Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Mars Find Suggests Life Once Possible
A Mars spacecraft for the first time spotted a key mineral in bedrock on the Martian surface, suggesting parts of the planet might have once had an environment hospitable to...
Hubble Catches Jupiter's Largest Moon Going To The 'Dark Side'
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has caught Jupiter's moon Ganymede playing a game of "peek-a-boo." In this crisp Hubble image, Ganymede is shown just before it ducks behind the giant planet.
New Model Explains Movements Of The Moon
Scientists are developing a mathematical formula to study the rotation of the moon, taking into account its structure, which comprises a solid external layer and a fluid internal core. Their...
Cosmic Log: Hope on a pale blue dot
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Celebrating Christmas ... observing Hanukkah ... marking the winter solstice ... remembering Carl Sagan. Across the spiritual spectrum, this is a season of hope, even...
Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt? Dark Energy Independently Confirmed
In 1998 two teams of researchers made a milestone cosmological announcement: The universe, long known to be expanding, was not slowing down in its expansion as expected but was in...
ALMA observatory equipped with its first antenna
High in the Atacama region in northern Chile, one of the world's most advanced telescopes has just passed a major milestone. The first of many state-of-the-art antennas has just been...
Carbonates confirmed on Mars
Carbonate outcrop discovery gives new hope for finding life on the red planet
Scientists find carbonate and clues to Mars mysteries
Researchers using a powerful instrument aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have found a long-sought-after mineral on the Martian surface and, with it, unexpected clues to the Red Planet's watery past....
Earth not centre of the Universe, surrounded by 'dark energy'
Earth's location in the Universe is utterly unremarkable, despite recent theories that propose toppling a foundation of modern cosmology, according to a team of University of British Columbia researchers...
Kepler spacecraft ready to ship to Florida
Engineers are getting ready to pack NASA's Kepler spacecraft into a container and ship it off to its launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The mission, scheduled...
Duke researchers coax bright white light from unexpected source
Duke University and United States Army scientists have found that a cheap and nontoxic sunburn and diaper rash preventative can be made to produce brilliant light best suited to the...
Japan launches first solar cargo ship
The world's first cargo ship partly propelled by solar power took to the seas on Friday in Japan, aiming to cut fuel costs and carbon emissions when automakers export their...
Where Did Venus's Water Go?
Venus Express has made the first detection of an atmospheric loss process on Venus's day-side. Last year, the spacecraft revealed that most of the lost atmosphere escapes from the night-side....
'Wet' Early Universe: Water Vapor Detected At Record Distance
Scientists have used the 100 m Effelsberg radio telescope to detect water at the greatest distance from Earth so far. The water vapor was discovered in a quasar which corresponds...
New Space Toilet Has No Door...Yet
Space station astronauts hooked up their brand new space toilet this week sans door.
Mars find suggests area may have been hospitable
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An orbiting spacecraft has discovered a key mineral in bedrock on the Martian surface that suggests the planet might once have had...
BaBar Collaboration Completes Data Reprocessing
(PhysOrg.com) -- One might think that processing the records of 22 billion electron and positron collisions once would be enough. But not so for the BaBar collaboration, which this week...
Universities with Highest Numbers of Minority Physics Degrees Named
The American Institute of Physics' has named the institutions that have given the most bachelors' and PhD degrees in physics to historically underrepresented groups.
NASA signs agreement with rocket company
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it has signed an agreement that might lead to testing of a new plasma-based propulsion system at the...
NASA to take part in inaugural parade
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration says it has been invited to march in President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural parade Jan. 20.
Shocking Science 2008
Over the past 12 months the world of science has provided a bumper crop of bizarre and scary revelations
High-energy jumbo squid at risk with warming
Jumbo squid are long-distance commuters. Every day, these gangly creatures migrate more than 500 hundred vertical feet. It's a high-energy lifestyle — and one that's going to suffer as a...
Search the Skies with Jill Tarter
Join SETI's Jill Tarter and search the skies with the Allen Telescope Array.
Moon's polar craters could be the place to find lunar ice, scientists report
Scientists have discovered where they believe would be the best place to find ice on the moon.
Nasa set to launch 'CO2 hunter'
The US space agency is planning to launch a satellite that can map where all the carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere.
New Research Into Fair-weather Clouds Important In Climate Predictions
New research has led to better understanding of clouds, the unknown quantity in current climate models. Scientists have tackled this issue with a combination of detailed computer simulations and airplane...
Mars Goes for a Spin--Or at Least Part of It Might
Planetary scientists have often puzzled over the origins of the Martian landscape, including its so-called hemispheric dichotomy, a pronounced difference in the thickness of the planet's crust between its northern...
Top UK physics departments tumble in new assessment
Oxford, Imperial and Southampton fall in physics rankings