Leading science journalists provide a daily minute commentary on some of the most interesting developments in the world of astronomy and space exploration. For a full-length, weekly podcast you can subscribe to Science Talk: The Podcast of Scientific American . To view all of our archived podcasts please go to www.scientificamerican.com/podcast
Bacteria Got an Early Fix on Nitrogen
New evidence points to the evolution of the ability for bacteria to grab nitrogen from the atmosphere some 3.2 billion years ago, about 1.2 billion years earlier than thought—with implications for finding extraterrestrial life. Lee Billings reports
2/23/2015 • 2 minutes, 13 seconds
Stars Reveal Hidden Galaxy
A dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way may consist of more dark matter than regular matter.* Clara Moskowitz reports
2/17/2015 • 1 minute, 22 seconds
Space Science Budget Gets Small Lift
NASA has to deal with the unexpected financial consequences of robotic missions that just keep going. Lee Billings reports
2/10/2015 • 1 minute, 42 seconds
5 Rocky Planets Found in Ancient, Distant Solar System
The oldest group of terrestrial worlds now known formed some 11.2 billion years ago, more than six billion years before our sun and planets. Clara Moskowitz reports
2/2/2015 • 1 minute, 40 seconds
Long-Lost Lander Found on Mars
New images from a NASA orbiter reveal Beagle 2’s final resting place. Lee Billings reports
1/26/2015 • 1 minute, 37 seconds
Look Up to See Latest Comet Lovejoy
Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy’s latest comet find is naked-eye visible in the southeast sky until January 24. Clara Moskowitz reports
1/16/2015 • 1 minute, 25 seconds
SpaceX Will Try Launch, Then Soft-Land Returning Booster
The company hopes to send up a Falcon 9 rocket and then safely land the discarded first stage for reuse. Lee Billings reports
12/31/2014 • 1 minute, 31 seconds
Humans on Mars Soonish Says NASA Bigwig
John Grunsfeld, the former astronaut who now heads NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, thinks that traveling light could get people to Mars by the 2040s
12/10/2014 • 1 minute, 37 seconds
UV Light Colors Great Red Spot
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is its particular crimson shade because of the interaction of ultraviolet light and specific chemical compounds in the gas giant's atmosphere. Lee Billings reports
12/1/2014 • 1 minute, 37 seconds
It’s Hard to Dust in Space
Over the summer researchers identified seven specks of dust returned to Earth by the Stardust spacecraft. But determining their true origin has been difficult. Clara Moskowitz reports
11/21/2014 • 1 minute, 37 seconds
Comet Reeks of Cat Crap and Rotten Eggs
The Rosetta spacecraft has unexpectedly detected hydrogen sulphide and ammonia coming from Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Lee Billings reports
11/4/2014 • 1 minute, 20 seconds
Track Cosmic Rays with Smartphone App
Take part in a citizen-science project by helping researchers track high-energy cosmic rays via a network of smartphone users. Clara Moskowitz reports
10/17/2014 • 1 minute, 26 seconds
Star-Forming Clouds May Spit Out Life’s Building Blocks
Astronomers have discovered one of the largest and most complex organic molecules yet in a gaseous star-forming region of interstellar space. Clara Moskowitz reports
10/9/2014 • 1 minute, 36 seconds
Dark Matter Looks WIMPy
Data from the International Space Station-based Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment supports the idea that dark matter consists of the invisible particles called weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. Clara Moskowitz reports
9/24/2014 • 1 minute, 34 seconds
Forensic Astronomer Dates Monet Vision
Texas State University astronomer Donald Olson combined solar, tidal and weather data to identify the likely moment of the image in the Monet work Impression, Sunrise
9/11/2014 • 1 minute, 29 seconds
Milky Way's Home Supercluster Found
Astronomers have identified the Milky Way’s cosmic address—inside the supercluster Laniakea, which means “immense heaven” in Hawaiian. Clara Moskowitz reports
9/4/2014 • 1 minute, 23 seconds
Neptune Visit Hits 25th Anniversary
On August 24th, 1989, the Voyager 2 spacecraft rendezvoused with Neptune, making it the farthest planet to pose for a close-up, a record it still holds today.
