Astronomy

Our Universe Could Be Littered With Alien Viruses—and We Should Be Looking for Them

It’s generally agreed that some kind of microbe will be the first form of life we discover on another planet, moon, or other space rock. But hardly anyone thinks we’ll find an alien virus, which is weird, given how prolific and successful these biological entities are on Earth. A new study seeks to correct this…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Picture of Jupiter’s Swirly Blue Pole Is Magnificent

I’m not usually one of those “check out this beautiful planet photo” people (jk, I am). But seriously, the images coming from the citizen scientists looking at Juno data are all incredible. I’m not sure how this latest one can even be real. I mean, yeah, of course it’s real. You’re looking at the planet’s…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

NASA Runs Successful First Tests of Compact Nuclear Reactor for Mars Base

If humans have any hope of sticking around on Mars for longer than a few days, they’ll need some form of power to sustain themselves. A successful test in Nevada has demonstrated that that power could be nuclear. NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy successfully performed their initial tests on a miniature nuclear power…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Test of Einstein’s Theory Confirms the Sun Is Losing Mass

The best planet, Mercury, is in the midst of telling us something important about our sun: It’s losing mass. Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, has a history of helping us study gravity. Albert Einstein demonstrated that Newton’s laws of motion break down when dealing with very large masses. He created his theory of…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Astronaut Slated to Be First African-American ISS Crew Member Unexpectedly Grounded

Astronaut Jeanette Epps, slated to be the first African-American crew member on board the International Space Station, will not be flying in 2018, according to a NASA announcement. Epps was slated to be a flight engineer on board the station in a mission scheduled to launch in May. She will instead assume duties in the…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Saturn’s Fascinating Moon Titan Has Yet Another Thing in Common With Earth

Titan—Saturn’s largest moon—is remarkable in that it features a dense atmosphere and stable liquid at the surface. The only other place in the solar system with these particular characteristics is, you guessed it, Earth. Thanks to a pair of new studies, we can add a third trait to this list of shared characteristics: a global…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Giant Fireball Over Michigan Was Visible From Six States and Canada

The National Weather Service says that the most likely explanation for an object which sent out illumination and a sonic boom throughout southwest Michigan, five other states, and Canada on Tuesday night was the breakup of a meteor, WXYZ reported. The American Meteor Society collected at least 200 reports of the incident, which for around…

Sploid Tom McKay

Is China Really Planning to Destroy Space Junk With Lasers?

There may be at least half a million pieces of man-made junk orbiting this planet. Tiny pieces can travel around 10 kilometers per second, far faster than a bullet. The International Space Station has had to adjust its orbit just to avoid the stuff. People are rightfully concerned about what to do with all this…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Star System With Five Rocky Planets Discovered by Amateur Astronomers

For the first time in history, a crowdsourced team of amateur citizen scientists has discovered a multi-planetary system. Located 620 light years away, the system contains five exoplanets, and possibly a sixth, the majority of which are super-Earths. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how it was discovered, let’s dive in and take a…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Take a Trip Through the Glorious Orion Nebula in This New 3D Visualization

By combining actual scientific data with techniques used in Hollywood, researchers with NASA and other institutions have produced the most detailed multi-wavelength visualization ever produced of the Orion Nebula. Traveling at close to the speed of light, the three-minute journey will take you through a distant stellar nursery where some of the Universe’s youngest stars…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Astronomers Detect Almond-Scented Molecule That Will Help Solve Interstellar Radiation Mystery

There’s an unidentified source of infrared throughout the universe. By looking at the specific wavelengths of the light, scientists think that come from carbon—but not just any carbon, a special kind where the atoms are arranged in multiple hexagonal rings. No one has been able to spot one of these multi-ring “polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,” or…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

This Beautifully-Detailed Replica Is the Best Way to Learn About the Moon Without Actually Visiting It

To date, the best use of augmented reality has been running around parks trying to capture virtual Pokémon. But as that fad has (mercifully) faded away, a company called AstroReality has come up with a more compelling use of AR technology that works with an astonishingly detailed replica of the moon that’s as much a…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

What the Hell Is Going on With This Comet?

