putting people on the surface of Mars is going to expose them to a whole bunch of deadly space radiation.

Mysterious 'hot Jupiter' planets can form quickly or slowly, Gaia spacecraft reveals

These massive worlds are vastly different from anything in our solar system.

New study solves long-standing mystery of what may have triggered ice age

A new study led by University of Arizona researchers may have solved two mysteries that have long puzzled paleo-climate experts: Where did the ice sheets that rang in the last ice age more than 100,000 years ago come from, and how could they grow so quickly?

Seismic waves from earthquakes reveal changes in the Earth's outer core

In May 1997, a large earthquake shook the Kermadec Islands region in the South Pacific Ocean. A little over 20 years later, in September 2018, a second big earthquake hit the same location, its waves of seismic energy emanating from the same region.

Lost fossil 'treasure trove' rediscovered after 70 years

Previous researchers were unable to record its exact coordinates.

Hear the Eerie Sounds of Nebula NGC 2392

About 5,000 light-years from Earth, the stunning nebula NGC 2392 formed after the demise of a star like our Sun. In this sonification, the image is scanned clockwise like a radar. The radius is mapped to pitch, so light farther from the center is higher pitch…

A new breakthrough in biology allows scientists to grow food without sunlight

Artificial photosynthesis could be 'a paradigm shift for how we feed people.'

SpaceX installs Super Heavy booster on launch mount with giant robot arms

SpaceX has transported the most powerful rocket booster ever assembled to its Starbase orbital launch site (OLS) and used giant robotic arms to install it. It’s not the first such trip for Starship’s Super Heavy first stage in general, nor for this specific b…

8-armed Jurassic 'vampire' used supersuckers to trap prey, amazing 3D images reveal

The cephalopod likely hunted in the open ocean.

Experimental Discovery of a Tetraneutron – An Exotic State of Matter

Theoretical physicist James Vary has been waiting for nuclear physics experiments to confirm the reality of a “tetraneutron” that he and his colleagues theorized, predicted, and first announced during a presentation in the summer of 2014, followed by a resear…

ESA - Second helpings of Mercury

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has made its second gravity assist of planet Mercury, capturing new close-up images as it steers closer towards Mercury orbit in 2025. 

Life Has Been Found in a Low-Oxygen, Super-Salty, Sub-Zero Arctic Spring

Once again, life has been found in an environment that would be deeply inhospitable to most organisms living on this planet.

James Webb Space Telescope full-color images will 'wow'

The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest of its kind. It heralds a new era in infrared technology and astronomy. Here's a look at how infrared works.

A Giant Sunspot Doubled in Size in 24 Hours, And It's Pointing Right at Earth

A gigantic sunspot has swelled to twice Earth's size, doubling its diameter in 24 hours, and it's pointed right at us.

Here's how to watch the peak of a rare, 5-planet alignment this weekend

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will align in the sky and shine especially bright during its peak on June 24.

Mind-blowing footage reveals 12,000 mile plasma tornado shooting from the sun

The ejection was said to be part of a “solar storm system” and was large enough to “swallow Earth” if we were closer.

OneWeb to resume launches in fourth quarter

OneWeb expects to resume launches late this year with SpaceX and India's space agency, an executive said June 23.

Arecibo observatory scientists help unravel surprise asteroid mystery

When asteroid 2019 OK suddenly appeared barreling toward Earth on July 25, 2019, Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin and the team at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico jumped into action.

Scientists Believe Jupiter Is Huge Because It Ate Other Planets

A new scientific study on the planet of Jupiter claims it is our solar system’s largest planet in part due to eating other planets. A new study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics is suggesting the theory that the giant gas planet is fillet with a number …

Photographing Antarctica: Penguins, Seals, and a Total Solar Eclipse

Dramatic, jagged mountain peaks rise high over colonies consisting of millions of penguins living on the frozen earth below.

Dinosaur with oldest EVER 'belly button' seen in 125-million-year-old fossil from China

Dinosaurs don't have umbilical cords, unlike humans. This navel mark was discovered in the genus Psittacosaurus.

NASA deems Artemis 1 moon mission's test fueling a success

Artemis 1 won't have to conduct another 'wet dress rehearsal' before it lifts off.

NASA, SpaceX to assess potential Starship threat to Crew Dragon pad

An early Super Heavy-Starship failure could disrupt SpaceX astronaut fights to space station.

