Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
NASA Chief to Congress: Save the James Webb Space Telescope
NASA chief Charlie Bolden went to bat for the agency's imperiled next-generation space telescope Tuesday (July 12), telling members of Congress that the instrument has greater potential for discovery than...
Shuttle Commander Shares Words of Wisdom Before Last Launch
Shuttle Atlantis' commander spoke with the launch director about the significance of this final flight.
Dawn team members check out spacecraft
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mission managers for NASA's Dawn spacecraft are studying the spacecraft's ion propulsion system after Dawn experienced a loss of thrust on June 27. Dawn team members were able...
First-ever view of a sungrazer comet in front of the sun (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- On the evening of Tuesday, July 5, a comet flew into the sun. Such comets are not unusual, and they're called "sungrazers" since they come so close to...
Mars landing site narrowed down to two candidates
Even as space shuttle program winds down, NASA's plans to explore Red Planet advance
ScienceShot: Billion-Pixel Array Will Map the Milky Way
Camera is largest ever built for a space mission
Mercury vapor released from broken compact fluorescent light bulbs can exceed safe exposure levels for humans, study finds
Once broken, a compact fluorescent light bulb continuously releases mercury vapor into the air for weeks to months, and the total amount can exceed safe human exposure levels in a...
Final countdown: Atlantis to carry next-generation vaccine candidate on last space voyage
The ability of spaceflight to enhance the efficacy of a recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccine, or RASV, will be the focus of experiments conducted by Cheryl Nickerson and Roy Curtiss, of...
Alines bleaching their hair? Hydrogen peroxide found in space
An international team of astronomers made the discovery with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope (APEX), situated on the 5000-metre-high Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes. They observed...
The making of dust
(PhysOrg.com) -- On the Earth, dust particles are everywhere - under beds, on bookshelves, even floating in the air. We take dust for granted. Dust is also common in space,...
Tempest-from-hell seen on Saturn
Imagine being caught in a thunderstorm as wide as the Earth with discharges of lightning 10,000 times more powerful than normal, flashing 10 times per second at its peak.
Hubble's "yowza" moment: It's millionth science observation
The magic milestone notched on Independence Day, while looking at a planet 1,000 light-years away from Earth
A Skeleton Crew for the Final Shuttle Flight
With no spare spacecraft available to rescue the astronauts if something goes wrong, NASA is sending four people, rather than the usual six or seven, on the mission.
VIDEO: Will solar plane cross the Mediterranean?
The BBC's Sam Naz reports on the latest technology news from around the world.
Sun's 'DNA' revealed
Solar nitrogen is very different from that of meteorites or the Earth. Scientists reached this conclusion after analyzing samples of solar wind collected by the Genesis space mission launched by...
Dealing with pollution, James Bond style
A new safe soil tester, a portable lab with a satellite link, offers an efficient and cost-effective way to test for a safe environment. The high-tech tester uses micro-organisms to...
Astronaut John Glenn mulls space program future
49 years after becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, Glenn says the program should be growing, not winding down
Astronauts May Get Exoskeleton Arms to Control Robotic Space Explorers
Remote control tests from the space station to Earth could pave the way for future planetary missions.
Russia bids to expand Arctic border to seek gas
Russia will submit a claim to the United Nations to expand its Arctic borders, a top official said Wednesday, as scientists embarked on a new expedition to prove its ownership...
Black widows sniff out cannibals
Black widow spiders can sniff out well-fed or ravenous females by walking on their webs, according to researchers.
News in Brief: Atom & Cosmos
When Jupiter aligns with Mars’ moon, plus a salty Saturnian moon and an eye-catching comet in this week’s news
News in Brief: Life
The perils of insect enslavement, bats’ hairy flight and crustacean-inspired optics in this week’s news
News in Brief: Earth/Environment
Airplanes knock rain from the sky, plus a quick-melting glacier and BPA's diabetes link in this week's news
What The Space Shuttle Did For You
Space Shuttle derived technology and advancements include the artificial heart, better prosthetic limbs, cancer treating drugs, refined diagnostics and many other benefits on Earth. Narrated by Star Trek's William...
Sounding rockets study how winds in space drive currents in the upper atmosphere
This July, scientists will launch four rockets for a five-minute journey some 100 miles up into the atmosphere. The rockets will collect data on the charged particles as well as...
Star Caught Eating Another Star, X-Ray Flare Shows
A tiny cannibal has been caught in the act, thanks to a superbright flash of x-rays recently spied by cosmic hunters.
Who Owns the Moon Camera? U.S. Government vs. Apollo Astronaut
If the government throws a camera away on the moon and an astronaut picks it up and saves it, does it become his to own and sell?
Mysterious Pulsar Blasts Stuttering Gamma-Ray Flares
A tiny pulsar (10mi diameter) performs a pas-de-deux with its massive blue star partner. As it plummets through Big Blue’s gas disk, huge sparks of the most intense radiation known...