Cosmology's Best Standard Candles Get Even Better

Astronomers discovered an efficient method for standardizing the intrinsic brightness and thus the distance to the cosmic milestones known as Type Ia supernovae. The discovery underlines the crucial importance of...

Spirit stuck on Mars, Opportunity rolls on

ITHACA, N.Y., May 22 (UPI) -- Six years after landing on Mars, the rover Spirit is bogged down in Martian soil, researchers at Cornell University said, but Opportunity...

Windy, wet and wild: Victoria Crater unveils more of Mars' geologic past

After thoroughly investigating Victoria Crater on Mars for two years, the instruments aboard the Rover Opportunity reveal more evidence of our neighbouring red planet's windy, wet and wild past. The...

New solar telescope offers crystal clear view of sun's surface

A new 1.6-metre clear aperture solar telescope - the largest of its kind in the world - has seen 'first scientific light:' it's now operational. The unveiling of the instrument,...

NASA Conducts First Ares I Rocket Cluster Parachute Test

(PhysOrg.com) -- Unfurling in majestic patriotic colors, a successful cluster test of the Ares I rocket's three, 1-ton main parachutes was conducted May 20 by NASA and industry engineers at...

ESA names its six newest astronauts

PARIS, May 20 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says it has selected six people to become Europe's newest astronauts.

7 in NY charged in Craigslist prostitution ring

(AP) -- Seven people have been indicted on charges of running a 24-hour prostitution ring on Craigslist, New York's attorney general announced Wednesday, the day after Craigslist's CEO filed...

Online Community Project Aims for the Moon

An online, open-source team wants to land rovers on the moon.

World's Observatories Watching 'Cool' Star

The Whole Earth Telescope, a worldwide network of observatories, is synchronizing its lenses to provide round-the-clock coverage of a cooling star. As the star dims in the twilight of its...

Spacewatch with Alan Pickup

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Hubble Repairs, Huge Moon, More

Astronauts smile from orbit, a massive moon rises over Russia, Atlantis crosses in front of the sun, and more in this week's best space pictures.

Biological particles found in high clouds

SAN DIEGO, May 19 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've made the first direct observations of biological particles in high-altitude clouds.

SETI@home project celebrates 10th anniversary, though no ETs

(PhysOrg.com) -- The world's largest and longest-running volunteer computing project, SETI@home, celebrates its tenth anniversary this month with 140,000 participants and 235,000 computers powering the search for intelligent signals from...

Mars Hoax Circulates: 'Big as the Moon!'

You can find Mars in the early morning sky right now. But it won't be that big.

NASA book presents Apollo mission photos

WASHINGTON, May 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency has produced a new book chronicling Apollo mission 7 through 17 using photographs selected by the astronauts.

Astronaut tests flying carpet in space

ESA Bulletin 138

The May issue of the Bulletin features Herschel and Planck, and ESA's next astronaut missions. There's also a new way to read the Bulletin and other publications online, with our...

Space Littering Can Impact Earth’s Atmosphere

There is growing appreciation that outer space has become a trash bin, with the Earth encircled by dead or dying spacecraft, along with menacing bits of orbital clutter - some...

Follow the launch of the next ISS commander ESA astronaut Frank De Winne live at ESA establishments

ESA PR 11-2009. The Soyuz rocket that will bring ESA astronaut Frank De Winne to the International Space Station for the OasISS mission is set to launch from Baikonur in...

Cosmic Log: Young star trekkers shine

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: NASA's final mission to Hubble has thrown a spotlight on space exploration's best and the brightest, but next-generation space explorers are getting opportunities to shine...

Newsweek: Ray Kurzweil’s robot dream

Futurist Ray Kurzweil can't wait to be a cyborg. Is this the next great leap in evolution, or just one man's midlife crisis writ large? Newsweek's Daniel Lyons reports.

Looking for subatomic insights in Minnesota

After years of planning, officials broke ground this month for a new high-energy physics experiment that will probe the behavior of one of the basic particles that make up the universe: the...

Bounty of Space Telescopes Fuels Golden Age of Astronomy

New additions to the roster of space telescopes mark the peak of a 'golden age' in space astronomy.

Neutron Star Crust Is Stronger than Steel

The crusts of neutron stars may be 10 billion times stronger than steel, new research shows.

Astronaut Looks at Earth: 'It's Too Beautiful'

Astronaut Mike Massimino tries to describe the indescribable thrill of viewing Earth from space.

Virgin Galactic: 'Getting into space has a very low environmental impact'

The science of Angels and Demons

On this week's podcast, we find out whether you can blow things up with anti-matter. Mark Lancaster, a particle physicist at University College London, comes in to debunk the plot...

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Unfolds by Animation

Although engineers, scientists and manufacturers are still in the process of building all of the instruments that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, they had to figure out...