The star that survived a supernova

A supernova is the catastrophic explosion of a star. Thermonuclear supernovae, in particular, signal the complete destruction of a white dwarf star, leaving nothing behind. At least that's what models and observations suggested.

South Korea cancels Apophis asteroid probe: report

The country's science ministry said the mission was 'unfeasible.'

Artificial photosynthesis can produce food without sunshine

Photosynthesis has evolved in plants for millions of years to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the foods we eat. This process, however, is very inefficient, with only about 1% of the energy found in sunlight endi…

'Stretching' of the continents 56 million years drove global warming, study finds

During this time, the planet experienced an increase in temperature of 5-8°C (9-14°F), culminating in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which lasted about 170,000 years.

Scientists map weird metal asteroid that NASA spacecraft will launch to this year

Planetary scientists have created a new, detailed map of the asteroid Psyche, providing a tantalizing preview of the target for a NASA mission set to launch later this year.

People Are Sharing Facts That Are Extremely Comforting And, You Know, You Should Read Them If You're Having A Bad Day

TIL that cows have best friends :')

Bizarre spiral object found swirling around Milky Way's center

It looks like a tiny galaxy, but it's just one big star.

Second segment added to Starship launch tower at Kennedy Space Center – Spaceflight Now

NASA will unveil the James Webb Space Telescope's 1st science photos in July. Here's how to watch.

It will be a historic day for the $10 billion observatory, launched Dec. 25, 2021.

'Emerging super Crab' might be the most powerful pulsar ever discovered

The neutron star is in its infancy, between 14 and 80 years old.

SpaceX’s record-breaking Falcon 9 booster returns to port

SpaceX’s latest record-breaking Falcon 9 booster has returned to port after completing its 13th launch and landing. Falcon 9 B1060 lifted off for the first time in June 2020 with the US military’s third next-generation GPS III satellite safely cocooned inside…

How the brains of social animals synchronise and expand one another

Bat friends, monkeys sharing, and humans holding hands: the brains of social animals synchronise and expand one another

Hubble Space Telescope catches dead star in cosmic cannibalism

A white dwarf's siphoning of planetary bodies provides evidence of a water reservoir.

Wild solar weather is causing satellites to plummet from orbit. It's only going to get worse.

The change coincided with the onset of the new solar cycle, and experts think it might be the beginning of some difficult years.

Electronic Tattoo Offers Highly Accurate, Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring

Blood pressure is one of the most important indicators of heart health, but it’s tough to frequently and reliably measure outside of a clinical setting. For decades, cuff-based devices that constrict around the arm to give a reading have been the gold standar…

NASA moves up Lunar Trailblazer launch

NASA has found a new ride for a small lunar orbiter mission that will allow the spacecraft to avoid a two-year wait for its launch.

Wild blue spiral in New Zealand sky likely made by SpaceX rocket (photo)

The 'bizarre but very cool' feature was caused by a Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA Introduces 2022 Class of Flight Directors

NASA has selected seven new additions to the team of flight directors to oversee operations of the International Space Station, commercial crew, and Artemis missions to the Moon.

A huge comet will fly by Earth in July and you might be able to see it

Get your telescopes ready, but don't count on a bright enough comet yet.

Astronomy Picture of the Day Recognized for Decades of Outreach

NASA's APOD has been honored by the International Astronomical Union for decades of outreach.

NASA's Dust-Choked InSight Lander Likely Won't Make It to the End of the Year

The Mars probe will continue scientific operations until late August at least, NASA said.

Can a Future Fleet of Robotic Fish Clean Up the Ocean?

One fish-bot, two fish-bot, red fish-bot, blue fish-bot.

NASA to Power Down Voyage Probes: Here Are Their Best Space Photos

Didn't they do well.

Swarm of rainbow-colored starfish devour sea lion corpse on seafloor

The award-winning photo highlights a key stage of the marine food web.

Dino with 'perfect and unique' butthole also had the oldest belly button known to science

The scar comes from where the reptile was connected to the yolk sac inside its egg.

Bizarre News Story of the Day: Jupiter Apparently 'Eats' Other Planets

Good thing it’s 742 million kilometres from us, eh?

A Sea of Stars Like Sequins

Near the center of the Milky Way lies this star-studded globular cluster, called Terzan 9 in the constellation Sagittarius.

