That question is at the center of a new paper published in Nature Astronomy, where researchers examine the often-overlooked problem of “false negatives” in the search for extraterrestrial life. These are cases in which life exists, or once existed, but scientists fail to detect it. “We are currently investing a great deal of money in…
Regeneration is in the eye of the golden apple snail — literally. A study in the journal Nature Communications looks at the golden apple snail’s regenerative properties, specifically in its eyes. Like humans, these snails have camera-type eyes, and understanding how they regenerate could lead to advanced medical treatments for humans with eye injuries. It…
Back to Article List Today in the history of astronomy, an asteroid flattens 830 square miles of Siberian forest. The Tunguska impact flattened hundreds of miles of forest and devastated local wildlife, but the remoteness of the region kept it from being a mass casuality event. Credit: Leonid Kulik/Wikimedia An enormous explosion occurred approximately 3…
An art dealer stumbled across “Let the Little Children Come Unto Me” at a German auction house in 2014. Experts have now carefully removed layers of overpaint from the forgotten masterpiece Ellen Wexler | Writer and Special Projects Editor June 30, 2026 3:10 p.m. Detail of Rembrandt’s Let the Little Children Come Unto Me Sotheby’s He’s…
Astronaut Chris Williams shows off a “strong man” pose 260 miles above Earth during a break in work to repair the International Space Station’s robot arm. Image: NASA Two NASA astronauts floating outside the International Space Station carried out a bit of orbital surgery Tuesday, successfully replacing a broken 200-pound “wrist” joint near the end…
Enabling & Support 25/06/2026 1287 views 26 likes In brief The Flight Ticket Initiative is opening up to more European launch service providers to join, offering new opportunities to participate in upcoming missions. European launch service providers can also bid for the launch of a new batch of In-orbit Demonstration and Validation (IOD/IOV) missions. Led…
A field of stars in the constellation Lupus captured by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is finally beginning its mammoth survey of the universe. After a year of testing and calibration, it is starting the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which is…
Blue Origin’s New Glenn explodes on its launchpad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: @JConcilus via AP During an evening test fire on May 28, 2026, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded, engulfing the launchpad in a massive fireball. The spectacular fire, caught on video, not only destroyed the rocket but also appears to have significantly…
In celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States, NASA has unveiled four cosmic images from its Chandra X-ray Observatory rendered in red, white, and blue that represent the wonders of the universe the agency explores. The images are accompanied by a trio of new sonifications – a technique that translates astronomical data into…
The first full moon of the summer delivered dazzling visuals from across the globe. Its low position in the sky from the perspective of the Northern Hemisphere gave it a golden hue Kayla Randall | Digital Editor, Museums June 30, 2026 4:10 p.m. The strawberry full moon rises behind the Empire State Building in New York…