8/24/2014 • 1 minute, 34 seconds
Air Pollution Could Reveal ET's Home
If intelligent aliens are dumb enough to pollute their atmosphere, NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope is powerful enough to spot some of the signs on some exoplanets. Clara Moskowitz reports
8/13/2014 • 1 minute, 23 seconds
Martian Soil Salts May Make Water Ice All Wet
Within a Mars-like laboratory environment, perchlorate salts known to exist on Mars were able to lower the freezing point enough to get ice to turn to liquid water. Clara Moskowitz reports
7/25/2014 • 1 minute, 28 seconds
Saturn Probe Ready for Its "Grand Finale"
The Cassini probe readies for its final act with new flight patterns that will get unprecedented views of Saturn and culminate in a final dive into the planet's atmosphere. Clara Moskowitz reports
7/9/2014 • 1 minute, 22 seconds
Triple Black Hole System Found in Distant Galaxy
A galaxy four billion light-years from us was has three supermassive black holes at its center, with two in a tight formation. Clara Moskowitz reports
7/2/2014 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
"Extremely Large Telescope" Breaks Ground
The European Southern Observatory broke ground June 19th to build the world's largest telescope atop the Cerro Armazones mountain in Chile. Clara Moskowitz reports
6/23/2014 • 1 minute, 26 seconds
Seemingly Strange Solar Cycle May Be Sorta Normal
The current solar maximum appears to be weak. But the few previously measured maxes could have been unusually strong. Clara Moskowitz reports
6/16/2014 • 1 minute, 17 seconds
Dark Matter Shell Saved Wannabe Galaxy
A failed dwarf galaxy called the Smith Cloud apparently survived an ancient collision with the Milky Way because of a protective dark matter cloak. Clara Moskowitz reports
6/2/2014 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Pluto Bids to Get Back Planetary Status
Pluto has at least five moons and an atmosphere—and now a new analysis places its diameter as bigger than its outer solar system rival, Eris
5/28/2014 • 1 minute, 37 seconds
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Now Just Pretty Good
Jupiter's Great Red Spot, once estimated to be 41,000 kilometers across, is just 16,500 kilometers wide in the latest Hubble Space Telescope observations, and the shrinkage seems to be accelerating. Clara Moskowitz reports
5/22/2014 • 1 minute, 22 seconds
Oddball Eclipse Makes Star Brighter
When a white dwarf passes in front of its binary star system companion every 88 days, it acts like a lens to make the larger star appear brighter to us.
5/15/2014 • 1 minute, 25 seconds
Galaxy Gave Star Cluster the Boot
The star cluster HVGC-1 had been part of the M87 galaxy, but now it's fleeing that galaxy at more than two million miles per hour. Clara Moskowitz reports
5/8/2014 • 1 minute, 38 seconds
Chilly, Chilly, Little Star
A brown dwarf only about three to 10 times Jupiter's mass couldn't get fusion going and now sits freezing in space, in the nearby galactic neighborhood. Clara Moskowitz reports
4/30/2014 • 1 minute, 27 seconds
Help ID Moon Craters from Your Couch
Citizen scientists have helped professional astronomers locate more than 500 million lunar craters by using an app called MoonMappers. Karen Hopkin reports
4/22/2014 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Saltine-Sized Satellites Set for Space
More than 100 tiny satellites are set to launch into space on April 14th, in a demonstration of a possible future inexpensive technology that could pave the way for the $1,000 satellite. Clara Moskowitz reports
4/14/2014 • 1 minute, 24 seconds
Absence (of Weight) Makes the Heart Grow Rounder
After prolonged periods in microgravity, astronauts' hearts became more spherical, according to scans done on the International Space Station. Sophie Bushwick reports
4/8/2014 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Rings: They're Not Just for Planets Anymore
The asteroidlike object Chariklo orbits between Saturn and Uranus and has been found to have its own set of rings. Clara Moskowitz reports
3/27/2014 • 1 minute, 23 seconds
Planet X Gets X'd Out
An exhaustive search by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer has found no hints of a theorized planet or dwarf star in our neck of the cosmic woods. Clara Moskowitz reports
3/11/2014 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Giant Black Hole Spins at Half Light-Speed
The half-the-speed-of-light spin of a giant black hole suggests it grew by digesting another black hole in a galaxy merger. Clara Moskowitz reports