Observation of a correlated free four-neutron system

Experiment based on knocking out an alpha particle from a high-energy helium isotope shows a resonance-like structure that is consistent with a quasi-bound tetraneutron state existing for a very short time.

Strange balancing rock spotted on Mars

Don’t Martians know that stone stacking is bad for the environment? NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars captured this image of what appears to be a small stone balanced atop a large rock.…

Star pose: Astronaut demos microgravity yoga on International Space Station

Samantha Cristoforetti also plans to follow a 20-minute routine in microgravity in the near future.

Scientists Identify a Possible Source for Red Cap on Pluto's Largest Moon Charon

Research combined spacecraft data with new lab experiments, models of Pluto’s largest moon. Southwest Research Institute scientists combined data from NASA’s New Horizons mission with novel laboratory experiments and exospheric modeling to reveal the likely c…

What's Inside The Squid Cube?

It's a baby girl! (No, really.)

What happens when a star engulfs its planets?

A new study uses the physics of a planet inside a red giant star as it dies to see what the effects are given different planet masses.

Scientists unveil bionic robo-fish to remove microplastics from seas

Tiny self-propelled robo-fish can swim around, latch on to free-floating microplastics and fix itself if it gets damaged

SpaceX begins stacking Florida Starship launch tower

SpaceX has begun stacking Starship’s first Florida launch tower. Less than half a year after the company restarted work on a Starship launch pad located just a few hundred feet away from existing Falcon launch facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) L…

NASA Voyager probes: 18 best pictures as 45-year journey nears its end

Voyager 1 and 2 broke ground with amazing pictures. As their scientific lifespan nears its end, here are 18 pictures taken by the probes.

STEVE appears from blood-red arc of light in New Zealand footage

The eerie phenomenon is still unexplained by science.

Comet twice the size of Mount Everest to pass by Earth next month

4 dead telescopes' observations lead to stunning new galaxy portraits

The missions ended, but their work continues to help scientists decipher cosmic mysteries.

Microscopic Mites That Mate on Our Faces at Night May Soon Become One With Humans

The secret lives of mites in the skin of our faces. First ever full DNA analysis of mites that live in the hair follicles of all humans reveals explanations for their bizarre mating habits, body features and evolutionary future. Microscopic mites that live in…

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Shares Amazing "Gravity" Cosplay In Space

Cristoforetti is a big sci-fi fan and she'll take command of the International Space Station this year.

Pluto's Moon Has a Mysterious Red North Pole, And We May Finally Know Why

Pluto's life partner, Charon, has a disarming red 'cap'. Ever since New Horizons snapped the moon's rust-tinted north pole on its 2015 flyby, scientists have pondered the planetary processes responsible for leaving such a bold landmark.

Mars Express orbiter to get code update after 19 years

And over millions of miles, too. Piece of cake!?

There are more galaxies in the Universe than even Carl Sagan ever imagined

Forget billions and billions. When it comes to the number of galaxies in the Universe, both theorists' and observers' estimates are too low.

NASA Astronaut Drifted in Space Completely Untethered in 'Terrifying' Moment

In the now-viral photo, Bruce McCandless II can be seen floating completely untethered in space away from the safety of the space shuttle.

Watching the Violent Death of a Rare, Extreme Supergiant Star

By tracing molecular emissions in the outflows around the red hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris, astronomers have obtained the first detailed map of the star's envelope, which sheds light on the mechanisms involved in the final stages of extreme supergiant sta…

This Electronic Tattoo Can Measure Your Blood Pressure Better Than a Smartwatch

Its makers think it could lead to the “holy grail” of medicine.

NASA's InSight Gets a Few Extra Weeks of Mars Science

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Gravitas: Mysterious rocks reveal to reveal secrets of Mars?

China aims to return Mars samples before joint NASA-European mission: report

That's two years earlier than NASA and ESA plan to pull it off.

A blueprint for life forms on Mars?

The extremely salty, very cold, and almost oxygen-free environment under the permafrost of Lost Hammer Spring in Canada's High Arctic is the one that most closely resembles certain areas on Mars. So, if you want to learn more about the kinds of life forms tha…

Can ISS Be Recycled, Artificial Meteor Storms, Can Hubble See JWST | Q&A 188

Quantum sensor can detect electromagnetic signals of any frequency

Quantum sensors, which detect the most minute variations in magnetic or electrical fields, have enabled precision measurements in materials science and fundamental physics. But these sensors have only been capable of detecting a few specific frequencies of th…

World's largest liquid mirror telescope ready to observe

Astronomers must brave a 10-hour drive into the Himalayas to get there.

