Science

What a Comet Smells Like (Spoiler: Real Bad)

Now we’ve gotten closer than ever to a comet in space, we can start answering serous scientific questions, like… err, what such a thing smells like? https://gizmodo.com/this-is-where-rosettas-lander-may-touch-down-on-its-com-1626836506 Since August, Rosetta’s two mass spectrometers have been sniffing out what 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko smells of. Scientifically speaking, that means detecting the most volatile molecules released via sublimation. But really,…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Virgin Birth Discovered In The World’s Largest Snake

When a mommy snake loves a daddy snake very much, sometimes they make a baby snake. At least, that’s what you’ve been taught. But a twenty-foot two-hundred pound female reticulated python didn’t follow the rules, giving birth to six offspring with no help from a male. At the Louisville Zoo, the monster python laid more…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Meet the “Snot Otter,” North America’s Biggest Salamander

If you’ve splashed around in the creeks of Appalachia, you may have been close to the largest salamander in North America, the Eastern hellbender, but you probably wouldn’t have known it. Learn about this magnificent critter in a short documentary produced by Freshwaters Illustrated and the US Forest Service. Eastern hellbenders, also called “snot otters”…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Coconut Water Is Great, Shut Up

Coconut water is a delicious and healthy beverage, and it is good for you. If you drink it after going to yoga class or before a jog, you will be hydrated and receive nutritional benefits. Many people do not like coconut water. Those people have simply not yet acquired a taste for the subtle, loamy,…

Health Kate Knibbs

Ebola Has No Escape From Emory University’s Isolation Ward

The Ebola virus has made landfall in the United States with patients popping up in both Dallas, Texas and New York City. But don’t freak out! To help contain the outbreak, the CDC relies on a handful of biocontainment isolation units to quarantine these highly infectious folks. Luckily, the iso-ward at Emory University is practically…

Health Andrew Tarantola

Can You Help CERN Identify What’s Happening in These Archive Images?

As an institute full of scientists, you might think CERN was good at keeping records. But it’s happened upon a stash of archived images that seem to make no sense whatsoever—and it wants you to help it work out what they show. The European scientists recently set about digitizing reams of images—roughly 120,000—taken between 1955…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe

The Art on These Endangered Species Stamps Is Incredible

Since 1993, the United Nations has worked to increase global awareness of endangered species through a special set of commemorative postal stamps released each year. This year’s set was released today, and features an array of 12 beautifully drawn endangered marine animals. The US stamps include: Hippocampus denise (Denise’s pygmy seahorse) Rhincodon typus (Whale shark)…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

“Starquakes” May Be the Reason Behind Massive Solar Eruptions

In early 2009, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope observed an unprecedented solar storm emanating from a distant neutron star with gigantic columns of magnetized flares stretching thousands of miles into space—only the third time such an eruption had been observed. Five years later, NASA boffins think they’ve figured out what’s triggered it. Neutron stars are…

Space & Spaceflight Andrew Tarantola

Listen to the Historic Sounds of Space Travel on NASA’s SoundCloud

In space, perhaps nobody can hear your scream—but that doesn’t mean that stellar travel is a silent pursuit. Now, NASA has started compiling mountains of historic space-related audio clips for us all to listen to. And there are some belters. There’s Sputnik’s lit-tle beep; Apollo 8’s charming Christmas greeting; the Space Shuttle launch countdown; and,…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

These Insanely Detailed Star Wars Models Are Truly Works of Art

As the next wave of leaks from the next Star Wars are oh-so-slow to trickle in, hopefully this will tide you over: A colossal collection of 140 photographs featuring Industrial Light & Magic’s model-building process from 1977 to 1983. It’s simply incredible. These photos can tell you everything you need to know about great filmmaking.…

Space & Spaceflight Alissa Walker

A Look at How NASA Tests Its Craft For the Deep Freeze of Space

You’re looking at the James Webb Space Telescope as it’s lowered into NASA’s Goddard Thermal Vacuum Chamber. Inside the dark cavern, it is subjected to the same hostile environments as it will experience in space. How do they do that? Well, the 40-foot-tall, 27-foot-diameter cylindrical chamber is evacuated of air using vacuum pumps, then uses…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

How NASA Deals With Odor Inside the International Space Station

Space may be a vacuum, but at least aboard the International Space Station, smells still have plenty of room to waft. And considering the ISS has 6 living, breathing, excreting human beings living in such close proximity, some of those smells could get to be a major problem. Fortunately, NASA’s accounted for that. NASA engineer…

