Space

A composite image made in Payson, Arizona, on December 28 shows Comet Lovejoy as it seemed to pass a globular cluster of stars called Messier 79.

How to See This Green Comet With the Naked Eye

The "New Year's Comet" is taking astronomers by storm with an unexpected showing, and it should only get brighter through early January

Arachnophobia, coral reefs, artificial cells and strange amphibians starred in some of this year's science finds you might have missed.

Ten Cool Science Stories You May Have Missed in 2014

ICYMI, there's a newfound coral reef in Iraq, the smallest force has been detected and more in this year's surprising science

Enthusiasts examining the patch for NROL-35 think the trident, fire and breeze through the character’s hair might represent the elements—water, fire and wind. “What that has to do with the actual payload, however, is anyone’s guess,” says space historian Robert Pearlman.

The Creepy, Kitschy and Geeky Patches of US Spy Satellite Launches

There may be method to the madness behind the outlandish designs of the National Reconnaissance Office mission patches

When Scott Kelly (right) goes to the International Space Station in 2015, he and his twin brother Mark (left) will participate in tests to study how spaceflight affects the body.

With An Eye To Mars, NASA is Testing its Astronaut Twins

Scott and Mark Kelly, the only twins to have traveled in space, are embarking on a mission to help NASA prepare for Mars

The few remaining scientists at NASA are hard at work on Earth trying to "solve gravity."

Think Big

Would Astronauts Survive an Interstellar Trip Through a Wormhole?

Well, it depends on your definition of "wormhole" …

Matthew McConaughey on a stark landscape. The real star of the film, says Lewis, are the panoramic vistas.

Why "Interstellar" Belongs in the Pantheon of the Best "Realistic" Science Fiction Films

The film follows a well-trodden path, says Smithsonian space historian Cathleen Lewis, who gives it a thumbs up

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is seen gliding back to Earth after its first test flight in 2010.

Past Transit Tragedies Point to a Way Forward for Virgin Galactic

From a fatal Apollo fire to the sinking of the <em>Titanic</em>, history has a few lessons following last week’s spaceflight disasters

Curiosity is able to take pictures of itself on Mars using a camera mounted to its robotic arm. This mosaic was made from 55 snapshots taken in October 2012.

An Insider's Biography of a Celebrity Mars Rover

The chief engineer for Curiosity offers a peek at the NASA rover’s tumultuous rise to stardom in a new tell-all book

2014 Ingenuity Awards

How One Physicist’s Pursuit of the Cosmos Took Off in Antarctica

Francis Halzen’s amazing experiment heralds the beginning of a new era in astronomy

The giant Herschel Crater gives Saturn’s moon Mimas an ominous look.

A Mysterious Force is Acting on Saturn’s “Death Star” Moon

Tiny, cratered Mimas is wobbling way more than it should be, hinting that it might contain either an oddly shaped core or a subsurface ocean

International Space Station astronauts captured this photograph of Earth's atmospheric layers. The troposphere is the orange-red layer. The gray, just above that, is the stratosphere. Then, the blue is the mesosphere.

10 Weird Things Humans Have Sent Into the Stratosphere

Tied to high-altitude balloons, bacon and LEGO figures have reached heights nearing 100,000 feet

One of the 4,700-year-old impact craters at Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve in Australia.

To Find Meteorites, Listen to the Legends of Australian Aborigines

Oral traditions may have preserved records of impacts over thousands of years and could lead to fresh scientific discoveries

A team at the University of Arizona is developing seven state of the art mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope, currently under construction in Chile.

Making Super-Telescopes Requires Some Creative Engineering

The Giant Magellan Telescope, under construction in Chile, could help scientists answer big questions about the universe

Members of the Apollo 15 crew training at Cinder Lake.

Can't Make It to the Moon? Head to Arizona Instead

In 1967, the United States Geological Survey turned an old volcano into a lunar training ground for astronauts

Sorry, rover. Planting a garden will have to wait.

Four Handy Tips for Growing Your Garden on Mars

Is it possible to have a green thumb on the Red Planet? Perhaps, after you’ve mastered a few space gardening tricks

Figuring out the mysteries of the universe, one galaxy collision at a time.

Think Big

What Is the Universe? Real Physics Has Some Mind-Bending Answers

Science says the universe could be a hologram, a computer program, a black hole or a bubble—and there are ways to check

Curtains of light weave across the sky over Fairbanks, Alaska, on September 12.

Powerful Solar Flare Paints the Sky With Candy-Colored Auroras

Two back-to-back flares sent clouds of charged particles racing toward Earth, creating auroras that may last through the weekend

Screenshot of fire burning in space.

Zero-G Fire Pulses Like a Jellyfish on the Space Station

Balls of fire burning in low gravity could help scientists create cleaner, more efficient engine fuels

Getting Ready for Rosetta to Unlock a Comet’s Secrets

The lander will hopefully reveal new truths about what the icy objects actually are

Scientists observed the view down the borehole via a computer at the surface as they drilled into the Antarctic ice to reach Lake Whillans.

New Research

Thousands of Microbe Species Live in This Buried Antarctic Lake

Drilling through half a mile of ice let scientists uncover the first solid evidence of life in a subglacial lake

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