The hunt for life on Saturn’s moon Enceladus just got a big boost
Of all the worlds in our solar system that may harbor some form of life, Saturn’s moon Enceladus may be the most exciting. The moon …
Articles by Mike Wehner
Black holes might not be black holes at all
Of all the features of our universe, black holes might be the most interesting, as well as the most frightening. These ultra-dense spots in space …
Failing might actually be good for you
Career setbacks can be a real bummer no matter what your profession. For scientists, proposals that fail to gain funding and research efforts that hit …
NASA’s InSight lander is hearing all kinds of weird stuff on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander has experienced its fair share of hardship since landing on the Red Planet late in 2018. In the months since it touched …
NASA needs your help to make its Moon mission a reality
NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon are taking shape, and with a very short deadline of 2024 for a crewed trip to the lunar …
NASA chief says the world may not be ready for Martian life
NASA’s Mars 2020 mission will attempt to answer a number of questions about the Red Planet, and one of the most pressing is the search …
Scientists argue that contaminating Mars with microbes might be a good thing
At some point in the not-so-distant future, mankind will embark on a mission to another planet. That planet will be Mars, the largely barren, dusty …
Police in China find fugitive who has been living in a cave for 17 years
When news broke late last month about a fugitive in Wisconsin who had made his home in a makeshift bunker in the middle of the …
Groundbreaking blood test could detect over 20 types of cancer
Modern medical innovations have given doctors the power to screen for a variety of cancers, and that’s great, but screening for multiple types of cancers …
CDC clarifies stance on vaping illness, admits that bootleg THC products are likely to blame
In a “better late than never” move, the CDC has issued an update to its documentation on the so-called “vaping illness” that has been sweeping …
Elon Musk presents Starship to the world
If you even casually follow space news you’ve no doubt already heard of SpaceX’s Starship. Starship — and the Super Heavy launch vehicle that will …
Is there a black hole hiding right here in our solar system?
Way out on the edge of our solar system something big is lurking that has yet to be identified. Astronomers know it’s there because they …
NASA spots distant star being torn apart by a hungry black hole
Black holes are devastatingly powerful forces of nature, and nothing demonstrates their incredible might quite like seeing one tear apart a star. Recently, NASA’s sky-scanning …
Popping a champagne cork generates a tiny supersonic shockwave
When you pop the cork on a champagne bottle, the physics of the cork’s departure probably isn’t the first thing on your mind — it’s …
Astronomers spotted a planet that shouldn’t exist
When we imagine what other solar systems are like it’s easy to fall into a trap of assuming that our own system is a model …
Astronauts on the ISS are playing with slime while waiting for new cargo shipment
Earlier this week, Japanese space agency JAXA fired off a new resupply to the International Space Station. With such a busy week aboard the ISS …
ISS astronaut snaps incredible photo of incoming crew capsule
Earlier this week, the International Space Station welcomed a trio of new travelers. The mission brought NASA’s Jessica Meir, Russia’s Oleg Skripochka, and Hazzaa Al …
Can you spot India’s crashed Moon lander? Because NASA sure can’t
Earlier this month India was poised to make history. The Indian Space Research Organization eagerly awaited the day when its Chandrayaan-2 mission would send the …
Astronomers spot a trio of black holes on a devastating collision course
Black holes are one of the most interesting features of our universe. So incredibly dense that their gravitational pull can swallow up light itself, they …
Scientists just proved that life on Earth stretches back at least 3.5 billion years
Determining how far back in Earth’s history life took root has been an immense challenge for scientists over the years. Finding fossils dating back tens …
This black hole animation from NASA is glorious
Scientists may know more about black holes today than ever before, but that doesn’t make them any easier to see. By their very nature, black …
NASA boss floats vague notion of ‘space security’ during trip to Japan
NASA is looking forward to sending humans back to the Moon within the next five years, and despite some serious hurdles regarding budget and funding, …
Researchers want to know how the T-Rex could crush bones without busting its own skull
The mighty Tyrannosaurus rex was the ultimate food processor. It didn’t really mess around with tearing meat from bone in the way that smaller predators …
FDA expands recall of blood pressure meds due to cancer-causing impurity
In the ongoing effort to determine the origins of a potentially cancer-causing impurity discovered in prescription blood pressure medications, the FDA has announced that Torrent …
‘Alien’ comet from outside our solar system gets an official name
It’s now been a couple of weeks since an amateur astronomer stumbled across what appeared to be the second interstellar object ever observed by mankind. …
Watch a new trio of space travelers arrive at the International Space Station live
The International Space Station is about to get three new residents. Earlier this morning, the trio of space travelers launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft …
NASA will demolish a historic building where Apollo 11 astronauts lived after the Moon mission
Everyone has seen the footage of Neil Armstrong taking the first steps onto the lunar surface during NASA’s historic Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. …
Diet study says we’re still eating way too many bad carbs
Remember the old food pyramid from a couple of decades ago? You know, the one that showed you should essentially eat as much bread and …
Scientists sliced up a bunch of tapeworms to figure out how they regrow their bodies
Tapeworms might not be the cutest or cuddliest of creatures cooked up by Mother Nature, but what they lack in charm, they more than make …
NASA prepares to dump billions of dollars on Lockheed Martin for Orion capsules
Getting humans back to the Moon is going to be complicated, and NASA is juggling a lot of different projects right now in the hopes …
