World-Record ‘Megaflash’ of Lightning Stretched Across The US For Almost 500 Miles

A jaw-dropping lightning megaflash that snaked across three states in the southern US just won a world record. A megaflash is not your standard cloud-to-ground lightning bolt. It’s an enormous electric zigzag that travels from one electrified cloud to the next, almost instantaneously.   A big enough thunderstorm system can allow a megaflash to cover hundreds of … Read more

NASA’s New Flagship Telescope Fully Deploys Sunshield in Critical Mission Milestone

The James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said.   “All five layers of the sunshield are fully tensioned,” said an announcer at the observatory’s control center in Baltimore, where team members cheered, a … Read more

5 Things to Know About The James Webb Space Telescope Before It Launches

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space observatory ever built, is finally set for launch in late December after decades of waiting. An engineering marvel, it will help answer fundamental questions about the Universe, peering back in time 13 billion years. Here are five things to know.   1. Giant gold mirror The telescope’s … Read more