Enter the General Relativity Rabbit Hole: Unraveling Einstein's Theory That Deconstructs Space and Time

A deep dive into our universe's most paradoxical and confusing, yet elegant and shatterproof theory.

Induction of mouse totipotent stem cells by a defined chemical cocktail

Nature - Induction of mouse totipotent stem cells by a defined chemical cocktail

Scientists identify a possible source for Charon's red cap

Southwest Research Institute scientists combined data from NASA's New Horizons mission with novel laboratory experiments and exospheric modeling to reveal the likely composition of the red cap on Pluto's moon Charon and how it may have formed. This first-ever…

Here Comes the Sun—to End Civilization

Every so often, our star fires off a plasma bomb in a random direction. Our best hope the next time Earth is in the crosshairs? Capacitors.

The James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to do science

An astronomer on the team explains how Webb got to this stage.

NASA is starting to shut down the Voyager probes, which launched in 1977 and made it deeper into space than anything since

The Voyager probes massively exceeded the scope of their mission, but they're running low on power after 45 years in space.

NASA prepares to power-down Voyager spacecraft after 44 years

Both Voyagers launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida in 1977 - with Voyager 2 departing a month earlier than 1 - and were designed to last five years to study Jupiter and Saturn.

NASA begins switching off Voyager instruments after almost 45 years

Scientific American reports that NASA is preparing to wind down the Voyager mission, which has endured for over ten times its original projected length. By powering down...

NASA-Roscosmos Tiff – Russia Says Looking Into Consequences Of US Spacecraft’s Failure To Adjust ISS Orbit

Russia’s space agency is looking into the situation that arose due to the failure of the US freight spaceship Cygnus NG-17 to adjust the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) as NASA is unsure about what had caused the boost maneuver to fail, Roscosm…

Hubble Space Telescope 'sea of sequins' image shows off a star cluster

The observatory looks at how star colors change due to interstellar dust.

How does arsenic kill?

The deadly toxin can be difficult to detect.

Elon Musk's rocket creates spectacular blue spiral after dumping fuel

The plume lit up the sky over Nelson, a city at the tip of New Zealand's south island, and travelled 466 miles (750km) south to Stewart Island by about 7.30pm on Sunday.

Voyager: NASA starts deactivating deep-space probes flying since 1977

The Voyager probes massively exceeded the scope of their mission, but they're running low on power after 45 years in space.

A Dead Star Has Been Caught Ripping Apart Its Planetary System

When a star dies, what happens to its planets? Well, if that star is a certain white dwarf 86 light-years away, those planets are currently in the process of being torn apart and eaten by the star, like some grotesque cosmic performance of Kronos dev

Life will find a way: could scientists make Jurassic Park a reality?

Just a few years from now, herds of woolly ‘mammoths’ could be roaming the Siberian tundra. Are dodos and dinosaurs next for de-extinction?

Robotic lightning bugs take flight | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Inspired by fireflies, MIT researchers created soft actuators that can emit light in different colors or patterns. These artificial muscles, which control the wings of featherweight flying robots, light up while the robot is in flight, which provides a low-co…

How to See the Giant Comet Flying by Earth Soon

Comet C/2017 K2 could be among the largest cosmic snowballs known.

Many researchers say they'll share data — but don't

Reasons included a lack of informed consent or ethics approval to share; misplaced data; and that others had moved on from the project.

419-Million-Year-Old Chinese Fossil Shows Human Middle Ear Evolved From Fish Gills

The human middle ear—which houses three tiny, vibrating bones—is key to transporting sound vibrations into the inner ear, where they become nerve impulses that allow us to hear. Embryonic and fossil evidence proves that the human middle ear evolved from the s…

New tectonic plate model shows how Earth was organized as a supercontinent 2.8 million years ago

The new model allowed scientists to include microplates that existed two million years ago. This better explains 'the spatial distribution of 90 percent of earthquakes and 80 percent of volcanoes.

