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Editors' Picks

“Earth-Like” Exoplanets May Actually Be Mini-Neptunes

Many newly discovered exoplanets may not be able to shed their dense hydrogen atmospheres, making them unsuitable for life

The Fisher Space Pen Boldly Writes Where No Man Has Written Before

The Fisher Space Pen has been made famous by Apollo astronauts and Jerry Seinfeld. But just how does it work? And is NASA really spend millions making it?

Does Deep Space Travel Cause Alzheimer’s?

A new study indicates that the levels of radiation astronauts would experience over the course of a deep space mission could lead to dementia

Science Beats

The Water On the Moon Probably Came From Earth

New isotopic analysis of hydrogen in Apollo-era Moon rocks shows that the water locked inside them hails from our planet
May 09, 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

Page 1 of 3

10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day

Pigeon-eating catfish, Antarctic trash, and more: A list of surprising, alarming and exciting discoveries about our planet from the past year
April 19, 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

Views of the Time and Navigation Exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum

Lost in Space and Other Tales of Exploration and Navigation

A new exhibit at the Air and Space Museum reveals how we use time and space to get around every day, from maritime exploration to Google maps
April 11, 2013 | By Leah Binkovitz

Robot Cars and R2D2s: Snapshots from Behind-the-Scenes of new “Time and Navigation” exhibit

From sea to space and back again, the new Air and Space exhibit shows you how we get where we're going
April 10, 2013 | By Leah Binkovitz

How to Travel to Outer Space Without Spending Millions of Dollars

Who's in the space suit? Increasingly, it is our digital selves
April 09, 2013 | By Mohi Kumar

How IMAX Pulled Spaceflight Down to Earth

The 1985 film that famously revealed the lives of astronauts in zero gravity returns to the big screen
April 02, 2013 | By Marina Koren

Michael Benson’s Awe-Inspiring Views of the Solar System

A photographer painstakingly pieces together raw data collected by spacecraft to produce color-perfect images of the Sun, planets and their many moons
April 02, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

Photographer Thierry Cohen tries to reconnect city dwellers with nature through his mind-blowing composite images—now at New York City's Danziger Gallery
March 29, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

Apollo Rocket Engines Pulled From Sea — But Where Will They Land?

Scientists retrieved pieces of rocket engines that may have launched the first man to the moon. Will any of them end up at the Air and Space Museum?
March 22, 2013 | By Paul Bisceglio

UPDATED: Has the Voyager 1 Probe Finally Left the Solar System?

New data indicate the spacecraft, launched in 1977, has neared interstellar space, more than 11 billion miles away from the Sun
March 20, 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

Borders

How Far Can Voyager I Go?

The spacecraft will run out of power around 2025, but where will it travel to first?
April 2013 | By Ken Croswell

Haiku Highlight the Existential Mysteries of Planetary Science

Conference-goers put into verse the ethane lakes on a Saturn moon, the orbital paths of Martian moons and a megachondrule's mistaken identity
March 19, 2013 | By Mohi Kumar

How Do Astronauts Go to the Bathroom in Space?

A look at the space shuttle toilet and "the deepest, darkest secret about space flight"
March 13, 2013 | By Paul Bisceglio

The Northern Lights—From Scientific Phenomenon to Artists’ Muse

The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion
March 12, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

Scientists Map Buried Flood Channels on Mars in 3D

Deep channels, buried under lava but now mapped with satellite data, give hints to the planet's violent, wet and recent past
March 07, 2013 | By Marina Koren

The (Natural) World, According to Our Photo Contest Finalists

From a caterpillar to the Milky Way, the ten finalists in the contest's Natural World category capture the peculiar, the remarkable and the sublime
March 07, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

When, Where and How to Watch the Comet PanSTARRS This Month

Look for the comet just after twilight in the Northern Hemisphere's western sky, with the best viewing chances to come early next week
March 05, 2013 | By Mohi Kumar

E.T. Phone Home: New Research Could Detect Signs of Life in this Decade

Thanks to a proposal by astronomers Avi Loeb and Dan Maoz, we could find evidence of extraterrestrial life very soon
March 01, 2013 | By Leah Binkovitz

Small Satellites—Some the Size of Postage Stamps—Are Transforming How Scientists Conduct Space-based Research

A new fleet of nanosatellites is zooming through space
February 26, 2013 | By Mohi Kumar

What Damage Could Be Caused by a Massive Solar Storm?

An enormous solar storm could short out telecom satellites, radio communications, and power grids, leading to trillions of dollars in damages, experts say
February 22, 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

What Can We Do About Big Rocks From Space?

Last week's close encounters with space rocks have raised concerns about how we deal with dangerous asteroids. Here's how we would try to knock them off course.
February 19, 2013 | By Randy Rieland

The Last Massive Exploding Meteor Hit Earth in 1908, Leveling 800 Square Miles of Forest

In 1908, a meteor exploding in mid-air released the energy equivalent to "185 Hiroshima bombs"
February 15, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

A Smithsonian Expert Breaks Down the Science of Meteors

Meteor scientist Cari Corrigan says that the type of destruction wrought by today's meteor explosion over Russia is exceedingly rare
February 15, 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

An Asteroid Will Skim Right By the Earth on Friday Afternoon

The 147-foot-wide rock will pass a scant 17,200 miles from Earth's surface, under the orbits of some telecom satellites
February 12, 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

New Photos Show Stars on the Brink of Death and the Precipice of Life

Haunting images of spiral galaxy M106 and the stellar nursery of the Orion nebula capture the life cycle of stars
February 06, 2013 | By Mohi Kumar

1 2 3 Next »

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