Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Ryan Coogler in talks to helm 'Black Panther' movie
Karen ButlerLOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Ryan Coogler is in talks to helm the comic-book adaptation "Marvel's Black Panther," starring Chadwick Boseman.
Hawaiian court throws out Thirty Meter Telescope building permit
Construction of the $1.4bn TMT set for delays, as opposition hardens
Kepler's false-positive rate for some planets is higher than thought
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has found thousands of prospective planets around nearby stars. But the trick is often in confirming whether they’re real or fakes. Now, a new study of gas...
Japanese Probe Snaps Amazing Views of Earth and Moon in Flyby (Video)
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft captured a series of Earth photos during a speed-boosting flyby of the planet Thursday (Dec. 3), exactly one year after blasting off...
Weather satellite startup will launch on Indian rocket
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A Colorado-based startup developing a satellite network to predict weather using radio signals will launch its first two spacecraft on an Indian rocket, the company...
Half of Kepler’s giant exoplanet candidates are false positives, study finds
An international team made a 5-year radial velocity campaign of Kepler's giant exoplanet candidates, using the SOPHIE spectrograph (Observatory of Haute-Provence, France), and found that 52.3% were actually eclipsing binaries,...
Ryan Reynolds shows off assets in latest 'Deadpool' movie poster
Marilyn MalaraLOS ANGELES, Colo., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Marvel gets cheeky with its latest 'Deadpool' poster featuring the masked anti-hero, played by Ryan Reynolds, grabbing his buttocks.
Carrie Underwood sings duet with James Corden for 'Late Late Show'
Marilyn MalaraLOS ANGELES, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- James Corden enlisted country music favorite Carrie Underwood to take a ride with him for "Carpool Karaoke" on 'The Late Late Show.'
Impeachment process begins against Brazil President Dilma Rousseff
Andrew V. PestanoBRASILIA, Brazil, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Brazil Chamber of Deputies Speaker Eduardo Cunha opened an impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday.
Superflare: Sun could release flares 1000x greater than previously recorded
The Sun demonstrates the potential to superflare, new research into stellar flaring suggests. New research has found a stellar superflare on a star observed by NASA's Kepler space telescope with...
Mars Rover Prototype Practices on Earth for Stressful Moments (Video)
A prototype of Europe's first Mars rover took some toddling steps in late October, logging four successes and one failure as it tried to move off a simulated landing platform...
Police chief faces charges for huffing compressed air on duty
Ben HooperDANVILLE, Pa., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania police chief was arraigned on charges alleging he was caught "huffing" cans of compressed air to get high while on duty.
Manslaughter charges dropped in BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Daniel J. GraeberNEW ORLEANS, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- "In the interest of justice" a U.S. court dismissed manslaughter charges against BP engineers on the Deepwater Horizon rig at the time...
DARPA Scraps Plan To Launch Small Sats from F-15 Fighter Jet
DARPA had scrapped plans to launch small satellites from a modified F-15 fighter jet after two test of a new rocket fuel ended in explosions this year.
Swedish Mars instrument selected by ESA
HABIT is the name of the first Swedish instrument to be placed on the surface of Mars. It was developed by an international research team led by Professor Javier Martín-Torres...
Twin civilisations? How life on an exoplanet could spread to its neighbour
Imagine two nearby exoplanets orbiting the same sun, each with its own indigenous civilisation. They're going through history either as companionable neighbours or deadly rivals. This is a familiar situation...
Japan asteroid probe conducts 'Earth swing-by' in space quest
A Japanese space probe launched last year passed by Earth on Thursday to harness the planet's gravitational pull to propel it toward a far away asteroid in its quest to...
NOAA Weather Satellite Breaks Up in Orbit
A U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite has suffered an apparent breakup, the second time in less than a year that a polar-orbiting weather satellite has generated orbital debris.
Researcher discusses new book detailing the hunt for the oldest stars
Anna Frebel has unearthed some of the oldest stars in the universe, meticulously extricating them from the billions of stellar grains in the sky. By determining the chemical composition of...
Cambridge University launches new centre to study AI and the future of intelligence
Human-level intelligence is familiar in biological 'hardware'—it happens inside our skulls. Technology and science are now converging on a possible future where similar intelligence can be created in computers.
UPI Almanac for Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015
By United Press International On Dec. 3, 2012, White House spokesman Jay Carney, commenting on a U.S. warning that Syria must not cross a "red line," said: "The Assad regime...
A Fond Farewell — A Star Says Goodbye | Space Wallpaper
Menzel 2, a planetary nebula, arrives at its final stages of life as a white dwarf.
'Dark Universe': Probing the Greatest Mysteries of the Cosmos (Q&A)
Despite how far science has come, so many questions remained unanswered.
Florida State sorority star releases new highlight reel
Alex ButlerTALLAHASSEE, Fla., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- NFL teams without a franchise quarterback should be on notice.
FBI: Record 185K background checks performed on gun-buying Americans during Black Friday
Doug G. WareWASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- More Americans underwent background checks for the purchase of a firearm on Black Friday than on any other day in the nation's history,...
Pope Blesses Kid-Built Satellite Bound for Space
STMSat-1, a cubesat built by students at the St. Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington, Virginia, is scheduled to blast off aboard Orbital ATK's uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft Thursday at...
Yellen hints at December rate hike
Yimian Wu, Medill News ServiceWASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Janet Yellen expressed confidence in the U.S. economy and hinted at an interest rate hike in December.
Mind-Boggling View! NASA Mission Launches On Up Aerospace Rocket | Video
The space launch service provider deployed NASA's Maraia Earth Return Capsule on their "10th SpaceLoft rocket launch." It flew to an altitude of 75 miles above its Spaceport America launchpad.