Space : Nature World News

Mar 04, 2015 05:53 PM EST

The Universe Should Be Brighter Than It Is

According to researchers, the Universe should be brighter than it actually is, and now they are just beginning the figure out why that's not the case.

Mar 04, 2015 02:15 PM EST

US Military Satellite Explodes Over Earth, ESA Assesses Risk

The United States Air Force and space industry media have revealed that a satellite which had been orbiting the Earth for the greater part of two decades exploded in early February, strewing debris that is worrying some experts. Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) has released a hasty assessment of this danger.

Mar 04, 2015 02:01 PM EST

Curiosity Rover Takes a Time Out After 'Short Circuit'

NASA mission directors have announced that the Curiosity Mars rover will be out of commission for a spell as engineers remotely work out what triggered an onboard fault protection action that halted important experimental procedures. NASA assures us that the rover is down, but not out.

Mar 03, 2015 01:44 PM EST

Alone in Antarctica: Experts Abandon Months of Light for Science

March is upon us, and that means that scientists at the French-Italian Concordia research station in Antarctica are in the midst of prepping for a harsh winter - one that lasts half a year, with little to no contact with the rest of the world. What's worse, four of those six months will be spent without sunlight. Ah, the things some people will do for science.

Mar 03, 2015 12:03 PM EST

Old and Dusty Galaxies Grew Up Stunningly Fast, Say Experts

Researchers have discovered that soon after the Big Bang, some of the first galaxies may have been in a rush to make stars. That's at least the case for A1689-zD1, an ancient galaxy that's an incredibly long way from Earth - so far away that we are seeing it from when the Universe was a mere 700 million years old.

Feb 28, 2015 05:17 PM EST

Rare Black Hole May be 'Missing Link' in Evolution

Scientists have possibly discovered a rare, medium-sized black hole located in the spiral arm of a galaxy 100 million light-years from Earth that may be the "missing link" in the evolution of these mysterious cosmic objects.

Feb 28, 2015 11:24 AM EST

New Life Form Discovered on Saturn's Moon Titan?

Well...not exactly, but scientists have concluded that if one does exist, this would be what the new life would look like. Living on Saturn's moon Titan, it would have to metabolize and reproduce akin to life on Earth, strengthening the theory that Titan may be habitable, according to new research.

Feb 27, 2015 01:20 PM EST

NASA's Space Cowboy SMAP Spins Up its Lasso

There's a new cowboy in town, and he's getting ready to wrangle in some game-changing data about our planet's water. NASA's new SMAP satellite has successfully deployed its massive antenna - a structure that engineers at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) say is not unlike a giant lasso.

Feb 27, 2015 01:11 PM EST

MUSE Gives Best 3D Glimpse into the Universe

The MUSE instrument, part of the European Space Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope, has given astronomers the best 3D glimpse into the deep Universe, according to new research.

Feb 26, 2015 11:24 AM EST

Monstrous Black Hole the Largest Scientists Have Ever Seen

Scientists have discovered a monstrous black hole about 13 billion light-years away from Earth, and it is the largest they have ever seen, a new study says.

Feb 25, 2015 03:05 PM EST

Curiosity Rover's New Selfie Puts You in the Middle of a Martian Landscape

NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover is snapping selfies of itself again, with its latest photo revealing the breathtaking red dunes and dust of Pahrump Hills, the location of its latest geological endeavors.

Feb 25, 2015 01:16 PM EST

Mysterious 'Bright Spots' on Ceres Baffle Experts

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is closing in fast on the protoplanet Ceres - one of two asteroids in our solar system so large that they may even boast their own unique surfaces and thin atmospheres. Imagery taken tens-of-thousands of miles away has now revealed two intriguing bright spots on the asteroid's surface, and experts have absolutely no idea what they could be.

Feb 23, 2015 12:28 PM EST

Hubble Captures Most Detailed Image Yet of Debris Disk

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the most detailed image yet of the debris disk encircling Beta Pictoris, a 20-million-year-old star.

Feb 21, 2015 05:09 PM EST

Orion's Flight Test: The Results Are In!

It's been more than two months since NASA's premier Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a flawless - not to mention its very first - test flight. Now important data from that flight is coming in, and NASA's engineers and partners are already hard at work constructing and improving the next Orion for a second flight.

Feb 19, 2015 04:00 PM EST

Black Hole Whips up Furious Winds while Experts Watch

Black holes: we know so little about them (we're not even sure they exist!) and yet one is quite literally the center of our galaxy. Now a pair of telescopes has identified strong evidence of radiation and ultra-fast winds blowing in a nearly spherical fashion, suggesting that black holes are more than just bottomless pits of condensing matter.