3/5/2014 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Moon-Smashing Meteorite Recorded by Astronomers
Spanish astronomers spotted a meteoroid impact at 61,000 kilometers per hour using a telescope network that automatically scans the moon. Clara Moskowitz reports
2/25/2014 • 1 minute, 19 seconds
Hubble Finds Possible Oldest Object Ever Seen
The Hubble Telescope's new set of Frontier Fields images includes a galaxy some 13-billion light-years away, which makes it a candidate for the most distant object ever seen. Clara Moskowitz reports
2/20/2014 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
We Celebrate a Galilean Anniversary
Galileo—who, among many accomplishments, was first to use a telescope to discover moons around Jupiter—was born 450 years ago this week. Clara Moskowitz reports
2/14/2014 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Wacky World Wobbles Wildly
Exoplanet Kepler 413 b's tilt can vary by as much as 30 degrees over 11 years, leading to extremely erratic seasons. Clara Moskowitz reports
2/6/2014 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Faraway Planets May Be Far Better for Life
Astronomers have come up with a shopping list of what a planet needs to support life, perhaps even better than our Earth does, making them "superhabitable." Michael Moyer reports
1/31/2014 • 1 minute, 20 seconds
Comet Spacecraft Wakes from Slumber
On January 20th the European Space Agency woke its Rosetta probe after two-and-a-half years in hibernation, in preparation for its final approach to a comet
1/24/2014 • 1 minute, 19 seconds
Astronomers Cluster at Massive Meeting Conjunction
More than 3,000 astronomers assembled last week for the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Clara Moskowitz reports
1/15/2014 • 1 minute, 17 seconds
Weird Supernovae Spin Faster Than Blender Blades
Two recently found supernovae are much farther away and brighter than almost any star explosion ever seen, perhaps because they wound up as rapidly spinning magnetars. Clara Moskowitz reports
12/31/2013 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Asteroid-Hunting Satellite Returns from Dead
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite that went into hibernation in 2011 has been brought to life as an asteroid lookout. Clara Moskowitz reports
12/23/2013 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Preadolescent Astronomer Spots Supernova
Ten-year-old Nathan Gray of Nova Scotia officially becomes the youngest person ever to identify a new supernova. Clara Moskowitz reports
12/18/2013 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Say I Saw ISON
Don't miss viewing Comet ISON, visible in the east before dawn, with a tail now as long as the bowl of the Big Dipper. Clara Moskowitz reports
11/25/2013 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
India Targets Red Planet
India aims to become the fourth entity to send a mission to Mars with its launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission, aka Mangalyaan. Clara Moskowitz reports.
11/18/2013 • 1 minute, 32 seconds
Astronaut Sounds Alarm On Asteroids
At a symposium on the danger of asteroid impacts, Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart said it's time for the planet to develop a strategy should a big rock come our way. Clara Moskowitz reports.
11/4/2013 • 1 minute, 33 seconds
System Has Multiple Planets Off Kilter
Two of the three known planets around the star Kepler 56 orbit their host out of line with the star's equator. Clara Moskowitz reports.
10/22/2013 • 1 minute, 17 seconds
Voyager 1 Is Officially out There
Voyager 1's own record of the plasma vibrations in its vicinity conclusively show that it has reached the space between the stars. John Matson reports
9/16/2013 • 1 minute, 24 seconds
Home PCs Help Pinpoint Pulsars
The distributed computing project Einstein@Home uses home computers to search through years of telescope data to find pulsars. John Matson reports.
9/4/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Sky Map Satellite Becomes Asteroid Hunter
NASA's WISE satellite surveyed the universe before being mothballed in 2011. Now it's being resurrected as a near-Earth asteroid scanner.
8/26/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Kepler Exoplanet Hunter Limps Into Sunset
Although the Kepler space telescope's stabilization system is beyond repair, it has produced reams of data that have yet to be fully searched for exoplanets. John Matson reports.
