Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Successful test for private space capsule
A private US capsule that could soon be hauling cargo and even astronauts to the space station has launched on its first demonstration flight.
Secret Air Force Space Plane Returns to Earth
Unmanned X-37B Back after 7 Months in Orbit for Classified Mission
Cassini returns images of bright jets at Enceladus
NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully dipped near the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Nov. 30. Though Cassini's closest approach took it to within about 48 kilometres (30 miles) of the...
Gazprom, Naftogaz eye new ventures
MOSCOW, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom announced that it agreed to set up two new joint ventures with Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz.
Old galaxy seen making new stars
OXFORD, England, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- U.K. astronomers say a nearby galaxy, well past its cosmic "prime" for producing stars, shows evidence it is still churning out baby stars.
CU-NASA research center to study Sun's effects on Earth's climate
(PhysOrg.com) -- The University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., today announced the formation of a new...
Recent news on the debate over Pluto's planethood
Earlier this month, Eris -- the distant world first discovered by Caltech's Mike Brown and colleagues back in 2005, paving the way for the eventual demotion of Pluto from planet...
Virgin Galactic Keeps Mum On Orbital Spaceflight Ambitions
While Virgin Galactic's public sights are set on achieving suborbital space tourism with its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, quietly the company is already eyeing the next step: orbital space travel.
How One Astronomer Became the Unofficial Exoplanet Record Keeper
In the past several days a number of news articles have touted the passage of a tidy astronomical milestone--the discovery of the 500th known planet outside the solar system. In...
Color-changing 'blast badge' detects exposure to explosive shock waves
Mimicking the reflective iridescence of a butterfly's wing, investigators have developed a color-changing patch that could be worn on soldiers' helmets and uniforms to indicate the strength of exposure to...
Chinese Military Communications Satellite Reaches Orbit
China successfully orbited a military communications satellite Wednesday (Nov. 24) on a Long March rocket.
BMO gives Perimeter Institute $4M
The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics receives its largest corporate donation ever: $4 million from BMO Financial Group to help lure more theoretical physicists to Canada.
Astronomy without a telescope - black hole evolution
While only observable by inference, the existence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centre of most if not all galaxies remains a compelling theory supported by a...
Starwatch: The December night sky
It is not just the weather that has turned wintry. That icon of our winter's sky, Orion, now stands clear of the ESE horizon at our star map times and climbs to...
Astronomers probe 'sandbar' between islands of galaxies
Astronomers have caught sight of an unusual galaxy that has illuminated new details about a celestial "sandbar" connecting two massive islands of galaxies. The research was conducted in part with...
Tuning an 'ear' to the music of gravitational waves
A team of scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has brought the world one step closer to "hearing" gravitational waves -- ripples in space and time predicted by...
Colliding Particles: Episode 7.
Featuring amongst others Nicolas Sarkozy, Fabiola Gianotti, Colin Blakemore at "Science is Vital", Adam's PhD viva and a big fountain. And what exactly the big deal is about nanotechnology.Mike Paterson's...
Cosmos 'bears pre-Big Bang marks'
The background light filling the Universe holds a history that stretches back before the Big Bang, a renowned cosmologist suggests.
Video: Delta IV Rocket Lift Off
CBS News Raw: The 45th space wing launch of a Delta IV-Heavy Launch Vehicle carrying a National Reconnaissance Office payload in Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
NASA awards contracts for 'green' airliner
WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- NASA says future airliners need to be quieter, greener and more fuel-efficient, and the agency is putting its money where its mouth is, officials...
Radar guns might spot suicide bombers
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Radar guns used by police to spot speeding motorists could help identify suicide bombers by detecting the wiring in an explosive vest,...
UK team begins Antarctic crossing
A team of explorers, mechanics and scientists is set to begin an attempt to cross Antarctica by land.
The rate of star formation
(PhysOrg.com) -- New stars continue to appear in the night sky, as the gas and dust in giant interstellar clouds gradually coalesces under the influence of gravity until nuclear burning...
Possible eruption on brink for symbiotic variable star
November 23rd, astronomers from the Asiago Novae and Symbiotic Stars collaboration announced recent changes in the symbiotic variable star, AX Persei, could indicate the onset of a rare eruption of...
Cosmic rebirth
Circular patterns in the universe's pervasive background radiation suggest the Big Bang was only the latest of many
Can we grow crops on other planets?
Science fiction lovers arent the only ones captivated by the possibility of colonizing another planet. Scientists are engaging in numerous research projects that focus on determining how habitable other planets...
Interview: Adventures in Borneo
Dwayne Heard talks to Holly Sheahan about discoveries in atmospheric chemistry and his experience with pygmy elephants and Antarctica
Could Space Farmers Grow Crops On Other Planets?
The surfaces of Mars, Venus and the Moon could be suitable for farming, study suggests.