NASA approves demonstration flight for circular DiskSats

NASA approved a demonstration flight for DiskSat, the thin round satellite designed by the Aerospace Corp.

Mars Rover Makes Unexpected, Trashy Find

It's certainly not the only bit of space trash on the red planet

In a Parallel Universe, Another You

As they probe the secrets of the cosmos, scientists question whether our reality is but one in a multiverse.

Astronomers Find Evidence Of Most Powerful Pulsar In Distant Galaxy

Astronomers using data from the VLA Sky Survey have discovered one of the youngest known neutron stars possibly as young as only 14 years.

Intl Space Station Swerves to Avoid Debris From Russian Missile Test

Blood pressure e-tattoo promises continuous, mobile monitoring

Blood pressure is one of the most important indicators of heart health, but it's tough to frequently and reliably measure outside of a clinical setting. For decades, cuff-based devices that constrict around the arm to give a reading have been the gold standar…

Astronomers link 64 telescopes to observe the structure of the universe

An international team of astronomers have for the first time combined the power of 64 radio telescope dishes to detect the faint signatures of neutral hydrogen gas across cosmological scales.

James Webb Space Telescope is about halfway through its instrument checks

NASA says the $10 billion observatory checked out 7 of its 17 instrument modes for science operations.

A massive galaxy supercluster in the early universe

The structure of the universe is often described as being a cosmic web of filaments, nodes, and voids, with the nodes being clusters of galaxies, the largest gravitationally bound objects known. These nodes are thought to have been seeded by small-amplitude d…

Mysterious Growing Spiral Light Spotted Over New Zealand Sky

The spiral could be seen drifting northwards over South Island at 7:30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

The realization of measurement induced quantum phases on a trapped-ion quantum computer

Trapped-ion quantum computers are quantum devices in which trapped ions vibrate together and are fully isolated from the external environment. These computers can be particularly useful for investigating and realizing various quantum physics states.

Starlink Lets SpaceX Capture High Definition Video Of Its 187 Feet Tall Rocket Landing For The First Time!

SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service has let the company capture high definition video of its rocket landing on a ship.

A comet got really close to the Sun and completely freaked out

Recent observations of comet 323P/SOHO show it's losing house-sized chunks.

Giant Sunspot Has Doubled in Size in 24 Hours and It's Pointed at Earth

The huge sunspot has the potential to send a solar flare our way. Whether it will or not remains to be seen.

'Betelgeuse on steroids' sheds light on how rare massive stars die

VY Canis Majoris is dying, and astronomers are watching the red hypergiant star's final era to better understand what happens at the end of a stellar life cycle.

Hubble Space Telescope shows 5000 ancient galaxies sparkling

Thousands of distant galaxies in different shapes and sizes glow in infrared light in a newly released image from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Triassic revolution: Animals grew back faster and smarter after mass extinction

Paleontologists in the U.K. and China have shown that the natural world bounced back vigorously following the End-Permian Extinction.

Mysterious spiral object found near Milky Way's center

It looks like a tiny galaxy, but it's just one big star.

We got a leaked look at NASA’s future Moon missions—and likely delays

"Has nobody at NASA read the space policy?"

China aims to bring Mars samples to Earth 2 years before NASA, ESA mission

China’s Mars sample return mission aims to collect samples from the Red Planet and deliver them to Earth in 2031, or two years ahead of a NASA and ESA joint mission.

BepiColombo lines up for second Mercury flyby

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is gearing up for its second close flyby of Mercury on 23 June. ESA’s spacecraft operation team is guiding BepiColombo through six gravity assists of the planet before entering orbit around it in 2025.

International Space Station captured travelling in front of sun

Jamie Cooper planned for days to capture the moment, which lasted for less than a second.

Meteorite Discovery Challenges Our Understanding of How Mars Formed

A small chunk of rock that once broke away from Mars and found its way to Earth may hold clues that reveal surprising details about the red planet's formation.

Solar Winds Traveling at Millions of Miles Per Hour Could Hit Earth in the Coming Hours

The high-speed solar winds emanated from a recent solar storm from our solar system’s only star. Solar winds traveling in space at the speed of millions of miles per hour may hit Earth in the coming hours, placing both satellites and power grids at risk.