8/22/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Solar Magnetic Field Flip Poses No Problem
The only issue related to the flip of the sun's magnetic field is that it corresponds with the peak of the sunspot cycle, when the sun is prone to launch flares and bursts of plasma into space that can effect satellites and power grids. John Matson reports.
8/15/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Curiosity Celebrates an Earth Year on Mars
Since it landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, the Curiosity rover has done photography, geology and roamed a good kilometer. John Matson reports
8/7/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Milky Way Black Hole Had Hungry Past
A huge cloud of plasma south of our galactic black hole could be evidence of a past feeding frenzy. John Matson reports
7/29/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Neutrino Identity Switch Confirmed
Theory said that muon neutrinos could transform into electron neutrinos. A neutrino detector confirms this by catching many more electron neutrinos than it should have otherwise. John Matson reports
7/23/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Giant Black Hole May Be Fugitive
The black hole in galaxy NGC 1277 is way more massive than usual. Astronomers hypothesize it was ejected from another galaxy before settling in its new home. John Matson reports
7/15/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Flare Star Goes Wild in Minutes
The star WX UMa went from 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit to 30,000 degrees F in less than three minutes. Chris Crockett reports
7/8/2013 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Frigid Space Speeds Chemical Reaction
A reaction between two common molecules occurs much faster at frosty interstellar temperatures than on our toasty Earth due to a cold-stabilized transition and quantum tunneling. John Matson reports
7/1/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Texas Teens Take Rocket Title
Three teenage Texas model rocketeers beat out teams from France and the U.K. to claim top honors at this year's International Rocketry Competition. John Matson reports
6/26/2013 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Primordial Galaxy Shows How to Make a Big One
Looking at the Himiko Galaxy as it was just 800 million years after the big bang offers a glimpse at how the most massive galaxies took shape. John Matson reports
6/21/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Galaxy of a Thousand Stars
Segue 2, one of dozens of "companion" galaxies that orbit the Milky Way, is now the smallest galaxy known. Michael Moyer reports
6/13/2013 • 1 minute, 20 seconds
Curiosity Reveals Mars Astronaut Radiation Risk
A side benefit of NASA's Curiosity rover mission is that we now know about how much radiation an interplanetary traveler would face. John Matson reports
5/31/2013 • 1 minute, 49 seconds
Earth and Moon Had Same Water Source
Isotopic analysis of water trapped in volcanic glass in lunar samples show that the moon has more water than thought, and the water there and on Earth had the same origins. Karen Hopkin reports
5/29/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Mars Rover Sets Distance Record
After nine (Earth) years of slowly traversing Mars, Opportunity broke the U.S. off-world rover record held by Apollo 17's lunar buggy since 1972. John Matson reports.
5/22/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Exoplanet Building Blocks Found around White Dwarfs
Silicon-rich rocky material was found around white dwarfs in the Hyades star cluster by the Hubble Space Telescope, despite the fact that almost no known planets exist in star clusters. John Matson reports
5/14/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Milky Way Makes Small Massive Gain
Based on the Milky Way's effect on the motion of a nearby dwarf galaxy, our galaxy seems to have more mass than we previously thought. John Matson reports
5/3/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Space Scope Spots 3 Possibly Habitable Planets
NASA's orbiting Kepler telescope recently spotted three exoplanets in or near their stars' so-called habitable zones, the temperate region where a planet could accommodate liquid water. John Matson reports
4/22/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Amateur Astronomers Spot Missing Russian Mars Lander
Using imagery taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2007, amateur astronomers located an object that could be a Russian lander that went dark after a few seconds on Mars in 1971. John Matson reports
4/15/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Water Ice Found across Saturn System
Saturn's rings and moons contain a uniform distribution of water ice, which seems to reflect their common origins billions of years ago. John Matson reports
4/8/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Universe May Be a Titch Older
New data from the European Planck satellite indicate that the universe is 13.8 billion years old rather than a mere 13.7 billion years old. John Matson reports
3/25/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Unfinished Chile Observatory Makes Starry Discovery
An incomplete version of Chile's ALMA telescope array found that star formation was in full swing earlier than had been thought. John Matson reports
3/19/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Nearby Star Came In with the Bang
