Bacteria Got an Early Fix on Nitrogen
New evidence points to the evolution of the ability for bacteria to grab nitrogen from the atmosphere some 3.2 billion years ago, about 1.2 billion years earlier than thought—with implications for finding extraterrestrial life. Lee Billings reports
NASA’s Next Space Telescope Promises the Stars—and Planets, Too
The much-hyped James Webb Space Telescope promises to revolutionize exoplanet science, but only if astronomers can agree on how to use it.
Jupiter's Moons Ascending [Images]
Some natural phenomena need few words to explain why they’re fascinating. Eclipses, transits, and phases in astronomy tend to fall into that category.
Book Review: The Interstellar Age
Remembering NASA Challenger and #STEMDiversity
The crew of STS-51-L: Front row from left, Mike Smith, Dick Scobee, Ron McNair. Back row from left, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, Judith Resnik.
Planet Hunters Bet Big on a Small Telescope to See Alien Earths
In 1990, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft briefly looked back from its journey out of the solar system, capturing a view of the faraway Earth. Carl Sagan called it the "pale blue dot." From more than 6 billion kilometers away, beyond the orbit of Pluto, it seemed remarkable that our planet was even visible.
Astrobiologist Aims to Make Science Education More Interactive
I remember battling sleepiness as I slouched in a large lecture hall, squinting to make out the writing on the blackboard during my freshman introductory physics course in college.
Newfound Exoplanets Are Most Earth-Like Yet
NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft finds two worlds that have sizes and orbits similar to ours
E.T. May Reveal Itself with Vibration
Looking for movement could complement chemical searches for extraterrestrial life. Christopher Intagliata reports
Planet Hunters Plot Course for Inhabited Worlds
Researchers aim to set aside differences in search for life on distant worlds
The Top Ten Space and Physics Stories of 2014
From humanity’s first, flawed foray to the surface of a comet to the celebrated discovery of (and less celebrated skepticism about) primordial gravitational waves, 2014 has brought some historic successes and failures in space science and physics.
Physics Week in Review: December 20, 2014
The Christmas holiday approacheth, and for those of a Maker bent, here’s how to Build A Sled For Slinging Snowballs — Winter Warfare Will Never Be the Same. If you’re more the craft-y sort, now you can deck the halls with Nobel physicists with this physics twist on the craft of cutting paper snowflakes.