Spirals of blue light in New Zealand night sky leave stargazers ‘kind of freaking out’

Social media abuzz with pictures and theories about formations thought to be from exhaust plume of SpaceX rocket

New Understanding of Earth’s Architecture: Updated Maps of Tectonic Plates

New models that show how the continents were assembled are providing fresh insights into the history of the Earth and will help provide a better understanding of natural hazards like earthquakes and volcanoes. “We looked at the current knowledge of the config…

Links: June 19, 2022 | Hackaday

The James Webb Space Telescope has had a long and sometimes painful journey from its earliest conception to its ultimate arrival at Lagrange point L2 and subsequent commissioning. Except for the bu…

Scientists Consider Cause of Fast Radio Bursts in Space

Scientist have found a fast radio burst in space that is always on. This FRB may help scientists to discover the cause of this cosmic mystery.

Paleontologists Discover Fossil Shows That Dinosaurs Had 'Belly Buttons'

Thanks to an ‘incredible’ fossil, paleontologists have confirmed that dinosaurs indeed had belly buttons—and set a world record.

Ant Brain Complexity Revealed for the First Time at a Cellular Level Using Single Cell Technology

Using single-cell technology, researchers discover how the social division of labor in an ant colony reflects in the functional specialization of the ant brain at a cellular level.

Incredible New Maps of Asteroid Psyche Reveal an Ancient World of Metal and Rock

The varied surface of asteroid Psyche suggests a dynamic history, which could include metallic eruptions, asteroid-shaking impacts, and a lost rocky mantle. Later this year, NASA is set to launch a probe the size of a tennis court to the asteroid belt, a regi…

Researchers use Hubble to observe dead star destroying planetary system - NASASpaceFlight.com

A team of researchers using archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope, a joint venture between…

International Space Station dodges orbital debris from Russian anti-satellite test

Debris from the Soviet-era Cosmos 1408 satellite destroyed by Russia in Nov. 2021 forced the avoidance maneuver.

A microscopic arms race is happening between sperm

Ongoing research elaborates the incredible lengths male animals will go to ensure that sperm meets egg

Hubble Space Telescope starstruck by a globular cluster

This mesmerizing new composite image might help astronomers solve a cosmic puzzle

NASA's Lucy mission adds 9th asteroid to its list of attractions

The asteroid still doesn't have a name, and it likely won't for a while.

Astronomers Unveil The Most Detailed Map of The Metal Asteroid Psyche Yet

If you wanted to do a forensic study of the Solar System, you might head for the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. That's where you can find ancient rocks from the Solar System's early days. Out there in the cold vacuum of space, far from

Outpacing NASA By 10 Times, China Sets Sight To Develop A Giant Telescope To Search For ‘Things That Matter’

To gain an edge over the US space agency NASA, Chinese scientists aim to develop a next-gen space observatory to search for dark matter. The ambitious project – known as the Very Large Area gamma-ray Space Telescope, or VLAST – is currently in its early stage…

Deciding to Read This Article Isn't The Result of Gravity Crushing Your Quantum Spirit

A few years ago, deep beneath the Apennine Mountains in Italy, a team of physicists hunted for flashes of light that just might suggest human consciousness is the product of gravitational forces.

Deep Underground Experiment Results Confirm Anomaly: Possible New Fundamental Physics

Sterile neutrino, physics fundamentals among interpretations of anomalous results. New scientific results confirm an anomaly seen in previous experiments, which may point to an as-yet-unconfirmed new elementary particle, the sterile neutrino, or indicate the …

European Space Agency Releases Data on 2 Billion Stars

The data is being collected in an effort to create the most detailed and complete map yet of our galaxy.

Falcon 9 launches Germany's SARah-1 from Vandenberg - NASASpaceFlight.com

Germany’s SARah-1 military radar Earth observation satellite launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from…

Scientists find possible black hole wandering the Milky Way

It's all on its lonesome.

Scientists Find Black Hole Which Consumes Equivalent Of 1 Earth Every Second

The black hole is easily visible to anyone with a good telescope in a very dark backyard as it has a visual magnitude of 14.5

NASA launches its own retro space game

The space agency's retro “8-bit” game teaches players about cosmic objects and a telescope scheduled to launch mid-decade.

Look up! See the moon shine near massive asteroid Vesta this weekend.

The pair will be visible to observers using a widefield telescope eyepiece.

Watch SpaceX launch German military satellite, land rocket today

Liftoff occurred Saturday at 10:19 a.m. EDT (1419 GMT).

