The Cassini orbiter - orbiting the icy world of Saturn for 10 years
This Methuselah among space explorers, designed to explore celestial bodies in the far reaches of the Solar System, has been circling Saturn for 10 years.
Jul 8th, 2014
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Cosmic accounting reveals missing light crisis
Something is amiss in the Universe. There appears to be an enormous deficit of ultraviolet light in the cosmic budget. The vast reaches of empty space between galaxies are bridged by tendrils of hydrogen and helium, which can be used as a precise 'light meter.' In a recent study a team of scientists finds that the light from known populations of galaxies and quasars is not nearly enough to explain observations of intergalactic hydrogen. The difference is a stunning 400 percent.
Jul 8th, 2014
Read moreA hotspot for powerful cosmic rays
An observatory found a 'hotspot' beneath the Big Dipper emitting a disproportionate number of the highest-energy cosmic rays. The discovery moves physics another step toward identifying the mysterious sources of the most energetic particles in the universe.
Jul 8th, 2014
Read moreSmall, but plentiful: How the faintest galaxies illuminated the early universe (w/video)
Light from tiny galaxies over 13 billion years ago played a larger role than previously thought in creating the conditions in the universe as we know it today, a new study has found.
Jul 7th, 2014
Read moreDropship offers safe landings for Mars rovers (w/video)
The dramatic conclusion to ESA's latest StarTiger project: a 'dropship' quadcopter steers itself to lower a rover gently onto a safe patch of the rocky martian surface. StarTiger's Dropter project was tasked with developing and demonstrating a European precision-landing capability for Mars and other targets.
Jul 7th, 2014
Read moreSupermassive black hole blows molecular gas out of a galaxy at 1 million km/h
Findings deepen our understanding of the future of our own galaxy, which will collide with Andromeda in 5 billion years.
Jul 7th, 2014
Read moreForecasting the development of breakthrough technologies to enable novel space missions
A new report, Technological Breakthroughs for Scientific Progress (TECHBREAK), has been published today by the European Science Foundation.
Jul 4th, 2014
Read moreVesta's rocky history
The dark material found on the protoplanet Vesta contains the mineral serpentine - and must therefore be of exogenic origin.
Jul 4th, 2014
Read moreA neutron star's unusual dance
Satellite x-ray observations reveal a neutron star with a donut-shaped magnetic field and axial wobble.
Jul 4th, 2014
Read moreFruit fly immunity fails with fungus after (space)flight
A new study suggests that normal gravity or hypergravity on the space station may help mitigate some of the biological problems in organisms living in space.
Jul 3rd, 2014
Read moreControversial clues of 2 'Goldilocks planets' that might support life are proven false
Mysteries about controversial signals from a star considered a prime target in the search for extraterrestrial life now have been solved. The research proves, for the first time, that some of the signals actually are from events inside the star itself, not from the two so-called 'Goldilocks planets', which were suspected to be just-right for life and orbiting the star at a distance where liquid water potentially could exist. No planets there, just star burps.
Jul 3rd, 2014
Read moreA young star's age can be gleamed from nothing but sound waves
Determining the age of stars has long been a challenge for astronomers. In experiments researchers show that 'infant' stars can be distinguished from 'adolescent' stars by measuring the acoustic waves they emit.
Jul 3rd, 2014
Read moreSights are set on the Vela pulsar
The first data from H.E.S.S. II show the pulsed gamma-ray signal.
Jul 3rd, 2014
Read moreMartian salts must touch ice to make liquid water (w/video)
In chambers that mimic Mars' conditions, researchers have shown how small amounts of liquid water could form on the planet despite its below-freezing temperatures.
Jul 2nd, 2014
Read moreNASA launches new carbon-sensing mission to monitor Earth's breathing
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 soon will begin a minimum two-year mission to locate Earth's sources of and storage places for atmospheric carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas responsible for warming our world and a critical component of the planet's carbon cycle.
Jul 2nd, 2014
Read moreA stellar womb shaped and destroyed by its ungrateful offspring
The little-known cloud of cosmic gas and dust called Gum 15 is the birthplace and home of hot young stars. Beautiful and deadly, these stars mould the appearance of their mother nebula and, as they progress into adulthood, will eventually also be the death of her.
Jul 2nd, 2014
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