How to Mourn a Space Robot
NASA’s Cassini probe will soon plunge into Saturn, ending its 13-year mission to the ringed planet and triggering a wave of grief among scientists, engineers, and an adoring public.
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ESO / L. Calçada / M. Kornmesser A Movie 130 Million Years in the Making
The spectacular neutron-star collision eventually faded from view, but it was immortalized by space animators.
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ESO / A.J. Levan / N.R. Tanvir The Slack Chat That Changed Astronomy
The groundbreaking discovery of a neutron-star collision unfolded in a flurry of online messages.
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NSF / LIGO / Sonoma State University /A. ... The Plume of Gold Ejected by a Cosmic Collision
Astronomers say the merger of two neutron stars produced about 10,000 Earth-masses of precious heavy elements.
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University of Warwick / Mark Garlick 'A New Rosetta Stone for Astronomy'
For the first time, astronomers have detected visible light and gravitational waves from the same source, ushering in a new era in our attempt to understand the cosmos.
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Natacha Pisarenk / AP When Scientists Are Sexually Harassed in the Field
“It could be traumatizing to even look at the data” from a research expedition.
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Reuters Trump's NASA Pivot
His administration has made the moon a destination, not just a pit stop, on the way to Mars.
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Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP How Sputnik Launched an Era of Technological Fragility
Sixty years after the historic achievement, a world without satellites seems difficult to imagine.
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Anthony Bolante / Reuters How a 130-Year-Old Technology Led to a Nobel Prize
The LIGO instrument responsible for detecting gravitational waves grew out of an 1880s experiment.
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Krishnendu Halder / Reuters What Would Flying From New York to Shanghai in 39 Minutes Feel Like?
Elon Musk’s proposed Earth transport system better stock barf bags.
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AP The Man Who Live-Tweets World War II
@RealTimeWWII spent the last six years chronicling the violent conflict online—and now it’s starting all over again.
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Reuters The Coming Explosion of Gravitational-Wave Detections
Astronomers have spotted the phenomenon for a fourth time—and they say there’s many, many more to come.
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Handout / Reuters What Would a Hydrogen Bomb Do to the Pacific Ocean?
A North Korean official has hinted about conducting a nuclear test at sea, which would have severe environmental consequences.
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Brennan Linsley / AP Waiting for a Signal From Arecibo
The world’s second-largest radio telescope has sustained “some damage” from Hurricane Maria.
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Courtesy of James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti The Golden Age of Animal Tracking
Scientists may soon be able to monitor whole ecosystems in real time.
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ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / ... A Peek at the Glowing Red Shell Around an Aging Star
The latest picture of a distant star shows more detail than ever before.
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NASA / AP Hurricane Maria Just Became a Category 4 Storm
The hurricane is barreling toward the Caribbean, which is still reeling from the effects of Irma.
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NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute This Is the Way Cassini Ends
As the spacecraft prepared to plunge into Saturn, the mission's longest-serving members remembered its years-long journey.
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NASA / JPL-Caltech Scientists Don't Want You to Call Cassini's End a 'Suicide'
Anthropomorphizing robots is one thing, but some say news reports about the spacecraft risk being insensitive.
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JPL / NASA What Would the Next Golden Record Carry?
The original producers of the cosmic message to the universe consider the next iteration.
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NASA / JPL-Caltech When Will Voyager Stop Calling Home?
The twin spacecraft still send data back to the planet they left 40 years ago.
