YouTube has fast become a place where people get their news, and in that vein, we’re delighted to join the YouTube Space Lab channel with our new online series, The Countdown. Every other Thursday, host and self-proclaimed web nerd Dave Mosher presents the five coolest things happening in space, astronomy and physics. Our first episode [...]

Story 5 In 2005, the dwarf planet Makemake passed between the Earth and a very bright star, casting a shadow known as an occultation. A new study of data collected from the occultation reveals that Makemake lacks an atmosphere. Links: Rare Apparition of Dwarf Planet Makemake Reveals a Largely Airless World Story 4 Internet billionaire [...]

Story 5 Chinese, European and Canadian scientists recently set distance records for quantum teleportation. Links: Quantum Teleportation Achieved Over Record Distances Physicists Spooked by Faster-Than-Light Information Transfer Quantum Entanglement – The Movie Story 4 The Mars Curiosity Rover receives a morning wake-up call from NASA engineers. Links: NASA Reveals Mars Rover’s Morning Mix Story 3 [...]

Welcome to The Countdown, the Scientific American show that counts down the five coolest things happening now in space news. Episode 1: July 26, 2012 Story 5 Galaxies from the early universe usually look kind of lumpy or blobby, but scientists have spotted one with a spiral structure, making it look a lot like our [...]