Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered a stellar bar in GN20, a massive galaxy seen just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. The new paper was submitted to the preprint server arXiv on May 14.
From farming and walking sims to space trucking, you can live that cozy life… but in space! Continue ReadingThe 11 best cozy sci-fi games for those chill cosmic vibes
On a blazing hot day in South Africa, female southern pied babblers can’t think straight. The medium-sized black-and-white birds are trying to get at tasty mealworms behind a see-through barrier. On cooler days, the birds can quickly figure out that all they have to do is go around the small wall of plastic. But when the mercury goes up, the birds just keep stubbornly pecking at the barrier. That experiment is part of a growing body of research showing that animals get their minds muddled during heat waves. When it’s hot outside, birds struggle to learn, dogs bite more often, Continue ReadingThey call it stupid hot for a reason: Heat muddles animal brains
Reports of an explosion from people across New England on Saturday afternoon sent police agencies and others scrambling to understand what caused a double boom that shook buildings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
“I think these are not far-out type of ideas; they are not really futuristic ideas that we are talking about.” Continue ReadingCan solar sails really send humans out into interstellar space?
Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. May 30: Fly a cosmic kite Full Moon occurs at 4:45 A.M. EDT on May 31, bringing us May’s second Full Moon and the first — and only — Blue Moon of 2026. Shortly after that, at 5 A.M. EDT, the FullContinue reading “The Sky Today on Sunday, May 31: Blue Moon, red star” The post The Sky Today on Sunday, May Continue ReadingThe Sky Today on Sunday, May 31: Blue Moon, red star
A new race to the moon is emerging between the United States and China. Unlike fifty years ago, the goal is no longer just about landing and leaving, but establishing a base that allows for a sustainable presence and extended stays on the surface of our natural satellite. The objective is now to use the moon as a testing ground for technologies that will enable us to travel further, particularly to Mars.
A team of scientists is exploring ways to use dark craters at the lunar poles as sites for ultrastable lasers to aid in surface and near-lunar navigation. The group, led by Physicist Jun Ye, an expert on lasers and precision measurements, were discussing the types of instruments that Artemis astronauts could install and use during their time on the Moon.
Around the world, people watched NASA’s Artemis II mission in awe as humans returned to lunar orbit for the first time since 1972.
‘She listens to Dolly Parton now. She’s exposed to all kinds of things being in jail, because she’s got nothing but time.’ Continue Reading‘For All Mankind’ star Wrenn Schmidt on her character’s journey from NASA’s mission control to the slammer (interview)
File – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands in the vertical launch position at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base ahead of the launch of the Starlink 17-5 mission on Aug. 18, 2025. This was the ninth flight for Falcon 9 booster, tail number B1088. Image: SpaceX Update May 30, 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 UTC): SpaceX landed its booster on the drone ship. SpaceX launched its 50th dedicated Starlink mission of 2026 Continue ReadingSpaceX launches 50th Starlink mission of 2026
On Episode 212 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik are joined by Space.com’s Mike Wall to discuss the loss of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Continue ReadingThis Week In Space podcast: Episode 212 — Kabooms, Starship, and a Moon Base
What is it about the Blue Moon that inspires us to write songs and name beers after it? Continue ReadingWhy is the idea of a Blue Moon so enchanting? Over 100 years of pop culture fascination
Astronomers from the George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC, and elsewhere have employed NASA’s Chandra X-ray spacecraft to observe a pulsar wind nebula inside a supernova remnant known as CTA 1. Results of the observational campaign, presented in a research paper published May 20 on the arXiv preprint server, shed more light on the morphology and properties of this nebula.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 10-53 mission on May 29, 2026. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched its penultimate planned flight in May, sending its Falcon 9 rocket flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday morning. The Starlink 10-53 mission will add another 29 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit megaconstellation. The network consists of Continue ReadingSpaceX launches 29 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
He-Man isn’t the only one with a sword. Continue Reading‘I was literally becoming Teela’: We chat to Camilla Mendes about kicking ass in ‘Masters of the Universe’
Don’t miss 2026’s smallest full moon with this livestream from Italy with the Virtual Telescope Project. The ‘Blue Moon’ livestream will begin at 9:30 p.m. EDT (0130 GMT). Continue ReadingWatch the smallest full moon of 2026 tonight in this rare ‘Blue Moon’ livestream
Harry Clement Stubbs – perhaps better known by his penname, Hal Clement – was born near Boston on May 30, 1922. Stubbs earned a B.S. in astronomy from Harvard University in 1943, followed by master’s degrees in chemistry and education. After military service in the Army Air Corps in World War II, he began workContinue reading “May 30, 1922: The birth of Harry Clement Stubbs” The post May 30, 1922: The birth of Harry Clement Continue ReadingMay 30, 1922: The birth of Harry Clement Stubbs
How would you like to play a game … in spaaaaaaccccceeeeeee!!!! Continue ReadingFrom ‘Tetris’ to ‘StarCraft 2’ — 5 times astronauts took video games into space
Building a permanent base on the Moon sounds like an engineering problem. Design the habitat, sort the power supply, figure out life support, and you’re most of the way there. But the engineers who’ve spent time thinking hard about this will tell you the real challenge isn’t the hardware — it’s the humans inside it. Now researchers have built a virtual Moon base and run tens of thousands of simulated missions inside it, studying not the rocket engines or the radiation shielding, but the astronauts themselves. What they found could reshape how we plan humanity’s return to the lunar surface.
