The Doomsday Clock Explained: How Close Are We to Armageddon in 2023?
The Doomsday Clock in 2021. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists/Thomas Gaulkin Planet Earth has seen it’s fair share of horrors over the last three years. Sorry to get all doom…
NASA’s Webb Might’ve Discovered the Ingredients for Life in a Cold, Dark Cloud
This image by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) features the central region of the Chamaeleon I dark molecular cloud, which resides 630 light years away. NASA, ESA,…
Common Type of Asteroid Could Be Very Hard to Destroy, Study Finds
A visualization of asteroid Itokawa, which was visited by the Japanese Hayabusa1 mission. JAXA/Curtin University It’s a trope in science fiction that the best way to deal with a threatening…
SpaceX Preparing for First Full Test Fire of Its Mega Starship Rocket
A magical, misty moment in Texas as Starship poses on the launchpad in January 2023. SpaceX After over a year and a half of waiting, it’s clear Starship’s first trip…
Bright Green Comet Passing Earth Is Visible Now In Dark Skies
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) as observed from Mount Fuji, Japan. SpaceWeatherGallery.com/Akihiro Yamazaki Now’s the time to start looking for Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) if you can find clear, dark skies near you…
See 28 Biologists Save a Lone Dolphin by Forming a Human Chain
It took a lot of biologists to escort a dolphin to safety. Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET Here’s a recipe for a good animal rescue story: Take one residential creek,…
Your Solar Eclipse Glasses Are Also Great for Sunspot Spotting
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this view of the sun on Jan. 23, 2023. Look to the far right for the sunspot NOAA AR 13190. NASA SDO Solar eclipse glasses…
Stars Are Vanishing From the Night Sky. Here’s Why
The Milky Way as seen from Poland. K. Ulaczyk/J. Skowron/OGLE/Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw Light pollution has robbed eight out of 10 Americans, and nearly a third of all humans,…
Meet ‘Toadzilla,’ the Giant Toxic Toad That Shocked Park Rangers
Human for scale. Toadzilla was truly a massive specimen. Queensland government Cane toads reproduce like mad and take a toll on native animals. Rangers at Conway National Park in Queensland,…
Sweeping New Milky Way Portrait Captures More Than 3 Billion Stars
A cropped portion of the new Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey (DECaPS2) from NOIRLab still shows thousands upon thousands of celestial objects. DECaPS2/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)…