Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Space Pictures This Week: Black Hole Blobs, Mars Rations
Images of a Pacific-island "Valentine," a hungry black hole, and a mock meal on Mars are among the week's best space pictures.
World's "Most Mysterious Manuscript" Gives Up a Secret
Gallery: Researchers Use Carbon Dating to Decipher One of the Secrets Shrouding the Famous Voynich Manuscript
Mystery of how fleas jump resolved after 44 years
New research sheds light on how fleas jump, reaching speeds as fast as 1.9 meters per second. Using high-speed recording equipment and sophisticated mathematical models, scientists were able to prove that...
New view of family life in the North American nebula
Stars at all stages of development, from dusty little tots to young adults, are on display in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This cosmic community is called...
Cosmic Log: How near is the Singularity?
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: The next frontier in the merger of humans and machines could be nearly as close as your smart phone.
Snapshots of a World in Change
Gallery: Comparative NASA Data Turn Up the Dramatic Shifts in the Earth's Climate System
NASA infrared satellite data gives System 96S a fair shot at becoming a tropical cyclone
A low pressure area located a couple of hundred miles northwest of Western Australia appears in a better position for development into a tropical cyclone according to infrared NASA satellite...
Why the Night Sky Changes With the Seasons
Have you ever wondered why most star patterns are associated with specific seasons of the year? Here's why.
Astronauts Could Ride Asteroids to Mars, Study Says
Astronauts could reach the red planet inside asteroids, which would shield crews from damaging cosmic rays, a new study says.
Red Planet for Sale? How Corporate Sponsors Could Send Humans to Mars
NASA scientists and others think business corporations could bankroll a human mission to Mars. Corporate sponsors could generate $160 billion for a Mars mission and colony.
Image: Dextre gets to work
Dextre, the Canadian Space Agency's robotic "handyman", is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 26 crew member aboard the International Space Station on Feb. 3, 2011.
A race against time to find Apollo 14's lost voyagers
In communities all across the US, travellers that went to the moon and back with the Apollo 14 mission are living out their quiet lives. The voyagers in question are...
House Appropriators Propose $103 Million Budget Cut for NASA
NASA’s budget would drop $103 million this year if Congress adopts proposed spending cuts. The NASA budget cuts proposed by House appropriators leave NASA below its 2010 funding level.
CALIPSO spies polar stratospheric clouds
NASAs Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite was in the right place at the right time in early 2011. On January 4, while flying past the east...
Mysterious noctilucent clouds as seen from space
Mysterious "night shining" or noctilucent clouds are beautiful to behold, and are usually seen during the summertime, appearing at sunset. They are thin, wavy ice clouds that form at very...
Ray Kurzweil Pushes Singularity Back To 2045
Last year I attended a singularity conference and Ray Kurzweil's avatar predicted it was 25 years away. Well, it's been 25 years away for a long time. It's a...
NASA's First Orion Space Capsule Ships Out for Big Tests
NASA's first prototype of its new manned Orion space capsule has shipped out for rigorous ground tests.
Europa helps astronomers penetrate Jupiter's lost belt
(PhysOrg.com) -- The ongoing turmoil inside Jupiters missing and slowly re-emerging South Equatorial Belt can now be seen in unprecedented detail thanks to the Keck II telescopes Adaptive...
Astronaut plans 'out of this world' concert
Nasa astronaut Catherine Coleman is hoping to stage her own live "out of this world" concert with her Chieftain and Jethro Tull flautist friends
Physicist introduces you to 'The Hidden Reality'
In an excerpt from Chapter One of "The Hidden Reality," Columbia theoretical physicist Brian Greene sets the stage for his book-length explanation of parallel-universe theories.
NASA Announces Candidates for Cubesat Space Missions
NASA has selected 20 small satellites, including two from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2011 and 2012.
What's with the delay?
In his classes, Rifat Sipahi often challenges his engineering students to explore a problem that is literally out of this world. For example, he notes that operators in Houston control...
NASA Needs Commercial Space Partnerships to Survive, Chief Says
NASA can't survive without strong partnerships with commercial and private space companies, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said today (Feb. 9).
Best Time to Observe February's Moon Is Now
The best time to check out the moon's craters in February is now.
Europa serves as guide star for Keck adaptive optics view of Jupiter
One of my greatest writing pleasures has been getting to know Heidi Hammel when I wrote her biography, Beyond Jupiter for the Joseph Henry Press “Women’s Adventures in Science”...
Rogue 'Steppenwolf Planets' That Have Escaped From Their Suns Could Harbor Alien Life, Astrophysicists Say
Gliese 581 Artist's rendering of the star Gliese 581, with exoplanet Gliese 581c (neighbor to newly discovered Gliese 581g) in the foreground. ESOIf you don't need to be in a solar system...
Some of Universe's First Stars May Still Be Visible
A new study that suggests the first stars in universe formed in groups, rather than alone, has also revealed a surprising side effect: If conditions were just right, a few...
Air Force and ULA to launch second X-37B
From all appearances the first flight of the U.S. Air Forces secretive X-37B space plane was a complete success. As such, the Air Force is planning to launch a second...