Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
'Star Trek' Beams Into Oscar Night
William Shatner and two other 'Star Trek' stars helped out with the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).
Ambitious Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moons Gets Science Instruments
Scientists approved 11 experiments for an ambitious mission to explore Jupiter's icy moons.
US Military's Robot Space Plane Settles Into Mystery Mission
The X-37B has been orbiting Earth on a mystery mission since Dec. 11, 2012.
Best Space Photos of the Week - Feb. 23, 2013
From a space chow to a lobster - shaped nebula, don't miss these amazing space pictures.
Curiosity rover’s drilling on Mars captured on camera - video
Nasa releases images of the Mars Curiosity rover collecting its first rock samples from the surface of the red planet
Pluto's moons campaign backed by Star Trek's William Shatner - video
An online poll to decide a name for a pair of Pluto's newly discovered moons is taking place, with William Shatner campaigning for the one to be called Vulcan
Super-Hot Plasma 'Rain' Falls on Sun in Amazing Video
The Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft captured the video during a July 2012 eruption.
Moon-size exoplanet circling sun-like star smallest yet
The newly detected world is smaller than any of the solar system’s planets and just a bit larger than our moon.Nature News doi: 10.1038/nature.2013.12485
NASA Landsat 5 satellite sets Guinness world record
After nearly thirty years in orbit, Landsat 5 is the world's longest-operating Earth observation satellite
NASA releases glory Taurus XL launch failure report summary
NASA has released a summary report on findings from a panel that investigated the unsuccessful 2011 launch of the agency's Glory spacecraft.
Six years in space for THEMIS: Understanding the magnetosphere better than ever
(Phys.org)—On Earth, scientists can observe weather patterns, and more importantly can predict them, through the use of tens of thousands of weather observatories scattered around the globe. Up in the...
Want to Smell Space? Sniff a Cosmic Candle
Nerdy toy makers used input from scientists to create a candle that smells like space.
Simple Gravity Doesn't Explain Distribution Of Stars In Crowded Clusters
Gravity works, it is a dominant force in physics, but at the very large and very small scales it holds a lot of mysteries left to be solved. Foe example,...
Northern Eye 9 - Thomond on Thursday with his choice of Guardian pictures from England's better half
In his latest weekly selection for the Guardian Northerner, Christopher Thomond visits Manchester's studentland and looks at technology old and new. You can see his eight earlier Northern Eyes here...
NASA Sees Monster Sunspot Growing Fast, Solar Storms Possible
The giant sunspot is as large as six Earths, NASA says.
NASA plant study headed to space station
GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- NASA engineers say they're working on a habitat to learn the effects on plants of long-duration microgravity exposure in space.
Kepler 37-b: tiniest planet spotted
A team of researchers detected Kepler-37b, the smallest planet ever spotted outside the solar system.
Exciting Possibilities In (And About) Space!
First some exciting news about space-flight. Then I'll finish with a followup (and speculative) reflection on our recent multiple encounters with space rocks.= NASA's NIAC: New and Innovative Advance Concepts...
Death Valley Named Largest Dark Sky Park
Home of the hottest temperature on Earth also gets 'Gold Tier' rating for spectacular night skies.
3-D observations of the outflow from an active galactic nucleus
Quasars are bright central regions of some distant galaxies. Their luminosities are often hundreds of times greater than those of their host galaxies (Note 2). Scientists believe that their light...
VIDEO: Drones monitor impact of seaweed
Scientists from the University of Birmingham have been working with space agency Nasa to use high-flying robot drones to study the Earth's atmosphere.
Dot Earth Blog: Can Humans Do Better Than Dinosaurs When it Comes to Incoming Space Objects?
A veteran of the space program hopes that a double-barreled close encounter with space objects can get humanity to take such threats seriously.
Venus and Moon Rise Serenely Over India's Ganges River (Photo)
Veteran astrophotographer Ajay Talwar snapped the spectacular image of the crescent moon and Venus over the Ganges River in India.
Cornell physicist and Nobel winner Richardson dies
ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) -- Robert C. Richardson, a Cornell University professor who shared a Nobel Prize for a key discovery in experimental physics, has died. He...
Searching for the solar system's chemical recipe
(Phys.org)—By studying the origins of different isotope ratios among the elements that make up today's smorgasbord of planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and interplanetary ice and dust, Mark Thiemens and his...
Does Bias Hold Women Back In Academia?
Meg Urry was on the senior scientific staff at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which runs the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA. That's no surprise to people outside the...
Proposed Asteroid-Destroying Satellite Sounds An Awful Lot Like A Death Star
DE-STAR (Definitely Not A Death Star) UC Santa BarbaraI mean, a LOT like a Death Star. After the double-whammy of a meteorite hitting Russia and a near-miss with an asteroid, some scientists...
Moon mining a step closer with new lunar soil simulant
Australian researchers have developed a substance that looks and behaves like soil from the moon's surface and can be mixed with polymers to create 'lunar concrete', a finding that may...