
Do We Live in a Star Wars Universe?
Tis the season for science fiction fun, but could we even tell if the universe around us was filled with galactic empires and rebel forces?
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
Tis the season for science fiction fun, but could we even tell if the universe around us was filled with galactic empires and rebel forces?
From progress on deciphering the strange features of dwarf planet Ceres to NASA's plans to play with Martian sand and a heroic rescue of Japan's Venus-bound spacecraft, it's been an interesting past couple of weeks...
A pair of scientific papers suggest that the ALMA observatory may have detected 2 new "planet-scale" objects associated with the outer realms of the solar system. But should we be awed or skeptical?...
Remote sensing can produce spectacular, and wholly alien, views of our homeworld.
As the private space company Blue Origin achieves a 100 kilometer suborbital flight, and a spectacular re-landing of its rocket, it's worth pausing to consider the basic energy requirements of spaceflight from the surface of the Earth...
A new study provides substantial support for earlier claims of 520-million-year-old arthropod brain systems, raising interesting questions about the nature of brains, life and intelligence in the cosmos...
A new explanation for the strange grooves on the surface of the martian moon Phobos suggests that the entire satellite already shows signs of how it will eventually be destroyed.
A review of "universe2go"—an augmented reality planetarium
Pluto's small moons are revealed in the latest image data and analysis from New Horizons' historic encounter—these may be the best view humanity ever gets of these distant objects
A recent claim for evidence of life on Earth as early as 4.1 billion years ago runs headlong into prevailing theories about a period of heavy asteroid impacts and the reshuffling of the young solar system's orbital architecture...