Light Pillars, a Million-Mirror Optical Illusion on Winter Nights
By JOANNA KLEIN It might look like a mother ship hovering above the planet, waiting to carry you […]
Science
A Metal Ball the Size of Massachusetts That NASA Wants ...
By KENNETH CHANG Launching in 2023, the spacecraft Psyche will reach the asteroid of the same name in […]
Bats Like Their Plant Nectar Sweet — Though Maybe the ...
By STEPH YIN An evolutionary riddle suggests plants should give bats a sugar-heavy jolt, but a new study […]
Tilikum, the Killer Whale Featured in ‘Blackfish,’ Dies
By CHRISTINE HAUSER SeaWorld announced that orca, thought to have been around 36 years old, died after suffering […]
Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273
The spiky stars in the foreground of this sharp cosmic portrait are well within our own Milky Way […]
On Long Migrations, Birds Chase an Eternal Spring
By CARL ZIMMER Surprisingly indirect migratory paths land birds at way stations just as vegetation and insects become […]
Conditions That Form More Hurricanes Also Protect U.S., Study Finds
By HENRY FOUNTAIN A new analysis suggests that the climatic trends that lead to greater hurricane activity also […]
Radio Bursts Traced to Faraway Galaxy, but Caller Is Probably ...
By DENNIS OVERBYE Researchers say the bursts could be caused by reactions between a neutron star and debris, […]
Clouds of Andromeda
The beautiful Andromeda Galaxy is often imaged by planet Earth-based astronomers. Also known as M31, the nearest large […]
Pandora Close up at Saturn
What do the craters of Saturn’s small moon Pandora look like up close? To help find out, NASA […]