Science

NASA  has sought to tamp down speculation that sabotage caused a tiny hole found last month in the side of a Russian module docked at the International Space Station, but the mystery remained unsolved. NASA stressed in a brief statement issued from its Washington headquarters that Dimitri Rogozin, general director of the Russian space agency […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—The debut of SpaceX and Boeing crew capsules is off until next year. NASA said this week that the first commercial test flights have slipped from late this year into next. SpaceX is shooting for a January shakedown of its Dragon capsule, without anyone on board. Boeing is aiming for a March trial run […]

For over 25 years, Hubble Space Telescope has become a staple name for bringing us crystal-clear images of distant galaxies. Check out some less known ones.

Browsing through NASA photo archives, one may not really expect anything surprising. You know, guys in tinfoil suits, flag on the Moon, a shuttle taking off—that kind of thing. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon quite a few examples of impressive photography work.    

Many of Florida’s famous beaches were empty on Oct. 4 because of a red tide outbreak that for the first time in decades is plaguing both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts at once. While the Gulf Coast has suffered the brunt of the toxic algae outbreak all summer, it only just showed up this week […]

NASA sought on Oct. 3, to tamp down speculation that sabotage caused a tiny hole found in September in the side of a Russian module docked at the International Space Station, but the mystery remained unsolved. NASA stressed in a brief statement issued from its Washington headquarters that Dimitri Rogozin, general director of the Russian […]

For the second time this week, a Nobel Prize has been given to a scientist associated with the University of California at Berkeley. On Oct.4, Frances Arnold, who arrived at UC Berkeley in 1980 as a graduate student and went on to earn a doctorate at Cal in 1985, was awarded the Nobel Prize in […]

Another rare Colorado River fish has been pulled back from the brink of extinction, wildlife officials said Oct. 4, the second comeback in 2018 for a species unique to the Southwestern U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended reclassifying the ancient and odd-looking Razorback Sucker from endangered to threatened, meaning it is still at […]

A small group of Ontario researchers believe they may have solved the origins of life mystery. The results come from early experiments run in a planet simulator at McMaster University’s new Origins of Life Laboratory, which started running this summer. The simulator—the centrepiece of the facility—is testing a theory that suggests life on Earth began in warm […]

STOCKHOLM, London—Two Americans and a Briton won the 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Oct. 3 for harnessing the power of evolution to generate novel proteins used in everything from environmentally friendly detergents to cancer drugs. The fruits of this work include the world’s top-selling prescription medicine–the antibody injection Humira sold by AbbVie for treating […]

BOISE, Idaho—Leon Lederman, an experimental physicist who won a Nobel Prize in physics for his work on subatomic particles and coined the phrase “God particle,” died Wednesday at 96. Lederman directed the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago from 1978 to 1989. He’s described as a giant in his field who also had a passion […]

WASHINGTON—Astronomers have pinpointed what appears to be the first moon detected outside our solar system, a large gaseous world the size of Neptune that is unlike any other known moon and orbits a gas planet much more massive than Jupiter. The discovery, detailed by researchers on Wednesday, was a surprise, and not because it showed […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) released a new image of what it is like to stand on a comet, shot via the Rosetta spacecraft. The picture was taken in 2014 before Rosetta spacecraft landed on the comet, which is known as Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta ended its mission on Sept. 30, 2016, crash-landing on the comet. […]

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is swinging by Venus on its unprecedented journey to the sun. Launched in August, the spacecraft gets a gravity assist as it passes within 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) of Venus. The flyby is the first of seven that will draw Parker ever closer to the sun. By the end of October, Parker will […]

A study based on a small sample seems to indicate that child abuse can change the DNA of the victims—and that those changes might be passed on to the victims’ offspring. The result of this study, combined with other research, seems to indicate that childhood trauma such as child abuse, not only harms the victim, […]

STOCKHOLM—Three scientists from the United States, Canada, and France won the Nobel Prize in physics on Oct. 2, for work with lasers described as revolutionary and bringing science fiction into reality. The American, Arthur Ashkin of Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, entered the record books of the Nobel Prizes by becoming the oldest laureate at age […]

STOCKHOLM/LONDON—American James Allison and Japanese Tasuku Honjo won the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine on Oct. 1, for game-changing discoveries about how to harness and manipulate the immune system to fight cancer. The scientists’ work in the 1990s has since swiftly led to new and dramatically improved therapies for cancers such as melanoma […]

Scientists in Canada exploring the “hangry” phenomenon have found a link between hunger and mood swings. “Hangry” refers to the expression that people started using to refer to their irritable mood that would arise with the feeling of hunger. Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada went ahead to observe the moods of hungry […]

CHICAGO—Uber has agreed to pay $148 million and take steps to tighten data security, after the ride-hailing company failed for a year to notify drivers that hackers had stolen their personal information. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced the settlement on Sept. 26, between Uber Technologies Inc. and all 50 states and the District of […]

CAIRO—Egypt says archaeologists have discovered a “massive” ancient building in the town of Mit Rahina, 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Cairo. The Antiquities Ministry said on Sept. 25, archaeologists also uncovered an attached building that includes a large Roman bath and a chamber likely for religious rituals. Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme […]