Science

This Glowing Orb Is a Chemistry Experiment Aboard the ISS

It may look like someone’s captured a baby Sun, but this is actually a Russian chemistry experiment taking place on the International Space Station. In fact, astronauts are testing how polymers—repeated molecules that form long chains and are the basis for many common materials—can be formed in space. In particular, the experiments aim to show…

There’s Poop on the Moon

It should come as no surprise that the Apollo astronauts left a few things behind after landing on the moon. Since the lunar module could only lift so much weight off the surface, they swapped out unwanted goods and gear for moon rocks. Among those unwanted goods were all kinds of weird things. What kinds…

8 Dumb Quotes About Science From New NASA Overseer Ted Cruz

The new Republican-led Congress is currently busy picking people to chair its many committees and subcommittees. Guess what! Tea Party hero Senator Ted Cruz is the new chair of the Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness. That means he will oversee NASA. Yep—the climate-denying Tea Party hero who tried to defund NASA is now in…

As the Italian astronaut bid Twitter a goodnight yesterday, this was her view from bed. Not bad, eh? [Sam Cristoforetti]

There Are Now Lego Astronauts Aboard The ISS

These aren’t the first pieces of Lego to break the surly bonds of gravity, but they’re some of the coolest – as part of New Year celebrations aboard the ISS, the current crew of station were gifted three custom-made Astronaut figures. Header Image Credit: Federalspace.ru The figures aren’t even the first to be sent to…

SpaceX Rocket Makes Crash Landing On A Drone Barge

After a lot of publicity and one aborted launch attempt, SpaceX tried to land its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone barge this morning. ‘Tried’ very much being the key word. Initially, the mission went to plan: the rocket launched OK (incidentally, the first successful American resupply launch since that other rocket went boom), the…

Here Are Two Galaxies With Supermassive Black Hole Hearts Colliding

Hey there, human, want to feel some awe? Look at this newly released NASA image set of two galaxies, each with a supermassive black hole at its heart, colliding in a violent spiral of star stuff. Space is awesome, and thanks to improved telescope technology, we’re seeing more and more of it every day. These…

This Is a Fresh Scar on Mars’s Surface

The red planet just took a hit. This image shows a new impact crater in Elysium Planitia, discovered by the HiRISE imager aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. You can see a very distinct crater rim with ejecta that’s much darker than the surroundings. NASA believes that the distribution of the ejecta suggests that whatever it…

A Pair of Black Holes Could Soon Collide And Destroy Their Galaxy

One black hole is not to be messed with, let alone two. Astronomers have discovered what appears to be two supermassive black holes just one light-year apart, setting up a collision so massive it could be release as much energy as 100 million supernovas and destroy it’s inside galaxy . Yep. Thankfully, the black holes…

If You Threw Cookie Dough at the Sun, How Long Would It Take to Bake?

First, let’s assume you are in orbit around the Earth’s atmosphere, and you threw the cookie sunward at 25 mph. The most delicious of speeds. We can approach this problem by first asking a more general question: What is the temperature vs. time for a lump of cookie dough in orbit around the sun? Then…

A Plethora Of Physic Phenomena Outside An Airplane Window

Between ice crystals, raindrop lenses, and a setting sun, the physics is just packed into this photograph from an airplane window somewhere over the arctic. This really is an admittedly dorky exercise, but one of the things I love about science is that it’s absolutely everywhere. I’ve heard accusations that endless scientific explanations take the…

We Found a New Antibiotic, And Better Yet, a New Way to Find Antibiotics

Amidst the onslaught of bad news about antibiotic resistance, here is something good: Scientists have found a new class of antibiotics in soil bacteria, one whose mechanism could make it particularly resistant to resistance. More significant than this single new antibiotic, though, is how scientists found it. In the good old days of the early…

Kepler Just Found the Most Earth-Like Exoplanets Ever Discovered

Kepler just can’t stop discovering exoplanets. Nearly two years after scientists said it was crippled, the planet-hunting telescope recently identified eight new planets. But that’s not all. They’re all in the Goldilocks zone of their respective stars, and two of them are more Earth-like than anything astronomers have ever seen. This is exciting. If you’ve…

The ISS Is About to Get a Shipment of Laser CATS

It may not leave a trail of destruction and pew-pews in its wake but NASA’s newest atmospheric sensor, the laser-beaming CATS module, could afford researchers a fuller understanding of how our reliance on nonrenewable energy fuels climate change. Built by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) is a…

A Smart EpiPen Case Lets Family Know You’re Having an Allergy Attack

Anyone dealing with severe allergies always carries an EpiPen. In an emergency it provides an injectable dose of epinephrine to narrow blood vessels and open airways to help minimize the dangerous symptoms of an allergy attack, and when used with the new Veta casethat’s designed to safely store the EpiPen, it can automatically let your…

Watch SpaceX Try and Land a Rocket on a Drone Barge (Update: Aborted)

Last month, SpaceX announced that it was going to try and land its Falcon 9 spacecraft on this drone barge. Today, that moment has arrived—and you can watch the attempt right here. If you think the challenge SpaceX has set itself sounds difficult, you’d be right! Indeed, the landing spot—referred to as the autonomous spaceport…

Hubble Took an Even Better Version of One of Its Best Photos Ever

Back in 1995, the Hubble telescope took an absolutely breathtaking photo of stars being formed that’s now known as “Pillars of Creation.” And now, 20 years later, NASA has released a couple new images of the same star formation that was taken by a new and improved Hubble last year. It’s beyond breathtaking. It’s bonkers.…

What Would Happen If the Earth Stopped Its Orbit? (Nothing Good)

Welcome to Reading List. Another year and another week means another roundup of great stories that might have squeaked by during the holiday. We’ve got some speculative doom and gloom, a look into the future of one of NASA’s Mars rovers, and a profile of a man who is clickbait personified. Happy New Year and…

A Drone’s-Eye View of the Smallest, Saddest Orca Tank in the US

You’re probably familiar withthe many injustices going down at SeaWorld, including the park’s (weak) attempts at trying to make them right. But now, new drone footage is here to remind you that there are other parks tormenting orcas in equally horrible–if not even sadder—ways. Say hello to Miami Seaquarium’s Lolita, a whale who lives in…

Polar’s A300 Is a Solid Fitness Tracker You Shouldn’t Buy

Polar has come a long way since its first fitness tracker, the Polar Loop, launched in 2013. Just months ago the Finnish company released the Polar M400, a lovely and capable GPS running watch with 24/7 fitness tracking capabilities. It was sweet enough to earn a coveted spot on our Best Fitness Trackers list. Today,…