All Science
How do you spot an incoming asteroid anyway?Astronomers say they have detected perhaps 90 percent of the potentially world-destroying space rocks in our solar system, but there are many thousands of still-unseen asteroids that are big enough to level a major city.
La Brea Tar Pits museum celebrates 100 years of gooey excavationLa Brea Tar Pits museum: The George C. Page Museum, which oversees the fossils found in Los Angeles's La Brea Tar Pits, marks a century of digging on Monday.
Japan earthquake: 7.3-magnitude temblor rattles Japan; no reports of damageJapan earthquake: An earthquake struck off of Japan's east coat early Saturday morning, reports the US Geological Survey.
Solar flares: X-class (Yes, that's a real thing.)Though it sounds suspiciously like a promo for 'X-Men: First Class,' an X-class solar flare is a massive solar storm capable of devastating satellite communication. On Friday, two X-class flares erupted from the sun's surface, the first X-class flares in five months.
- 'Junk' DNA could determine face shape, scientists say
New research suggests that so-called junk DNA might not be so worthless after all. It might actually help us tell each other apart.
Japan tests asteroid-blasting 'space cannon'Japan’s space agency conducted a successful test this week of its 'space cannon,' designed to embark on a mission to blast a crater in an an asteroid next year.
Sun unleashes humongous flareThe sun erupted with one of the most powerful types of solar flares on Friday, as our star is near the peak of it's 11-year activity cycle.
Were ancient bees wiped out along with the dinosaurs?The ancestors of modern bees might have disappeared some 65 million years ago, about the same time that non-avian dinosaurs were making their exit.
Titan's 'Great Salt Lake'? North pole of Saturn moon looks like Utah.Scientists looking at the lake region of Titan's north pole see signs of dried lake beds like the Bonneville Salt Flats near Utah's Great Salt Lake.
X Prize Foundation will crowdfund three new prizes. How it's a game-changer.The X Prize Foundation announced this week that it will launch three new prize competitions before 2020. All of them, for the first time ever, will be crowdfunded, a possible game-changer in how the foundation's projects are selected.
How a mouse evolved to ignore a scorpion's stingThe tiny grasshopper mouse doesn't seem to be bothered in the slightest by the sting of the Arizona bark scorpion, thanks to specially evolved nerve cells, finds new research.
NASA downloads data from moon, sets speed recordThis week, NASA’s prototype for a new, laser communication system transmitted data between the moon and New Mexico at a download rate of 622 megabits per second.
Most-distant galaxy ever found a glimpse into universe's mysterious dark agesScientists have confirmed the discovery of the most distant galaxy ever found, and the data could shed light on a period of the early universe when light couldn't travel from one galaxy to another.
Why giant pandas are unusually resilientGiant pandas, an endangered species, may be more resilient to environmental change than previously thought, scientists say. A diverse genetic pool facilitates greater immunity than some endangered species, say researches.
For $75,000, a balloon ride to the mid-stratosphereWorld View, a new commercial space outlet, has announced plans to ferry paying customers to some 19 miles above the Earth for views similar to those seen from space.
Will Comet ISON make it to Christmas? New evidence offers clues.Comet ISON isn't brightening up as fast as expected, but it isn't breaking apart, either. A new study compares Comet ISON to two historical comets: one that survived its brush past the sun, and one that disintegrated during approach.
How trees drinking gold can help the mining industryA paper published in Nature Communications reports that trees sip up gold deposits below, a find that could help prospectors pinpoint the location of buried reserves.
Success of Cygnus cargo craft takes NASA step closer to new futureNASA wants to offload cargo runs to the space station to private companies so it can focus more on exploration. Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo ship just finished its first mission.
High-school student finds baby duck-billed dino fossilThe skeleton packs a lot of superlatives, as the smallest, youngest and most complete duck-billed dinosaur of its kind ever found.
Hurricane Raymond: Strong hurricane meanders off Mexico's south coastHurricane Raymond remained nearly stationary off Mexico's southern Pacific coast Monday, with maximum sustained winds of about 125 mph. Experts disagree as to whether hurricane Raymond will stay off the coast or make landfall Tuesday.