How does soap kill germs?

Soap's germ-zapping superpowers are built into its molecular structure.

Monstrously huge black hole devours an Earth-size chunk of matter every second

It is so massive and bright that amateur astronomers can see it from Earth.

New Images Show The Dust in Nearby Galaxies, And You've Never Seen Them Like This

When we see pictures of galaxies outside the Milky Way, what we're usually looking at is primarily the light of their stars. But stars are far from the only ingredient that makes up a galaxy. Think of stars as the chunks of vegetables in the galactic

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Observes Asteroid Bennu’s Boulder “Body Armor”

Asteroid Bennu’s boulder-covered surface gives it protection against small meteoroid impacts, according to observations of craters by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft. OSIRIS-…

See a rare alignment of all the planets in the night sky

Green Light for Starship, Rouge Black Hole's Mass, Balancing Rock on Mars | Space Bites

FAA finally gave its approval to SpaceX for Starship launches from Boca Chica, Gaia released its third data drop, China stars continuous space presence, Pers...

Physicists Say They've Built an Atom Laser That Can Run 'Forever'

A new breakthrough has allowed physicists to create a beam of atoms that behaves the same way as a laser, and that can theoretically stay on "forever".

Electrons take the fast and slow lanes at the same time

Imagine a road with two lanes in each direction. One lane is for slow cars, and the other is for fast ones. For electrons moving along a quantum wire, researchers in Cambridge and Frankfurt have discovered that there are also two "lanes," but electrons can ta…

How to see a 'remarkable' and rare parade of planets in the morning sky through the end of June

Five of the planets of our solar system will appear in a line across the early morning sky this month, astronomers say.

NASA Selects Two Daring Astronauts to Fly on Boeing's First Crewed Starliner Test Flight

The astronauts will launch to the International Space Station on a two-week mission.

The Next Prelaunch Rehearsal Before Our Artemis I Moon Mission on This Week @NASA – June 17, 2022

NASA Mission Off To Rough Start After Astra Failure

When Astra’s diminutive Rocket 3.3 lifted off from its pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 12th, everything seemed to be going well. In fact, the mission was progressing exa…

Meteorite that landed on Earth 200 years ago upends previous theories of how Mars formed

New analysis by the University of California, Davis suggests that the interior chemical make-up of Mars largely came from meteorite collisions, rather than from a giant cloud of gas as previously thought.

Everyone wants a grain: Countries queue up to get a piece of asteroid that hides ingredients for life

Japanese researchers for the first time discovered 20 amino acids in samples returned from an asteroid. Now everyone is queuing up to get a piece of the asteroid.

Scientists make breakthrough in understanding serotonin receptors

Serotonin (5-HT) is one of the main neurotransmitters in the human central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. It helps regulate appetite, memory, cognition and mood through serotonin receptors (5-HTR).

Experiment settles long time debate about evolution—in E. coli, at least

A pair of researchers at Michigan State University has conducted an experiment with Escherichia coli bacteria meant to help settle a long-time debate in the evolutionary community. They have written a paper describing their experiment and results and have pos…

New device gets scientists closer to quantum materials breakthrough

Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new photonic device that could get scientists closer to the "holy grail" of finding the global minimum of mathematical formulations at room temper…

Chinese fossils show human middle ear evolved from fish gills

The human middle ear—which houses three tiny, vibrating bones—is key to transporting sound vibrations into the inner ear, where they become nerve impulses that allow us to hear.

NASA prepares to power-down Voyager spacecraft after more than 44 years

The European space mission that plans to ambush a comet

Comet Interceptor will be first probe to be parked in space waiting for the ideal target — possibly one from outside the Solar System.

Behold the Magnetar, nature’s ultimate superweapon

Their magnetic fields—the strongest we've observed—could melt you from 1,000 km away.

A 'Very Exciting' Anomaly Detected in Major Experiment Could Be Huge News For Physics

A strange gap between theoretical predictions and experimental results in a major neutrino research project could be a sign of the elusive 'sterile' neutrino – a particle so quiet, it can only be detected by the silence it leaves in its wake.

At 1.4 Million Mph, Astronomers Detected One of The Fastest Cosmic Objects of Its Kind

When massive stars die, they don't do so quietly.

