Solar sails actually work, and LightSail 2 just proved it
The idea seems totally crazy: A spacecraft with no active propulsion system that can travel through space using light in the same way that a …
Articles by Mike Wehner
The first meals eaten on the Moon were truly bizzare
When you’re an astronaut, food options are somewhat limited during missions into space. You can’t exactly order in, and meals have to be preserved and …
NASA’s exoplanet hunter just spotted a ‘super Earth’ orbiting a nearby star
In its 15 months of service, NASA’s TESS exoplanet-hunting satellite has racked up many exciting exoplanet discoveries, but few show promise in the search for …
Smoke from fires in Africa fertilizes the Amazon over 6,500 miles away
It’s tempting to think that two locations separated by over 6,500 miles wouldn’t have much of an impact on one another, but nothing could be …
Russia just completed a particularly speedy resupply run to the International Space Station
It was just a few days ago that SpaceX shot one of its Dragon cargo ships into space, and it was packed with supplies for …
NASA wants you to come up with a way to send heavy stuff to the Moon
The NASA of today is a whole lot different than the agency that first sent humans to the Moon. While those projects were almost entirely …
Delta pilot yanked from boarded plane because he was probably drunk
Travelers hoping to depart from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on Tuesday morning were forced to delay their plans after their pilot was pulled from …
NASA just hired SpaceX to figure out how to refuel ships in space
Traveling to the Moon is hard, and sending crewed spacecraft to other planets will be even harder. One of the major challenges in deep space …
Scientists in Japan get clearance for growing human-animal hybrids
Genetic modification can be a touchy subject in scientific circles, especially when the life form being modified is an animal. Researchers fear that the consequences …
Apollo 11 installed an experiment on the Moon that is still working today
NASA’s Apollo 11 mission broke new ground in a lot of obvious ways. Landing humans on the lunar surface was a huge accomplishment, as was …
Researchers worry that hackers could turn connected cars into roadblocks
As carmakers continue to pack their newest models with all manner of “smart” technology, researchers are concerned that connected vehicles will become an increasingly irresistible …
Scientists move one step closer to explaining why Komodo dragons are so awesome
Komodo dragons are incredible animals. They’re lizards, but they have a number of unique tweaks to their chemistry that gives them advantages often only seen …
NASA’s TESS planet hunter just spotted a trio of new worlds
NASA’s TESS — Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite — has been scanning the skies for a little over a year now and it’s already returned a …
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is already getting a workout without leaving Earth
When NASA’s Mars 2020 mission finally gets underway about a year from now it’ll have been a long time coming. The mission has been in …
Watch Japan’s asteroid probe touch down on asteroid Ryugu
Japanese space agency JAXA has had an up-close-and-personal relationship with the asteroid known as Ryugu ever since its Hayabusa-2 spacecraft entered orbit around the space …
53,217 pounds of frozen meatballs were just recalled for a reason you never would have guessed
Oftentimes when a product recall warrants a health risk rating of “High” by the U.S. Government the food contains something dangerous. Sometimes it’s foreign matter, …
The International Space Station just dumped a bunch of trash on Earth, but it’s totally fine
It’s been a busy few days at the International Space Station. The orbiting laboratory just took delivery of a new shipment of cargo from Earth …
Brain-swelling virus found in Florida mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are a summertime pest that most of us have just learned to deal with. You can treat your lawn and use bug spray, but …
NASA decides not to skip key SLS test after all
NASA really, really wants its own rocket. The agency has been shoveling money into a number of programs — including agreements with SpaceX and Boeing …
A meteorite came crashing down to Earth in India and it… didn’t do much damage
Debris from a fireball that streaked across the sky on the East Coast of the United States earlier this week has yet to be found, …
SpaceX’s StarHopper nails its latest ‘hop’
SpaceX is spinning a lot of plates these days — from various contracts with NASA to agreements with many smaller clients to launch various satellites …
A surprisingly large asteroid just sneaked up on Earth, and the Sun is to blame
Thanks to powerful telescopes that can detect large objects at extreme distances, we earthlings have a pretty good idea of the space rocks that pose …
Raid of body-donation company uncovers horror scene with buckets of body parts, heads swapped onto other bodies
When a person or their family decides that, after death, their body will be donated to science, they likely don’t imagine having their earthly remains …
Hubble captured gorgeous snapshot of a massive distant galaxy
Thanks to the nature of light and the fact that it can only move so fast, peering at objects far away means that astronomers can …
Cameras capture meteor streaking across the night sky on the East Coast
The big “planet killer” asteroids of science fiction may be avoiding Earth for the time being, but there are plenty of smaller chunks of space …
FDA warns that a common sugar substitute used in many foods can be deadly for dogs
Avoiding heaps of sugar in your diet might have big benefits for you, but your four-legged friends should avoid one of the most popular sugar …
Watch live right here as SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 and heads to the International Space Station live
SpaceX has sent a whopping 17 resupply mission to the International Space Station over the course of its contract with NASA. Most of the time, …
SpaceX forced to delay ISS resupply mission due to stormy weather
SpaceX has successfully performed many resupply missions for the crew of the International Space Station, sending vital supplies to the orbiting laboratory using its Falcon …
Watch a gigantic bison fling a 9-year-old girl through the air after annoying tourists won’t leave it alone
Tourists visiting Yellowstone National Park get to see a lot of wonderful things, not least of which is a variety of wildlife that is, by …
New bandage technology reduces scarring thanks to the power of nature
When you get a small cut or scrape you probably reach for an ordinary bandage, which is typically nothing more than an adhesive strip holding …
