Science

Hayabusa Probe Has Successfully Brought Back First Asteroid Dust to Earth

Astronomers and space geeks the world over have been waiting to hear confirmation from JAXA (the Japanese space agency) that the troubled Hayabusa mission did indeed bring back samples of asteroid dust. Today they got it. For the first time, scientists have collected dust from an extraterrestrial asteroid and returned it to Earth for study.…

Space & Spaceflight Clay Dillow - PopSci

Good Morning, Earth

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson lounges in the recently-added cupola of the International Space Station, gazing at her home planet below. I’ll think of this image the next time I complain about things not being futuristic enough. [APOD via BoingBoing] https://gizmodo.com/astronauts-turn-international-space-station-into-tie-fi-5473687

Space & Spaceflight Kyle VanHemert

This Is Why We Need Astronauts

When I was at the Kennedy Space Center two weeks ago, I asked one of the Mars Rovers’ software engineers if she was sad about the—temporary—end of the US manned space program. Her answer: “Very sad.” https://gizmodo.com/obama-cancels-kennedys-dream-5461806 But I’m not going to repeat again what Neil Armstrong and 26 other NASA legends already said. And…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz

Don’t Worry About That Coyote, Chicago, He’s Just Catching Rodents

There was a coyote running around downtown Chicago this weekend. Normally that’d be cause for concern, but in this case it’s a GPS-outfitted coyote released by the city to eat rats and stuff. They promise it won’t eat your kids! The coyote was spotted running down State Street in Chicago’s Loop area late Saturday night.…

Biology Kyle VanHemert

Why Cheese is Like “Dairy Crack”: Because It’s Got Morphine In It

Last week, I visited a cheese restaurant, where every dish is based around cheese. Before leaving the house, though, I snaffled a slice of brie from the fridge. Is this because a.) I’m a fatty, or b.) cheese is addictive? If you chose both answers, you’re right. Turns out that researchers have known since the…

Health Kat Hannaford

After 50 Years, Galactic ET Listening Post SETI Hits Redial with “Project Dorothy”

The astronomers, skeptics and believers who use SETI to scan the stars for extraterrestrial intelligences are retraining their sights on stars previously scanned by telescopes for signs of life 50 years ago. Second time’s the charm? The revisiting effort, called Project Dorothy, is part of the 50th anniversary of Project Ozma, the precursor to the…

Space & Spaceflight Jack Loftus

Watch a 570MP, Dark Energy-Hunting Camera Be Built In Just Four Minutes

This camera weighs four tons. Its shutter and filter are both nearly five feet tall. And its job is to unlock the secrets of our universe’s dark energy. Here’s how they built it. https://gizmodo.com/570-megapixel-digital-camera-is-the-mother-and-the-fath-5447137 What you’re watching is 6% of the images captured of the camera’s ten-month construction at Chicago’s Fermilab. Construction is about 80%…

Space & Spaceflight Brian Barrett

Scientists Discover How Cats Drink, After 4 Years of Research and High-Speed Photography

Click to viewFor the last several years, four professors from prestigious institutions have been looking for the answer to a simple question: how does a cat drink? This high-speed footage helped them figure it out. Dogs use their tongues like ladles, sloppily carrying water up from the bowl to their mouths and often getting their…

Biology Kyle VanHemert

Earth Turns On its Christmas Lights For ISS Astronauts

Astronaut Doug Wheelock snapped these photos from the ISS over the last two weeks, of London, Paris, Ibiza, the Nile…it’s like a tour of some of Earth’s most beautiful cities. From space. One of the photos even shows the Aurora Borealis; a green haze above Europe. Down below, millions of people are getting on with…

Space & Spaceflight Kat Hannaford

Study Claims That Playing Tetris Helps You Cope With Traumatic Experiences

A recent study claims that playing a game like Tetris might just help you get through everyday life after suffering a tragic experience. Sounds crazy? Here’s the science. Playing the computer game Tetris after a horrific experience can act like a “cognitive antibiotic” by reducing the harrowing flashbacks that haunt people with post-traumatic stress disorder…

Health Duncan Graham-Rowe and Debora MacKenzie - NewScientist

A Galaxy, Edgewise

This segment of light suspended in space is actually an entire galaxy, spanning 35,000 light years across and containing billions of stars. We just happen to be looking at it almost perfectly edge-on. The edgewise shot of NGC 4452, a disk galaxy in the nearby Virgo Cluster, was shot recently by the Hubble Space Telescope.…

Space & Spaceflight Kyle VanHemert

These rats are the world’s cutest bomb squad

This is a baby rat in a minuscule harness somewhere in Tanzania. He’s got his nose in the air, but he’s not looking for cheese. He’s actually sniffing out deadly landmines. It takes a pair of trained humans a full day to clear a 2000 square foot minefield. But if they work with a pair…

Biology Kyle VanHemert

The Birdcage Aquarium Duplex, Where the Fish Live in Fear and the Birds Live in Frustration

