Stories by John Matson

Astronomical Survey Reveals Andromeda's Galaxy-Gorging Past

Scraps of devoured dwarf galaxies surround the Milky Way's sister galaxy

Southern California fire threatens historic Mount Wilson Observatory

5 Future Robotic Expeditions and What They Could Reveal [Slide Show]

Some are already on their way and some are still in the works, but here is what we may see from unmanned exploration of space in the coming years

India's first moon mission ends prematurely with spacecraft communications failure

Strategically Placed Obstacle Near an Exit Can Speed Evacuations

Limiting the number of pedestrians that approach an exit at once can have beneficial effects, a study finds

NASA tries to end glitchy August on a high note with shuttle launch tonight

"Green" propellant could give rockets--and the environment--a boost

A team from NASA, the military and academia has developed and tested a simple solid rocket fuel of fine-grained aluminum and water ice that the researchers say could provide a cleaner alternative to propellants now in use...

Listening for Gravity Waves, Silence Becomes Meaningful

The ripples in spacetime predicted by general relativity remain one of the most sought-after prizes in physics, and new research narrows estimates of their prevalence

400 years ago, Galileo's telescope was ready for prime time

As commemorated by the International Year of Astronomy and observed elsewhere on this site, 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of the year that astronomer Galileo Galilei began fashioning his own telescopes and turning them to the heavens...

Space shuttle Discovery launch runs up against NASA's old foe: Florida weather

The launch of space shuttle Discovery, planned for early this morning, was called off deep into the countdown due to inclement weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Early-morning shuttle launch brings a viewing opportunity for U.S. east coasters

With each nighttime space shuttle launch, residents of the U.S.'s eastern seaboard have a chance, weather permitting, to see the orbiter climbing into the sky.

The Origin of Zero

Much ado about nothing: First a placeholder and then a full-fledged number, zero had many inventors

Film buffs take issue with NASA's mundane taste in movies

Next week's space shuttle mission a "go"

Sample-return mission pulls a building block of life from a comet

A NASA probe that ferried material from a comet to Earth appears to have brought back an amino acid from that encounter, bolstering a theory that life's precursors may have arrived on our planet from outer space...

News Scan Briefs: Killer Smile

Also: burning nitrogen, cancer clue in Down's syndrome, and gallons per mile

Prey Tell: How Fish Track Their Quarry, Even When They Can't See It

A model incorporating fluid dynamics and neurobiology shows how fish detect the long-lived wakes generated by other swimmers

Small-Scale Quantum Processor Gets Its Act Together

Researchers demonstrate reliability and information transport in a quantum device, but scaling up will be a challenge

Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Shows Its Stuff by Detecting a Known Exoplanet

Kepler's sensitivity to the orbit of a catalogued exoplanet bodes well for its ability to find Earth-like worlds

Opportunity rover finds possible meteorite on Mars