Juno Joins Jupiter for a July 4th Rendezvous

July 5, 2016
NASA's Juno spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around our solar system's largest planet on the July 4th holiday. While the probe will be trying to avoid fireworks on Independence Day, it will instead be treated to an amazing view... continued

Food may be Safe to Grow on Mars, including Space Spuds

July 2, 2016
In The Martian, fictional astronaut and consummate wiseacre Mark Watney survives being stranded on the red planet by growing potatoes in the Martian soil, extending his usual rations well past their expected usefulness. But in the real world, there have... continued

Give Me a Home Where the Androids Still Roam: Russian Robot Repeatedly Escapes from its Lab

July 1, 2016
Earlier this year, we reported on a Boston Dynamics robot that became fed up with the grief that it received from its coworkers and left the company. The story itself might have been a joke based on a promotional video... continued

String of Record Hot Years would be Nearly Impossible Without Man-Made Global Warming

June 30, 2016
A new statistical study has revealed that says that the likelihood of the 21st century's string of record high-temperature years would be nearly impossible without the influence of man-made global warming. The study, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact... continued

Plato’s Theory on Consciousness is Being Backed Up by Modern Science

June 29, 2016
In 360 BCE, the philosopher Plato discussed the nature of consciousness, addressing it as a real phenomenon that could be considered a part of reality, because of its ability to both affect and be affected by other consciousnesses. This simple... continued

Russia Plans to Develop a Quantum Teleporter Within 20 Years

June 28, 2016
While it probably wouldn't have to do with Star Trek's 70th anniversary, researchers that are part of a state-backed strategic development program in Russia say they plan to develop a quantum-based teleportation device within the next 20 years. While such... continued

The Mystery Deepens in the Case of Fluctuating Star KIC 8462852

June 26, 2016
Last October, researchers with the Kepler Planet Hunters program announced the discovery of unusual patterns in the light output of a star indexed as KIC 8462852, patterns that could only be explained by massive objects in orbit around the star,... continued

First Mammalian Climate-Change Casualty: The Bramble Cay Melomys Wiped Out by Sea-Level Rise

June 25, 2016
Australian researchers have announced the first mammalian species to have been driven extinct by man-made climate change, with the loss of a rodent known as the Bramble Cay melomys, also known as the mosaic-tailed rat. First documented in 1845, this... continued

Climate Change is a Present-Day Reality: May 2016 Breaks Even More Temperature Records

June 24, 2016
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released their temperature data for the month of May 2016, showing yet more broken temperature records around the globe, fueled in part by a record-breaking El Niño, estimated to have contributed to roughly... continued

2,200-Year-Old Antikythera Computer’s Purpose has been Deciphered

June 22, 2016
Recovered from a 1st-century Roman shipwreck in 1901, the Antikythera Mechanism is the world's oldest known analog computer, at an estimated 2,200 years old. While the device's mechanism has long since been known to have involved astronomical calculations, its full... continued