How cruel we humans are. Not content to tempt our domesticated birds and taunt our domesticated fish by keeping predator and prey in the same household, we felt compelled to engineer this fiendish habitat which brings them face to face. Constance Guisset’s thermoformed aquarium surrounds the tip top of a birdcage which also serves as…

Biology Kyle VanHemert

Directing a Space Odyssey

Here, apropos of nothing, is an excellent photograph of Stanley Kubrick inside a giant centrifuge directing his actors in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s a hell of a set and a hell of a movie. [Mappeal]

Space & Spaceflight Kyle VanHemert

Geordi La Forge Has Some Advice For NASA

With all of NASA’s troubles getting Discovery’s STS-133 mission off the ground, maybe it’s time they looked for an expert opinion. Especially when Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge has officially offered his services. But did NASA accept? https://gizmodo.com/dammit-im-supposed-to-be-in-space-5683444 Hallelujah! LeVar Burton and NASA, together at last. Looks like we’ll have that hydrogen gas leak fixed…

Space & Spaceflight Brian Barrett

Dammit, I’m Supposed To Be In Space

With the Space Shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 launch delayed for the time being, this poor humanoid gets thrown back into storage. Though I gotta admit, the foaminess of his storage crate looks makes it a pretty solid resting place. Robonaut 2 was set to become the first humanoid in space so I wonder if he’s sad.…

Space & Spaceflight Casey Chan

Flying By Comet Hartley 2 at 27,560MPH

,560MPH, 12.32 km/h. That was the whizzing speed of NASA’s spacecraft Deep Impact as it approached comet Hartley on its EPOXI mission. Here’s a time lapse video of its complete trajectory, just released by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. https://gizmodo.com/beautiful-first-images-of-comet-hartley-2-5681690

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz

Satellite Photo of Discovery Awaiting Its Last Launch

After numerous space shuttle launch delays, I had to abandon Cape Canaveral and return to NYC, depressed because a) I’m not going to see the launch, b) it’s cold and raining here and c) the strippers are better in Florida. Maybe the real reason of the delay is that there’s a fraking satellite on Discovery’s…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz

Beautiful First Images of Comet Hartley 2

After launching an impact probe at comet Tempel 1 in 2005 and traveling 2.9 billion miles, the Deep Impact spacecraft has finally reached Hartley 2 as part as of its EPOXI mission. The trip was worth it: These shots are spectacular. And the best thing is that they are not the closest ones yet. These…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz

John Gavin, the Man Who Put Neil Armstrong On the Moon, Died Saturday

Aged 90 years old, John Gavin Jr passed away on Saturday from acute leukemia and pneumonia. He played an instrumental role in the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, leading the 7,500-strong team which created the Eagle lunar module. [NY Times]

Space & Spaceflight Kat Hannaford

Hayabusa Probe Has Successfully Brought Back First Asteroid Dust to Earth

Good Morning, Earth

This Is Why We Need Astronauts

Don’t Worry About That Coyote, Chicago, He’s Just Catching Rodents

Why Cheese is Like “Dairy Crack”: Because It’s Got Morphine In It

After 50 Years, Galactic ET Listening Post SETI Hits Redial with “Project Dorothy”

Watch a 570MP, Dark Energy-Hunting Camera Be Built In Just Four Minutes

Scientists Discover How Cats Drink, After 4 Years of Research and High-Speed Photography

Earth Turns On its Christmas Lights For ISS Astronauts

Study Claims That Playing Tetris Helps You Cope With Traumatic Experiences

A Galaxy, Edgewise

These rats are the world’s cutest bomb squad

The Birdcage Aquarium Duplex, Where the Fish Live in Fear and the Birds Live in Frustration

Directing a Space Odyssey

Geordi La Forge Has Some Advice For NASA

Dammit, I’m Supposed To Be In Space

Flying By Comet Hartley 2 at 27,560MPH

Satellite Photo of Discovery Awaiting Its Last Launch

Beautiful First Images of Comet Hartley 2

John Gavin, the Man Who Put Neil Armstrong On the Moon, Died Saturday

Repair Workers Accidentally Stumble Upon Lost Remains of Legendary ‘Fourth Musketeer’

Dreame Aero Pro Wet Dry Vacuum Mop Drops 20% Shortly After Launch in the Spring Cleaning Sale

Darth Maul’s Legs, Ranked

April Set to Unleash Some Wild Weather Across Parts of the US, Meteorologists Warn

Scientists Create ‘Living Pharmacy’ Implant That Doses 3 Drugs at Once

Dyson Supersonic Nural Hair Dryer Cuts Into Its Premium Price Tag in the Spring Sale, Bid Frequent Salon Visits Goodbye

I Wouldn’t Plan on Wearing Smart Glasses to Court Anytime Soon

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic Comes Down $130 Amid a 2025 Smartwatch Lineup Clearout on Amazon

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

Let us help find what you are looking for...