Science

Scientists were already excited to have a chance to study the asteroid Bennu up close with the OSIRIS-REx probe, but the stakes just got higher. In one of its first observations of the object after settling into orbit, the spacecraft has detected evidence of water in the asteroid’s structure. The …

NASA’s InSight lander is on the surface of Mars, which is an amazing accomplishment. A bunch of smarter than average primates, who several thousand years ago were building tone tools, have landed a robot on another planet to study its interior. That’s all well and good, but you can’t say …

Some 252 million years ago, intense volcanic activity belched massive volumes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and triggered rapid changes to the climate, which resulted in the end-Permian mass extinction, the largest mass extinction event in Earth’s history. Nearly 96% of all marine species were wiped out during the …

In a study published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers examined the kinematics and functional morphology of the Dracula ant (Mystrium camillae), who use a snap-jaw mechanism to quickly slide their mandibles across each other similar to a finger snap. The analysis revealed that Dracula ant mandibles …

Physicists from the PHENIX Collaboration have created droplets of a liquid-like state of matter called quark-gluon plasma, forming three distinct shapes and sizes — circles, ellipses and triangles. Visualization of an expanding drop of quark-gluon plasma. Image credit: Javier Orjuela Koop, University of Colorado, Boulder. Scientists believe that quark-gluon plasma …

Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that can lead to shaking, stiffness and difficulty with walking, balance and coordination. Dementia with Lewy bodies, one of the most common forms of dementia, causes problems with thinking, behavior, mood, and movement. Professor M. Maral Mouradian of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical …

On December 6, 2018, NASA’s InSight lander used a camera on its robotic arm to snap a view of itself and the surroundings. Visible in the selfie are the lander’s solar panel and its entire deck, including its science instruments. This image shows InSight’s solar panels and deck; on top …

SpaceX and Boeing are both working toward full certification of their respective spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). it’s been a long road, but SpaceX was set to launch its first demonstration mission (Demo-1) on Jan. 7th, 2019. There has been yet another delay, but at …

Several days ago, a gust of wind swept across Elysium Planitia on the surface of Mars. This has happened uncountable times over the eons, but never before was a robot on hand to record the sound of that wind. Now, NASA’s InSight lander is sitting on Elysium Planitia with a …

After 41 years traveling through the solar system, NASA’s Voyager 2 probe has entered interstellar space. That makes it the second human artifact to leave our home behind to drift between the stars. You might be thinking this already happened, but that’s because the first object out of the solar …