Science

This Is SpaceX’s Second Barge, Preparing to Catch a Rocket on Sunday

SpaceX has been trying for some time now to land a rocket on a barge—and on Sunday it’ll try again, attempting to set down a spacecraft aboard this vessel, called Of Course I Still Love You. The name, though, isn’t a reference to the Falcon 9 crashing and burning aboard a similar barge. Instead, the…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

This Is How Prosthetic Eyes are Made

A small, highly skilled team at Moorfields Eye Hospital transform the lives of people who have lost their eyes to accidents and disease. Each year, they work with their clients to create around 1,400 customized, detailed prosthetics, many of which replace eyes. Here’s how. Modern prosthetic eyes are far removed from the old misconceptions about…

Health Mosaic

The Real Reason You Get Red Eyes After Swimming Is Gross

If you get bloodshot eyes after you take a dip in a swimming pool, know that it’s not chlorine to blame. It’s something far more disgusting! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would like you to know that those red, itchy eyes were caused by someone’s pool pee. “Chlorine binds with all the things…

Health Kate Knibbs

We May Have Dramatically Misunderstood the Shapes of Black Holes

Even if you didn’t see Interstellar, you’ve probably heard about how black holes have an “event horizon” — and once you pass it, you’re mashed into multi-dimensional mush. But now, some physicists believe we got it all wrong. Black holes are more like fuzzy balls of cotton, with no event horizons at all. Over at…

Physics & Chemistry Annalee Newitz

The Military Is Actually Prepping for War in Space

The space race never went away, and now the US is getting a new operations center to prepare for conflict from above the Earth’s atmosphere. The Department of Defense plans to open a new space-war center within six months, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, who talked about the project yesterday at GEOINT 2015,…

Space & Spaceflight Kate Knibbs

Abortion Drone Is the Best Drone

This Saturday, a small drone carrying the abortion-inducing pills mifepristone and misoprostol will fly from Germany to a border town in Poland. And yes, “Abortion Drone” sounds like the name of an anarchist punk band, but this is the most badass drone aid mission yet. The drone will deliver medication to reproductive health groups, who…

Health Kate Knibbs

These Bulbs Mimic the Sun All Day To Help You Sleep Better At Night

It turns out that reading on your iPad is actually a terrible way to fall asleep because the device’s blueish glow can make your body think it’s time to get up. The color of light can have a big impact on the body’s natural rhythms, so a new connected bulb called the Silk works to…

Health Andrew Liszewski

Ceres’ Bright Spots Continue to Mystify Astronomers

As NASA’s Dawn mission continues to circle dwarf planet Ceres, we’re getting better and more detailed images of the planet’s mysterious bright spots. And yet, science is no closer to understanding what’s making this far-off planet glow. The latest images were taken by Dawn in its second mapping orbit, some 2,700 miles above the surface.…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills

Watch for Incredible Northern Lights From Tonight’s Geomagnetic Storm

A category four geomagnetic storm is sweeping over the Earth today, and while that means all sorts of funky things for power and communications systems, it should also cause some seriously incredible lights in the sky. The storm is caused by a solar flare emitted this afternoon, as captured below by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills

Why You Should Thank an Astronomer for Preventing Blindness

We are, as Carl Sagan famously said, made of star stuff—and now, your doctor may use a technology designed for studying the stars to examine the inner workings of your eyes. Here’s how it works—and could one day save you from blindness. Astronomers use a technology called adaptive optics to correct blurring in images captured…

Health Kiona Smith-Strickland

A Teen Just Died of Plague in Colorado

It’s supposed to be a disease of the middle ages, but every year a few people in the United States contract the bacterial infection that killed half the population of London in the fourteenth century. The latest victim of plague was a high school student in rural Colorado. 16-year-old Taylor Gaes was an athlete who…

Health Annalee Newitz

Why Scientists Have Been Scared of Space Germs for Almost 50 Years

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty was one of the few things the U.S. and the Soviet Union managed to agree on at the height of the Cold War. Among other things, it forbid both nations from bringing space microbes back to Earth, or spreading Earth germs to other planets. Article IX of the treaty says:…

Space & Spaceflight Kiona Smith-Strickland

This Box Should Provide the Best Free Fall Ever Recorded

This is the interior of an electrode housing box. It may not look much, but the gold–platinum test cube will fly aboard the European Space Agency’s LISA Pathfinder mission in an attempt to achieve the best free-fall ever. What the hell is that good for, you may ask? Launching later this year, LISA Pathfinder wil…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy

