Science

Researchers set out to find the clues behind this cucumbers seed dispersal superpower. Stanislav Gorb/Helen Gorges hide caption toggle caption Stanislav Gorb/Helen Gorges Three summers ago, Kiel University biomechanist Stainslav Gorb, returned to Germany after a vacation in Turkey with a present for Ph.D. student Helen Gorges. “He came back and was like, ‘Helen, I brought you something. They might …

Recently, NASA tested a payload adapter at the Marshall Space Flight Center as part of the preparation for the upcoming Artemis IV mission. What is it? The massive, dark circular payload adapter was carefully lowered from Test Stand 4697 to Test Stand 4705 for storage, after successfully completing initial structural tests. The next stage is for flight engineers to run …

One challenge of dieting is maintaining healthy eating habits, avoiding the so-called ‘yo-yo dieting’ effect. Now a new study suggests that effect might be closely linked to the bacteria living in our guts. A team led by researchers from the University of Rennes and Paris-Saclay University in France ran a series of experiments on mice, measuring their reactions to rotating …

Topline The northern lights could appear in several states in the northern U.S. on Thursday night, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as the Perseids meteor shower may also appear in the night sky. The possible aurora borealis coincides with the Perseids meteor shower, with hundreds of meteors … More likely visible in the night sky during its …

This past May, employees at the Honister Slate Mine in Cumbria, England, stopped short when they noticed an animal perched precariously on the rocky mountain ledge above their heads. Worried for the animal’s safety, and concerned she might topple rocks onto the pedestrians below, the workers contacted the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team for help. Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team Rescuers Andrew …

The newly discovered “interstellar visitor” 3I/ATLAS can be seen shining like a rainbow-colored string of cosmic pearls in a trippy new timelapse image captured by a telescope in Hawaii. The interloper was discovered on July 1, and within 24 hours NASA confirmed it was an interstellar object — an ejected piece of an alien star system that is shooting through …

It’s been more than a year since Starliner’s failed test flight left a crew stranded in space, and Boeing’s spacecraft still isn’t ready to fly. In a recent update, NASA officials said they are working toward launching a mission aboard Starliner in 2026, and there probably won’t be any astronauts involved. During a press briefing last week, Steve Stich, NASA’s …

Despite the powerful telescopes that modern astronomers have to work with, the distant reaches of the Solar System are still mysterious. Not much sunlight pierces these regions, and there are strong hints that undiscovered objects lurk there. The objects that astronomers have discovered in these dim reaches are primordial, and their orbits suggest the presence of more undiscovered objects. Piecing …

Early risers will get a rare opportunity to see something extraordinary in the early hours of July 18 — the dark shadow of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, sweeping across the planet’s cloud tops. Once every 15 years, Saturn‘s tilted orbit brings its iconic rings — and Titan‘s orbital path — into an edge-on alignment with Earth. This event, known as …

Just a moment… Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue This request seems a bit unusual, so we need to confirm that you’re human. Please press and hold the button until it turns completely green. Thank you for your cooperation! Press and Hold Press and hold the button If you believe this is an error, please contact our support team. 209.74.74.26 …