Eternal Matter Waves: Physicists Build Atom Laser That Can Stay On Forever

These days, imagining our everyday life without lasers is difficult. Lasers are used in printers, CD players, measuring devices, pointers, and so on. What makes lasers so special is that they use coherent waves of light: all the light inside a laser vibrates …

The Shirk Report – Volume 688 » TwistedSifter

Welcome to the Shirk Report where you will find 20 funny images, 10 interesting articles and 5 entertaining videos from the last 7 days of sifting. Most images found on Reddit; articles from Digg, …

How Mammals Rose From the Doom of the Dinosaurs

A new book, The Rise and Reign of the Mammals by paleontologist Steve Brusatte, explores how our ancestors emerged, evolved, and took over the world.

Group of Polar Bears Finds Ice to Cling To

Other indicators for the population's future aren't great, researchers say

Fastest growing black hole discovered and its ‘gorging on’ an Earth-sized mass of space per second...

NASA spacecraft observes asteroid Bennu's boulder 'body armor'

Asteroid Bennu's boulder-covered surface gives it protection against small meteoroid impacts, according to observations of craters by NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.

Astronomers reveal the most detailed map of the asteroid Psyche yet

NASA's Psyche mission to study the asteroid launches later this year.

NASA assigns two astronauts to Starliner test flight

NASA has assigned two veteran astronauts to the first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in the latest reshuffling for that mission.

Tragedy! NASA Says the Voyager Space Probes are Powering Down

The clock is ticking for Voyager 1 and 2. NASA says the Voyager vehicles will run out of power by 2025, ending a decades-long mission launched in 1977.

MIT Scientists Propose Space Bubbles to Reverse the Worst of Climate Change

Geoengineering is fun to think about—but lowering current emissions should be the most important goal.

Glacial ice supports a distinct and undocumented polar bear subpopulation persisting in late 21st-century sea-ice conditions

Water on the moon twice over for China's sample-return mission

China's moon lander found water in the 'Ocean of Storms.'

Baby Jupiter got so big by eating other baby planets

The gas giant's belly is full of tiny pre-planets, not pulverized pebbles.

Mysterious blue blobs could be galactic 'belly flops,' astronomers say

University of Arizona astronomers have identified five examples of a new class of stellar system. They're not quite galaxies and only exist in isolation.

Gallstone from a mummified 16th century prince used to reconstruct the ancient genome of E. coli

Scientists from McMaster University have managed to reconstruct the genome of E. Coli using the 400-year-old gallstones of a mummified Italian prince. The genome shows how the superbug has evolved.

SpaceX planning another trifecta of launches this weekend – Spaceflight Now

Newly discovered star system contains 2 Earthlike planets

The planets orbit a so-called M dwarf star, which is about 10 times smaller than the sun.

Unexplainable podcast: 7 solar system mysteries scientists haven’t solved yet

Why is our moon so weird? Was there ever life on Mars? Big cosmic questions lurk in our celestial backyard.

See a rare alignment of all the planets in the night sky

The celestial show, best viewed between June 17 and June 27, will be the last time the five brightest planets cluster in the sky until 2040.

Astronomers Discover a Nearby Multiplanet System With Two Earth-Sized Planets

Located just 33 light years from Earth, the system appears to host two rocky, Earth-sized planets. A new multiplanet system within our galactic neighborhood has been discovered by astronomers at MIT and elsewhere. It lies just 10 parsecs, or about 33 light-ye…

Dead star's cannibalism of its planetary system is most far-reaching ever witnessed

The violent death throes of a nearby star so thoroughly disrupted its planetary system that the dead star left behind—known as a white dwarf—is sucking in debris from both the system's inner and outer reaches, UCLA astronomers and colleagues report today.

Russia Forced to Dodge Space Debris From When It Blew Up Satellite

Russia's Progress cargo spacecraft had to perform an unplanned engine burn to avoid debris left behind by one of the country's own satellites.

Breeding 2,000 Generations of Bacteria May Have Solved This Major Debate in Biology

Since the dawn of genetics in the early 20th century, biologists have debated whether evolution is driven more by chance mutations or by the original diversity in the gene pool.

NASA Rover Perseverance Littered, Leaving Piece of Trash on Mars

The rover is the red planet’s first confirmed litterbug.

The human microbiome: there is much left to do

It’s time to make the survey of humanity’s ‘second genome’ more complete.