Night-Shining Clouds are the Craziest, Most Beautiful Phenomenon

Clouds are not usually the most enthralling part of nature. But in the late spring and summer, weather conditions conspire to create noctilucent or ‘night-shining’ clouds, high-altitude clouds that glow with an electric-blue hue long after the Sun has set. It takes a very particular set of atmospheric conditions to form noctilucent clouds: a combination…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills

NASA Image Gallery Brings All Your Favorite Space Photos Under One Roof

Ever come across a gorgeous Hubble image, or an article showing some of NASA’s cool new Mars lander tech, and wish you could remember where those lovely photos live? Rejoice, space nerds: NASA is making your life easier than ever, with the launch of a new mega gallery where you can browse all of the…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

UK Woman Gets “World’s Most Advanced” Bionic Hand Replacement

A new technology has enabled a woman who was born without a right hand to ride a bike for the first time, among other new abilities. Steeper Group, which is based in Leeds, created the “BeBionic” small hand for Nicky Ashwell, a 26-year-old from London; the company claims it is the most “anatomically accurate” out…

Health James O Malley

That Ancient Martian Ocean? It Might Have Been Frozen.

When we think “ancient Mars,” we often picture roaring rivers, warm oceans, and if we’re being optimistic, perhaps some simple life forms. But it’s also possible the Mars of eons past was not a water-covered paradise at all. It may, in fact, have resembled a giant, dirty snowball. That’s a notion favored by a forthcoming…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

A Space Lawyer Explains How We’ll Forge a Civil Society Off Earth

Without even looking a century or so ahead when we’ll take a Virgin Galactic flight to spend our summers on Europa, there are many legal issues that are already confronting humanity in space. That’s why space lawyers are plenty busy today examining the particular economic and societal challenges found where Earth ends and space begins.…

Space & Spaceflight Alissa Walker

The Bay Area From 400 Miles Above the Earth’s Surface

Before you head off into the weekend, take a second to behold San Francisco as seen from Landsat 8, moving high above the Earth in its 99-minute-long orbital pattern. This shot was taken by Landsat this spring, and beyond being unbelievably beautiful, it’s also a great example of what Landsat does best: Give scientists a…

Space & Spaceflight Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

Are Any of These Fictional Space Habitats Actually Possible?

Humanity’s future in space is very much in the planning stages. Will we float among the stars in crazy spaceships? Will we set up small camps that sprawl into townships that grow into cities, or is an orbital mothership more human friendly? While scientists, physicists and experts are asking these starbound questions about how we…

Space & Spaceflight Darren Orf

This Is SpaceX’s Second Barge, Preparing to Catch a Rocket on Sunday

This Is How Prosthetic Eyes are Made

The Real Reason You Get Red Eyes After Swimming Is Gross

We May Have Dramatically Misunderstood the Shapes of Black Holes

The Military Is Actually Prepping for War in Space

Abortion Drone Is the Best Drone

These Bulbs Mimic the Sun All Day To Help You Sleep Better At Night

Ceres’ Bright Spots Continue to Mystify Astronomers

Watch for Incredible Northern Lights From Tonight’s Geomagnetic Storm

Why You Should Thank an Astronomer for Preventing Blindness

A Teen Just Died of Plague in Colorado

Why Scientists Have Been Scared of Space Germs for Almost 50 Years

This Box Should Provide the Best Free Fall Ever Recorded

Night-Shining Clouds are the Craziest, Most Beautiful Phenomenon

NASA Image Gallery Brings All Your Favorite Space Photos Under One Roof

UK Woman Gets “World’s Most Advanced” Bionic Hand Replacement

That Ancient Martian Ocean? It Might Have Been Frozen.

A Space Lawyer Explains How We’ll Forge a Civil Society Off Earth

The Bay Area From 400 Miles Above the Earth’s Surface

Are Any of These Fictional Space Habitats Actually Possible?

Do ‘Disclosure Day’ Prep With a Spielberg Sci-Fi Marathon

How to Watch the F1 Japanese GP 2026 on a Free Channel

Ranking 2016’s Superhero Debuts, 10 Years Later

Fourth Most Populous Country in the World Bans Most Social Media for Kids

How to watch UFC Fight Night Adesanya vs Pyfer live this Saturday

‘Steel Ball Run’ Will Return This Year…Eventually

‘The Mummy 4’ Is Getting the Family Back Together

JD Vance Says UFOs Are Actually Demons

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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