NASA wants to train the James Webb Space Telescope on gas giants before searching for habitable worlds
When NASA finally sends its mega-powerful James Webb Space Telescope it will be the end of a long and troubled road, but it will also …
Articles by Mike Wehner
Nearby exoplanet Ross 128 b is looking more and more like Earth’s bigger cousin
Exoplanet discoveries have been coming fast and furious for several years now, thanks in large part to increasingly power telescope technology that allows us to …
New telescope camera snaps gorgeous image of distant star cluster
NASA regularly delivers outer space eye candy snapped with its various telescopes, but the European Southern Observatory has plenty of star-gazing power as well, and …
The oldest known color made by a living creature on Earth is not what you’d guess
Today, when you look around the Earth, you see a lot of green. It’s easy to imagine that things were the same before humans or …
Multivitamins are doing absolutely nothing for your heart, researchers say
Head to the pharmacy or any grocery store and you’ll find shelves lined with multivitamins promising to make you healthier. Some claim to boost your …
Russia just crushed the record for fastest trip to the International Space Station
Russian cargo resupply trips to the International Space Station have become such a regular, predictable thing that even NASA rarely bothers to make a big …
Video captures fireball streaking across the Midwestern US, visible from 10 states
Skywatchers in 10 states in the Midwestern United States got a treat early on Sunday evening as a fireball careened through the atmosphere and produced …
Former astronaut says humans could have made it to Mars decades ago, but most would probably die
You’ve heard a whole lot about humans on Mars in recent years thanks to advancements in various technologies that could allow us to get there …
The brightest object in the universe was just discovered, but is it still there?
Space is dark, which makes finding bright things like stars pretty darn easy. It also makes it possible for high-powered telescopes to spot things that …
Check out the insane heat shield NASA just installed on the Parker Solar Probe
The Parker Solar Probe is going to get close to the Sun than any spacecraft mankind has ever launched into space. It’s going to study …
An ambitious plan to bring Mars samples back to Earth has been set into motion
We’ve learned an incredible amount of information about Mars in the past two decades, and much of it is thanks to the small fleet of …
Terrifying new wasp species wears a massive, sword-like stinger on its butt
Wasps suck. Unlike many common species of bees, wasps (which are NOT bees) are often openly hostile, and sometimes they seem to pick a fight …
A pride of lions brutally killed a bunch of poachers and I’m struggling to feel sad
Despite all the very clear evidence that illegal hunting is pushing many species into extinction, animals like rhinos are still being taken down by low-life …
Elon Musk wants to help trapped Thai soccer team, will send engineers to aid in cave rescue effort
Elon Musk has a lot of resources at his disposal, and not just in terms of raw purchasing power. Through his various companies he’s amassed …
Scientists just discovered that spiders can fly using electricity, spawning fresh nightmare fuel
Some animals were born to fly, but most were not. Humans have no business in the air but we’ve come up with a number of …
Johns Hopkins evacuated after staff accidentally drops deadly tuberculosis sample
Scientists studying the world’s deadliest diseases got more than they bargained for yesterday when a sample of tuberculosis was accidentally dropped in a closed sky …
Against all odds, NASA may have actually found a meteorite on the bottom of the ocean
Three days ago, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration teamed up with NASA in the hopes of finding leftover chunks of a meteorite …
Incredibly rude nearby star system is firing particles at Earth like a ‘cosmic ray gun’
Our Sun is obviously the most intense place in our Solar System, but it’s actually pretty chill when compared to many other systems. Eta Carinae, …
Man, space is huge
Size is relative. A carpenter ant is huge compared to a regular ant, but it’s still tiny when compared to, say, your foot. The challenge …
NASA is about to test ‘quiet’ sonic booms over Texas
Humans have already mastered the art of going really really fast in the sky, and modern technology has made topping the speed of sound a …
Outer space has way better fireworks than we ever will
Well, it’s the Fourth of July, which means sunburns, cookouts, and lots of questionable fuses being lit from coast to coast. But whether you’ll be …
Happy Fourth of July from the International Space Station!
The International Space Station is, as its name implies, a common ground for astronauts from many different countries, but that doesn’t stop them from having …
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft just got closer to dwarf planet Ceres than ever before, and here’s what it looks like
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is one that we don’t hear from very often these days, mainly because it spent seven years on its way to dwarf …
NASA’s latest photo of Jupiter is pretty enough to be your desktop wallpaper
Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System by a pretty wide margin, and while it’s not exactly the most welcoming to human visitors, …
Hundreds of thousands of asteroids in our Solar System were born from a few now-dead planets
It’s tempting to imagine that the asteroids that litter our Solar System have been there from the start, circling the Sun for ages while the …
A massive object devastated Uranus a long time ago and it never fully recovered
Our Solar System is a pretty calm place these days, all things considered, but that wasn’t always the case. In the period when the planets …
NASA’s Opportunity rover has been sitting silently in the dark Martian dust storm for three weeks
When you get caught in a storm here on Earth you just find shelter for a little while and let it pass, but things are …
Watch live as NASA scientists hunt for meteorites in the Pacific Ocean
NASA loves looking for cool stuff in space, but every once in a while something from space ends up here on Earth. That was the …
Hawaii’s proposed sunscreen ban is expected to become law this week
Hawaii is known for its seemingly endless expanse of sunny beaches, so it’s obviously not the kind of place you’d want to find yourself without …
Feast your eyes on the very first image ever captured of a planet being born
Planet formation isn’t exactly the kind of thing that happens in the blink of an eye. New worlds form over extremely long stretches of time, …