Space & Spaceflight Robert Frost and Clayton C. Anderson - Quora

Deals: Hard to get Lego Exo-Suit now available at Target

Target is now stocking the Lego Exo-Suit (21109) in their online store for $39.99. While this price is five bucks more than RPP, if you have a REDcard, you can get 5% off and free shipping on your order. At Target the limit is 3 per household, unlike Amazon’s two or the one per household…

Space & Spaceflight Michael Schulte

These Lego Classic Space builds make me want a new official Space line

When someone builds in the classic Lego space palette, that mix of blue, grey and yellow, I am instantly transported back to my childhood. Builder SweStar has shared a diorama of various Mecha, ships and vignettes that show what could have been if the Lego Space theme continued another 30 years. You’re reading Leg Godt,…

Space & Spaceflight Michael Schulte

First Up-Close Images of Mars’s Near-Miss Comet

It may not look much, but these are the first images of Comet C/2013 A1, known as Siding Spring, as it passed by Mars on Sunday. The images were captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. https://gizmodo.com/comet-c-2013-a1-known-as-siding-spring-passes-mars-j-1648349372 The comet passed closer to Mars than any comet has ever passed by Earth in recorded history—so scientists are…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

The View From the ISS Is Surprisingly Colorful

At night, the view from the International Space Station is surprisingly colorful. Earth’s many types of artificial lights create a bright mosaic, with the different hues revealing different lightbulbs and even different countries. Take this photo, which an ISS member took of a narrow strait between South Korea and Japan. On the left is South…

Space & Spaceflight Sarah Zhang

Scattering Your Ashes Into The Stratosphere Is A Very Final Sendoff

Short of having your body shipped off on a flaming longboat, there aren’t many more spectacular ways to be sent off than having your ashes scattered into the edge of the atmosphere. At least, that’s the thinking behind Mesoloft, a company that will do exactly that, and provide a GoPro video to immortalize the moment.…

Space & Spaceflight Chris Mills

How Long a Yellow Light Should Be

Sitting at a red light can feel torturously long, but yellow lights often seem suspiciously short. It’s not all in your head: some yellow lights are too short. There is an ideal minimum length of a yellow traffic light. You just might never experience it (especially if you’re from Chicago). There’s no universal correct yellow…

Physics & Chemistry Kate Knibbs

This Is What Happens in Slow-Mo When You Shoot Liquid Drops With Lasers

Lasers? Fun. Slow motion? Beautiful. Shooting things with lasers and recording what happens in slow motion? That’ll be what happens in this beautiful video. The headline may sound like it over-promsies but actually it… doesn’t, really. This video shows how shooting small droplets of liquid with incredibly short laser pulses can create all kinds of…

Physics & Chemistry Jamie Condliffe

One of Saturn’s Moons Could Have a Subterranean Sea

NASA scientists have been taking a closer look at Saturn’s moon Mimas thanks to Cassini’s roving eyes, and they’ve made an interesting discovery: it could have an ocean of water beneath its surface. The researchers have noticed that the moon has a more pronounced wobble than they thought as it orbits Saturn. Comparing the observed…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

What a Comet Smells Like (Spoiler: Real Bad)

Virgin Birth Discovered In The World’s Largest Snake

Meet the “Snot Otter,” North America’s Biggest Salamander

Coconut Water Is Great, Shut Up

Ebola Has No Escape From Emory University’s Isolation Ward

Can You Help CERN Identify What’s Happening in These Archive Images?

The Art on These Endangered Species Stamps Is Incredible

“Starquakes” May Be the Reason Behind Massive Solar Eruptions

Listen to the Historic Sounds of Space Travel on NASA’s SoundCloud

These Insanely Detailed Star Wars Models Are Truly Works of Art

A Look at How NASA Tests Its Craft For the Deep Freeze of Space

How NASA Deals With Odor Inside the International Space Station

Deals: Hard to get Lego Exo-Suit now available at Target

These Lego Classic Space builds make me want a new official Space line

First Up-Close Images of Mars’s Near-Miss Comet

The View From the ISS Is Surprisingly Colorful

Scattering Your Ashes Into The Stratosphere Is A Very Final Sendoff

How Long a Yellow Light Should Be

This Is What Happens in Slow-Mo When You Shoot Liquid Drops With Lasers

One of Saturn’s Moons Could Have a Subterranean Sea

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

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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