Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Telescope searches for life in space
BALTIMORE, April 11 (UPI) -- Planets near stars cooler than Earth's sun may lack the material to produce life, say scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
NASA Selects Material For Orion Spacecraft Heat Shield
NASA has chosen the material for a heat shield that will protect a new generation of space explorers when they return from the moon. After extensive study, NASA has selected...
Earthshine confirmed on moon's far side
MELBOURNE, April 9 (UPI) -- An Australian-led study shows, for the first time, differences in light reflection from Earth's land masses and oceans can be seen on the...
Analysts spar over launch image
North Korean rocket trajectory may be too shallow for satellite launch.
GOCE's 'heart' starts beating
GOCE's highly sensitive gradiometer instrument has been switched on and is producing data. Forming the heart of GOCE, the gradiometer is specifically designed to measure Earth's gravity field with unprecedented...
NASA: Aerosols may cause arctic warming
NEW YORK, April 8 (UPI) -- U.S. space agency scientists say they've determined aerosols can influence climate by either reflecting or absorbing the sun's radiation in the atmosphere.
Science with the stars
Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: The world's best-known scientists share their tales.
Researchers shine light on compact fluorescent bulb problems
Long touted as an energy-saving alternative for home lighting, compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) now have the potential to be even more efficient, as well as dimmable, thanks to research at...
Dramatically backlit dust in giant galaxy
A new Hubble image highlights striking swirling dust lanes and glittering globular clusters in oddball galaxy NGC 7049.
Wall Street rocket scientists crash to Earth
There's a reason Wall Street resembles a rocket experiment gone wrong: rocket scientists helped make it happen.
Universal health coverage in spotlight at L.A. forum
But the White House-organized event is light on details. ...
Now, even NASA astronaut is on Twitter
Call him @Astro_Mike. That's the latest digital moniker of NASA astronaut Michael Massimino, who has invited the world to tag along via the Twitter micro-blogging Web site as he trains...
PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Pulsar Creates Cosmic "Hand"
NASA's x-ray eye in the sky recently snapped pictures of a hand-shaped nebula created as energetic particles get flung from the rotating core of a dead star.
Saturn’s Largest Moon Bulges in the Middle
Scientists have determined that Titan bulges slightly around the middle and is squashed at the poles.
Solved at last - why scratching relieves an itch
A scientific study has discovered why scratching helps relieve the irritation of an itch.
NASA says arctic literally on thin ice
BOULDER, Colo., April 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says this winter had the fifth lowest maximum coverage of arctic ice on record.
Subterranean oceans on Saturn's moon Titan
(PhysOrg.com) -- Saturn's largest moon, Titan, may have a subterranean ocean of hydrocarbons and some topsy-turvy topography in which the summits of its mountains lie lower than its average surface...
NASA inspector general resigns
WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency's controversial inspector general has submitted his letter of resignation to U.S. President Barack Obama.
Black Holes Caught in Tug-of-War
Small black holes mysteriously self-regulate, just like their supermassive cousins.
Gamma-Ray Burst Caused Mass Extinction?
A stream of gamma rays aimed at Earth may have caused a mass die-off 440 million years ago, according to a new paper that says a similar celestial catastrophe could...
Scientist Predicts 2009's Best Baseball Teams
Mathematical model predicts which baseball teams will come out on top in 2009.
Volunteers help salamanders avoid roadway massacre
(AP) -- The black salamander with yellow spots sat on the roadside in the dark, ready to make a go of it.
UK budget crunch knocks out Big Bang telescopes
Council scraps Clover project to hunt for Universe's polarization.
Young Pulsar Shows Its Hand
A small, dense object only twelve miles in diameter is responsible for a beautiful X-ray nebula that spans 150 light years. At the center of a new image made by...
New X-ray Spectroscopic Tool For Probing The Interstellar Medium
Astronomers have published the first clear detection of signatures long sought in the spectra of X-ray astronomical sources, the so-called EXAFS signatures, standing for "Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure." EXAFS...
Mishaps befall Canadian teams at NASA moonbuggy race
A warped wheel, a loose sprocket, and a bloody finger were a few of the challenges that reared up against the Canadian teams at NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race in Huntsville,...
Norway joins EU's Galileo satnav project
Norway said Friday it will stump up close to 70 million euros in funding for the European Union's satellite navigation project Galileo.