There’s already a strange story behind comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák, or just 41P: It took almost 100 years to identify and occasionally flares. And now, its spin is rapidly slowing down. Scientists across the world observed 41P when it approached Earth in 2017—it was close enough and bright enough to see with binoculars. One team of scientists,…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Mysterious Intergalactic Radio Bursts Come From a Truly Alien Environment

First detected in 2002, Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are quick, high-energy pulses originating from galaxies billions of light years away. Scientists still don’t know the true nature of these bursts or what’s causing them, but new observations of the only known repeating FRBs are providing details about the extreme environments in which these pulses are…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Nearby Starburst Surprises Scientists By Having Way Too Many Massive Stars

Our Milky Way galaxy isn’t alone in this corner of space—it’s orbited by a few smaller dwarf galaxies, including the Large Magellanic Cloud. Inside that cloud is 30 Doradus (or the Tarantula Nebula), a “starburst” where stars are formed at a much higher rate than the surrounding area. And 30 Doradus has too many massive…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

This Photo Showing the Earth and Moon Together Is Totally Bonkers

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is currently en route to Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that could contain the basic building blocks of life. Late last year it collected some images to remind us how small and insignificant we really are. This composite image of three photos was captured by OSIRIS-REx on October 2, 2017, when it the…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Spectacular Stargazing Video Makes Me Want to Move Far Away From Big City Lights

Sure, the restaurants are great, and you’ve probably got a decent sports team to root for. But the bright lights of a big city mean that at night you can rarely see more than a few stars in the sky, and these stunning timelapses of the galaxy overhead will make you realize the spectacular show…

Sploid Andrew Liszewski

New Results Quash ‘Alien Megastructure’ Theory of Mysterious Dimming Star

The results are now in after a year-long, crowdfunded investigation into the star KIC 8462852, and to hardly anyone’s surprise, the strange dimming produced by this star doesn’t appear to be caused by an alien megastructure. That said, astronomers are now significantly closer to knowing the true reasons for the star’s odd behavior. Variable star…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

New Evidence That Supermassive Black Holes Eventually Suck the Life out of Big Galaxies

At the core of each large galaxy lies a supermassive black hole with the mass of 1 million suns. New research shows that these celestial vacuum cleaners do more than just devour nearby objects—they also grow to a size that eventually suppresses a galaxy’s ability to churn out new stars, effectively rendering them sterile. Young…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

All the Wild Shit We’re Going to Do in Space and Physics in 2018

It’s time to gaze into our crystal ball and see what the coming year has in store for science. From powerful new rockets and asteroid-sampling spacecraft to groundbreaking particle physics, there’s plenty to look forward to in 2018. Aeronautics and space exploration A new tool to find exoplanets In March 2018, NASA will launch its…

Artificial Intelligence George Dvorsky

Our Universe Could Be Littered With Alien Viruses—and We Should Be Looking for Them

This Picture of Jupiter’s Swirly Blue Pole Is Magnificent

NASA Runs Successful First Tests of Compact Nuclear Reactor for Mars Base

Test of Einstein’s Theory Confirms the Sun Is Losing Mass

Astronaut Slated to Be First African-American ISS Crew Member Unexpectedly Grounded

Saturn’s Fascinating Moon Titan Has Yet Another Thing in Common With Earth

This Giant Fireball Over Michigan Was Visible From Six States and Canada

Is China Really Planning to Destroy Space Junk With Lasers?

Star System With Five Rocky Planets Discovered by Amateur Astronomers

Take a Trip Through the Glorious Orion Nebula in This New 3D Visualization

Astronomers Detect Almond-Scented Molecule That Will Help Solve Interstellar Radiation Mystery

This Beautifully-Detailed Replica Is the Best Way to Learn About the Moon Without Actually Visiting It

What the Hell Is Going on With This Comet?

Mysterious Intergalactic Radio Bursts Come From a Truly Alien Environment

Nearby Starburst Surprises Scientists By Having Way Too Many Massive Stars

This Photo Showing the Earth and Moon Together Is Totally Bonkers

This Spectacular Stargazing Video Makes Me Want to Move Far Away From Big City Lights

New Results Quash ‘Alien Megastructure’ Theory of Mysterious Dimming Star

New Evidence That Supermassive Black Holes Eventually Suck the Life out of Big Galaxies

All the Wild Shit We’re Going to Do in Space and Physics in 2018

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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