Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Mystery of Universe's missing hydrogen
Australian astronomers have found that something vital is missing from the distant reaches of the Universe - hydrogen, the material needed to build stars and planets.
Collisions helped form disk galaxies
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Violent intergalactic collision created the bright pinwheels and broad star sweeps typical in disk galaxies such as the Milky Way, U.S. researchers found.
Los Alamos observatory fingers cosmic ray 'hot spots'
A Los Alamos National Laboratory cosmic-ray observatory has seen for the first time two distinct hot spots that appear to be bombarding Earth with an excess of cosmic rays. The...
Final hurdle for UK's Moon shot
The UK's space funding body is to assess a proposal to send a British spacecraft to the Moon.
Spanish city installs solar panels on sun-soaking cemetery
A city in north-eastern Spain installs solar panels at its main cemetery in a move to generate power for homes.
This Time, Spacewalk Is A Breeze
To everyone's relief, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Shane Kimbrough deftly stepped through their work Thursday without any mishaps. They triple-checked their equipment to make certain everything was tied down.
Carbon Dioxide Detected on Faraway World
Carbon dioxide, a potential fingerprint of life, has been discovered for the first time in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star.
Solar Wind Rips Up Martian Atmosphere
Researchers have found new evidence that the atmosphere of Mars is being stripped away by solar wind. It's not a gently continuous erosion, but rather a ripping process in which...
Witnesses: Large meteor streaks across Canada sky
(AP) -- Scientists say they hope to find remnants of a meteor that brilliantly lit up the sky before falling to earth in western Canada.
Star Trek Now: Lasers Close Incisions
A new way to close surgical incisions looks a lot like Star Trek technology.
Scientists confrirm Einstein's e=mc2
PARIS, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- European researchers say they've confirmed Albert Einstein's e=mc2, more than a century after the famous physicist first unveiled the hypothesis.
Nasa veteran offers tips to British students on how to walk in space
Britain may be scorned for refusing to send humans into space, but from next week it will have the next best thing: its own university course on how to be...
NASA scales back flagship Mars mission
(AP) -- NASA is scrapping a controversial piece of hardware from its next-generation Mars rover that would have allowed the spacecraft to store rock fragments in a mini-basket for...
New Nano Satellite Mission To Examine Link Between Lightning And Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes
Massive energy releases occur every day in the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere. Lightning may give rise to these bursts of radiation. However, unlike the well-known flashes of light and...
U.S. Winter Outlook Calls For Variability, According To NOAA
In announcing the 2008-2009 U.S. Winter Outlook for meteorological winter from December through February, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center are calling for warmer-than-normal temperatures for much of the...
Dawn Glides Into New Year
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft shut down its ion propulsion system today as scheduled. The spacecraft is now gliding toward a Mars flyby in February of next year.
Zuber named to list of 'best leaders'
MIT planetary scientist Maria T. Zuber, who was selected last year by NASA as one of the two first women to head major space missions, has been named this year...
Perspectives on Architecture and the Environment
Faculty experts in the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin are available to discuss topics ranging from sustainable building and design to urban planning and energy...
Memory mission explores new territory in neuroscience
Astrophysicists peer into the far corners of deep space for dark matter, but for neuroscientists at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) exploring the unknown is much closer to home.
Beta Pictoris planet finally imaged?
(PhysOrg.com) -- The hot star Beta Pictoris is one of the best-known examples of stars surrounded by a dusty 'debris' disc. Debris discs are composed of dust resulting from collisions...
New ISS crews: First European to become ISS Commander and next European long-term flight
ESA PR 46-2008. ESA astronaut Frank De Winne is set to become the first European Commander of the International Space Station.
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Makes Some Noise
(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of physicists studying heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a large particle accelerator located on Long Island, New York, recently showed that the...
Mars Express observes aurorae on the red planet
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists using ESA's Mars Express have produced the first crude map of aurorae on Mars. These displays of ultraviolet light appear to be located close to the residual...
Earth from Space: The Netherlands
This Envisat image features the Netherlands, with the capital city of Amsterdam visible in white on the south bank of the waterway (North Sea Canal) extending in an east-west direction...
Editorial: Life on Mars
Editorial: The enthusiasm for space exploration is growing keener as the world's emerging economies join in
Buried Mars Glaciers May Be Remnants of Past Ice Age
Sloping features at Mars's mid-latitudes are the largest bulk of water ice not at the poles and could be leftover from past climate changes, radar data suggest.
NASA Gives Up On Broken Mars Lander
NASA on Monday declared an end to the Phoenix mission, some five months after the spacecraft became the first to land in Mars' arctic plains and taste water on another...
First Pics Of Extra-Solar Planets Captured
Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers.