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Science / Space

Could life on Earth have been born on Mars?

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Did Life Come to Earth From Mars?

Mineralogical clues point to the idea that the early Earth, starved of oxygen and submerged by a vast ocean, needed molecules from Mars to kick start life

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One Physicist Thinks the Universe Is Not Expanding—And He Might Not Be Crazy

Christof Wetterich can also explain the “red shift” that supports the idea of the Big Bang

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Cosmic Portraits Created From Hubble Space Telescope Images

Sergio Albiac generates images of people by collecting their head shots and replacing pixels with snippets from pictures of stars and galaxies

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The Evolution of the Spacesuit

The traveling exhibition “Suited for Space” depicts spacesuits through the ages

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Last Meal on Earth: What Astronauts Eat on Launch Day

One NASA instructor’s Cubans and empanadas became a Kennedy Space Center tradition

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The End of the World Might Just Look Like This

Artist Ron Miller presents several scenarios—most of them scientifically plausible—of landscapes imperiled and of Earth meeting its demise

Two neutron stars violently collide—potentially the sourse of all heavy elements in the universe, including gold.

All the Gold in the Universe Could Come From the Collisions of Neutron Stars

When two stars recently collided, astronomers landed on a new theory about where gold and other heavy elements originate

Fueling the trip to the exoplanet Gliese 667Cd, discovered earlier this week, would be one of humankind’s greatest challenges to date. Above is an artist’s rendering of a view from the planet.

Powering the 21st Century

Can We Power a Space Mission To An Exoplanet?

Ion engines, solar sails, antimatter rockets, nuclear fusion—several current and future technologies could someday help us fuel an interstellar journey

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The Big Bang: Enthralling Photos of Exploding Bullets

Houston photographer Deborah Bay captures the violent power of projectiles lodged in bulletproof plexiglass

Can this little thing really ride hurricane winds?

How Swarming Drones Can Explore a Hurricane

A University of Florida engineer is building a squadron of hand-sized drones that he says will be able to gather data as they ride on hurricane winds

Water may have come to earth by way of comets and asteroids.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Did Water Come to Earth?

It took an out-of-this-world arrival to get that perfect chemical combination for water to fill our planet

Lisa Randall is the first female theoretical physicist tenured at Harvard.

Lisa Randall’s Guide to the Galaxy

The famed cosmologist unveils her latest theories on the invisible universe, extra dimensions and human consciousness

As part of the Star Songs project, X-ray emissions from the EX Hydrae system (above, near center)—in which one star pulls matter from its partner—are converted into music.

How to Convert X-Rays From A Distant Star into Blues, Jazz and Classical Music

A vision-impaired scientist, her coworker, and a composer team up to transform light bursts from stars into rhythms and melodies

Your Ticket to the Universe, a new book by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Kimberly Arcane and Megan Watzke, features arresting images of the cosmos captured by the Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes.

Look Up! Venus, Jupiter and Mercury Conjoin this Evening

Kimberly Arcand and Megan Watzke, authors of “Your Ticket to the Universe,” point out a few wonders of the cosmos

Much about lightning remains a mystery.

8 Things We’ve Learned Lately About Thunder and Lightning

Such as, storms can make your head hurt. And we should expect more turbulence on transatlantic flights

Ride aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983

How Astronaut Sally Ride Opened Science’s Doors to Women

A panel discusses the first American woman in space’s lasting legacy and the challenges still to be overcome for gender equality in the sciences

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Earth & Sky Photo Contest Winners 2013

These award-winning photos, chosen from submissions by photographers in 45 countries, reveal the natural beauty of the night sky

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Buzz Aldrin on Why We Should Go to Mars

The Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon dreams of a future where Americans are the first to walk on Mars

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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

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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

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