The 10 biggest space science stories of 2021

The year 2021 was one of major scientific expansion. Thanks to a variety of exploratory missions and their cutting-edge instruments, astronomers have been able to peer into the cosmos like never before. Researchers have turned the Earth into a giant telescope to view powerful jets from a black hole. Solar system surveys have revealed new … Read more

Astronomers See Black Hole Jets Blaze 16x Wider Than The Full Moon in Our Sky

Astronomers have captured a breathtaking radio wave image, showing our closest radio active black hole spewing out massive jets of plasma that span more than 16 times the size of the full moon in our sky.   The supermassive black hole in question is located in the center of the galaxy Centaurus A around 12 … Read more

Eating Less Red Meat Is Something Individuals Can Do to Help the Climate Crisis

When I give public lectures about the climate crisis, the most common question people pose is: “Are you an optimist or a pessimist?” My answer is yes. California has achieved dramatic emissions reductions in a thriving economy, which makes me hopeful, yet in general the fossil-fuel industry is determined not to change. The second most … Read more

Rich Clifford, NASA astronaut who secretly flew with Parkinson’s, dies at 69

Michael “Rich” Clifford, who as a NASA astronaut flew on three space shuttle missions, including one after his diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease, has died at the age of 69. Clifford’s death on Tuesday (Dec. 28) was confirmed by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), a professional organization for astronauts and cosmonauts that included Clifford as … Read more

Trees Drill into Deep Bedrock for Water Surprisingly Often

Naturalists have long noted isolated examples of tree roots boring far down through loose soil and into the unforgiving bedrock below—rare incursions that were deemed a mere curiosity. But in 2013 hydrologist Daniella Rempe probed deep into a northern California hillside and found tree roots extracting substantial amounts of moisture from pores and crannies in … Read more

An exclusive 1st look at ‘Star Trek: Discovery – The Book of Grudge’ from Hero Collector

Those talented folk at Hero Collector — the same people who make all those incredible models (and accompanying books) of sci-fi spacecraft — have launched a truly unique book; an extremely colorful and entertaining work based on Grudge the cat’s enlightening perspective of all things USS Discovery. “Star Trek: Discovery – The Book of Grudge” will be … Read more

E. O. Wilson: The extraordinary ant researcher and sociobiologist who warned of biodiversity crisis

By Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware Edward O. Wilson in his office in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, in 2014. Credit: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images E. O. Wilson was an extraordinary scholar in every sense of the word. Back in the 1980s, Milton Stetson, the chair of the biology department … Read more

Cells Deep in Your Brain Place Time Stamps on Memories

How does our brain know that “this” follows “that”? Two people meet, fall in love and live happily ever after—or sometimes not. The sequencing of events that takes place in our head—with one thing coming after another—may have something to do with so-called time cells recently discovered in the human hippocampus. The research provides evidence … Read more

NASA assigns 2 astronauts to SpaceX Crew-6 mission, launching in 2023

The first two seats of the sixth full-fledged NASA crew mission launched by SpaceX have been filled. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg will both fly aboard the Crew-6 mission, which is due to blast off to the International Space Station in 2023, according to a NASA statement published Dec. 16. Bowen will serve … Read more