Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers Weigh The Coldest Brown Dwarfs With Astronomy's Sharpest Eyes
Astronomers have used ultrasharp images obtained with the Keck Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope to determine for the first time the masses of the coldest class of "failed stars," a.k.a....
New Method Developed To Weigh, Resolve Distant Black Holes
A new, simple method to learn about black holes up to eight billion light years away -- thousands of times farther away than black holes can be measured today --...
NASA selects MIT-led team for search satellite
A planet-searching satellite planned by scientists from MIT, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and NASA-Ames is one of six proposed spacecraft concepts that NASA has picked for further study as...
Smallest known extrasolar planet is found
SOUTH BEND, Ind., June 4 (UPI) -- U.S.-led astronomers have found an extrasolar planet only three times more massive than Earth, making it the smallest yet found orbiting...
Scientists study Crab Pulsar deceleration
GAINESVILLE, Fla., June 4 (UPI) -- U.S.-led astronomers say they've moved a step closer to understand how the spinning neutron star known as the Crab Pulsar is slowing...
Space shuttle blastoff damaged launch pad: NASA
Bricks and mortar blew off the US space shuttle's launch pad during its weekend liftoff, without damaging the orbiter but causing concern for future missions, NASA said Monday.
NASA's own watchdog: Agency misled on global warming
(AP) -- NASA's press office "marginalized or mischaracterized" studies on global warming between 2004 and 2006, the agency's own internal watchdog concluded.
John Vidal reports how home energy schemes could help save the planet
John Vidal on how home energy schemes that involve all kinds of different technologies could provide as much electricity as five power stations
Wedding Crashers Flew in, and the Lawn Wore White
At a wedding in Minnesota, giant hailstones paid an unexpected call.
Titanic Found During Secret U.S. Navy Investigation
The ill-fated ocean liner was found during a 1985 exploration of wrecked nuclear submarines in the North Atlantic, oceanographer Bob Ballard has revealed.
Prof's Research in National Geographic Explorer
North Dakota State University's Dr. Heather Gill-Robinson uncovers secrets of peat bog mummies that are part of "Mystery of the Mummy Murders" on the television program Explorer airing on the...
Phoenix to Earthlings: I’ve Landed! Awesome!
A NASA spacecraft has been sending pithy updates from the surface of Mars to users of Twitter, a Web microblogging service — with the help of a human.
Dot Earth: NASA Investigates Flow of Findings on Climate Science
The NASA inspector general faults Bush administration officials in the agency’s press office for limiting and distorting the flow of information on climate science.
Mars Lander Set to Begin Digging in Earnest
The scoop at the end of Phoenix’s 7.7-foot-long robotic arm will dig three trenches side by side looking for ice and hints of past liquid water in the far north...
Mining for Molecules in the Milky Way
Scientists are using the giant Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to go prospecting in a rich molecular cloud in our Milky Way Galaxy. They seek to discover new,...
Simulations predicted Mars lander would hit sub-surface
University of Michigan simulations correctly predicted that the pulsed jets of the Mars Phoenix lander would strip the soil to the subsurface ice or rock as the craft touched down.
For barn swallows, feathers make the man, says study
A new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has shown the testosterone of male North American barn swallows skyrocketed early in the breeding season when their breast...
UIC Computer Scientist Named Engineering Dean
Peter Nelson, a computer science professor and expert in the field of artificial intelligence, has been appointed dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Engineering, pending approval...
NASA lunar art contest winners announced
WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency said Justin Burns, a University of Memphis sophomore, has won its annual lunar art contest with a vision of...
Warm Coronal Loops Offer Clue To Mysteriously Hot Solar Atmosphere
Scientists at NASA reveal a new understanding of the mysterious mechanism responsible for heating the outer part of the solar atmosphere, the corona, to million degree temperatures. The corona is...
Science Weekly podcast: Lisa Jardine, Mars, and mechanical monkeys
Lisa Jardine, the new head of the HFEA, tells us about battling religious dogma. Plus, NASA's return to Mars. And the secret to the perfect voice
Discovering ancient treasures from space
Satellite images from space help scientists detect clues that lead to archaeological finds on Earth.
Fat Star's True Small Nature Revealed
The mystery of a bloated but strangely cold star is solved.
Mars mission: robot leaves footprint in red planet's soil
Nasa's robot on Mars scoops out soil, leaving an impression that resembles a footprint
Modified Shuttle Fuel Tank Performs Well, NASA Says
The new fuel tank that flew with the shuttle Discovery appeared to do well.
Shuttle Astronauts to Scan Heat Shield
Discovery shuttle astronauts will make a limited scan of their heat shield.
Congresswoman Nervous as Husband Goes to Space
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to watch shuttle commander husband launch spaceward.
Hacker changes Phoenix Mars Lander Web site
(AP) -- A spokeswoman for the Phoenix Mars Lander mission says a hacker took over the mission's public Web site during the night and changed its lead news story.
