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Nov 30, 2018

The 10 Weirdest Science Stories of 2018

Ne-crow-philia? Crows that had sex with dead crows often showed aggression toward the corpses. (Image credit: Courtesy of Kaeli Swift)Crows can do some pretty amazing things. They use tools. They can solve puzzles. They also, sometimes, have sex with their dead. Scientists placed a dead crow on the ground...

Nov 30, 2018

Alien Hunters, Stop Using the Drake Equation

Paul Sutter is an astrophysicist at The Ohio State University and the chief scientist at COSI science center. Sutter is also host of Ask a Spaceman and Space Radio and leads AstroTours around the world. Sutter contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. For the precocious hunter...

Nov 30, 2018

Space Oddity: 10 Bizarre Things Earthlings Launched into Space in 2018

Strange space launches (Image credit: Rocket Lab)This past year, engineers launched many oddities into space, including a Tesla Roadster, a gold-plated canopic jar and a cosmic disco ball. The total list of launched objects is lengthy, so here are the top 10 coolest objects (in our opinion) that blasted spaceward...

Oct 31, 2018

How to Watch a Near-Earth Asteroid Zoom Closer to Earth than the Moon

Three chunky asteroids will zoom by Earth this weekend, and one of them is getting closer to our planet than the moon itself. On Saturday (Nov. 10), the near-Earth asteroid 2018 VX1 will zip within about 236,100 miles (380,000 kilometers) of Earth. That's closer than the moon, which hangs out...

Oct 31, 2018

Voyager 2 Creeps Closer to the Edge of the Solar System

Going, going — nope, it's still just going, NASA says of its Voyager 2 probe, which the agency realized was approaching the edge of the solar system back in early October. In a statement released yesterday (Nov. 14), NASA shared additional data from the probe that gives engineers a sense...

Oct 31, 2018

Ugh, When These Stars Die They're Probably Gonna Get Sand Everywhere

Until now, scientists didn't know for sure where most of the stuff around us came from. Now, they do. Silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), is just about the most abundant thing here on the outer shell of Earth. It makes up most of the planet's crust by mass — about...

Oct 31, 2018

See the Apollo Moon Missions Like Astronauts Did — In 3D

Fifty years ago, NASA launched America into the space race with the birth of the Apollo program — an 11-year initiative that sent 33 spaceflights to the moon, six of which deployed landers that visited the lunar surface. That incredible story comes to light in a new book, Mission Moon...

Oct 31, 2018

Journey to the Center of the Red Planet: NASA's InSight Lander to Reveal the Secrets Inside Mars

NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission aims to change that. InSight will touch down Monday (Nov. 26) around 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT), in a 6 minutes of terror touchdown that you can follow live here at Space.com. Shortly thereafter, the lander will begin...

Sep 30, 2018

Astronomers Find Another Clue That Planet X Is Lurking Out There

That clue is 2015 TG387, a newfound object in the far outer solar system, way beyond Pluto. The orbit of 2015 TG387 shares peculiarities with those of other extremely far-flung bodies, which appear to have been shaped by the gravity of a very large object in that distant, frigid realm...

Sep 30, 2018

SpaceX to Attempt 1st West Coast Falcon 9 Rocket Landing on Sunday

SpaceX is targeting an evening launch Sunday (Oct. 7) for its next Falcon 9 rocket flight, a mission that will also mark the first land-based landing of the booster on the West Coast. The rocket will lift off from SpaceX's pad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. This will be...

Sep 30, 2018

Moonmoons (Moons That Orbit Other Moons) Could Exist, Scientists Say

True to form, the internet has endeavored to name an unnamed thing, and the results are hilarious. From the people who brought you Boaty McBoatface— the Arctic research drone that has already returned some very interesting discoveriesfrom the world's coldest abysses — here come moonmoons: moons that orbit other moons....

Sep 30, 2018

Another NASA Space Telescope Sidelined by Glitch

Another NASA space telescope is out of commission, at least for the time being. The Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has been observing the universe in high-energy light since 1999, entered a protective safe mode on Wednesday (Oct. 10), NASA officials announced. All systems functioned as expected and the scientific instruments...

Sep 30, 2018

Extraterrestrial Life Could Be Purple

Alien life might be purple. That's the conclusion of a new research paper that suggests that the first life on Earth might have had a lavender hue. In the International Journal of Astrobiology, microbiologist Shiladitya DasSarma of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and postdoctoral researcher Edward Schwieterman at...

Aug 31, 2018

Mysterious Swirls on the Moon Finally Explained

Light and dark markings swirl over the moon, looking like cream swirled into coffee or clouds against a slate gray sky. These lunar swirls may result from ancient, magnetic lava just below the moon's surface, according to one new study. A joint study between researchers at Rutgers University and the...

Aug 31, 2018

The BFR in Images: SpaceX's Giant Spaceship for Mars Colony & Beyond

BFR in 2018 (Image credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX)SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiled this new rendering of the company's Big Falcon Rocket spacecraft ahead of the announcement Sept. 17, 2018 of the first passenger to fly a trip around the moon. The design shows many changes from the 2017 version seen in...