A study of the star HD 140283, only about 190 light-years away from us, finds that it formed in short order after the big bang. John Matson reports
3/14/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Third Van Allen Belt Came and Went
The Van Allen Probes recently found a third belt of charged particles circling Earth, which was then destroyed by a solar shock wave. John Matson reports
3/5/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Shoo Away Asteroids with a Coat of Paint
Heat radiating from an asteroid imparts a tiny push to the rock, meaning that we could subtly steer an asteroid by changing its reflectance. John Matson reports
2/27/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Meteor Shocks Russian City
The Russian city of Chelyabinsk was awakened on February 15 when a meteor exploded overhead, with an energy equivalent to about 300 kilotons of TNT
2/16/2013 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Curiosity Drills Mars for Answers
Even as a few of its sensors cause problems, the Curiosity rover became the first robotic visitor to bore into the Martian surface. John Matson reports
2/13/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Past-Prime Star May Still Produce Planets
The star TW Hydrae should be too old to still have planets forming around it, but its gas and dust indicate it still has planetary potential. John Matson reports
2/4/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Gamma-Ray Burst Fingered for Carbon 14 Spike in A.D. 774
Tree-ring data from A.D. 774 show a sudden spike in radioactive carbon 14, pointing to a burst of charged particles or high-energy radiation that struck Earth. A relatively nearby gamma-ray burst could be the culprit. John Matson reports
1/21/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Following Flare-Ups, Star Finally Explodes
After a few false alarms, the star SN 2009ip appears to have gone supernova at last. John Matson reports
1/14/2013 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Mars Flight Habitat Volunteers Lost Sleep and Fitness
Six volunteers spent 520 days in a simulation of a trip to Mars, and wound up experiencing sleep disturbances and becoming more sedentary. John Matson reports
1/7/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Civilian Spacefarers Face Medical Hurdles
Opening the door to the paying public means that less healthy individuals will soon have access to space--if their doctors approve. John Matson reports
1/4/2013 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Titan Sports Hydrocarbon Nile
The Cassini orbiter spotted a river system on Titan that NASA likens to a miniature version of the Nile River, but flowing with liquid ethane and methane. John Matson reports
12/17/2012 • 1 minute, 13 seconds
Should Mars Get Another Rover?
NASA has plans for another Mars rover, but no trips scheduled for exotic places like Titan or Europa. John Matson reports
12/10/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
3-D Printer Makes Structures with Lunar-Like Material
A proof-of-concept 3-D printing job using lunarlike material shows that quick-and-dirty tools or spare parts could be manufactured on the moon. John Matson reports
12/5/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Thicker Atmosphere Still Would Have Left Mars Cold
Global 3-D climate simulations for plausible Martian atmospheres show that even with a much thicker CO2 layer, the greenhouse effect could not have warmed Mars above freezing. John Matson reports.
11/28/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Galaxy Might Be Most Distant Seen Object
Thanks to gravitational lensing by a cluster of galaxies, the light emitted by a small galaxy 13.3 billion years ago has reached Earth. John Matson reports
11/20/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Star's Habitable Zone Includes Possible Giant Earth
A planet at least seven times as massive as Earth orbits comfortably in the habitable zone of the star HD 40307. John Matson reports
11/13/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
New Analyses Resurrect Contested Exoplanet Claim
Fomalhaut b looked like an exoplanet to some astronomers and like dust to others. But new analyses strengthen the planet view. John Matson reports
11/6/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Solar Wind Creates Traces of Lunar Surface Water
A chemical analysis of lunar samples now points to the solar wind being behind the ultrathin dusting of water molecules first detected in 2009 from spacecraft measurements. John Matson reports
10/23/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Sensor Info Reveals Titan Probe Landing
An analysis of the Huygens probe's sensor data has reconstructed bouncing and skidding, moments before it came to rest on Titan. John Matson reports
10/15/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Zippy Star Promises to Be Relativity Laboratory
A star orbiting the galactic center's black hole in just 11.5 Earth years should provide data for studying how gravity works near an extremely massive object. John Matson reports
10/5/2012 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Good Things Come from Small Scopes
Smaller ground-based telescopes produce research results that get more citations per dollar spent than the big guys. John Matson reports
10/1/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Pre-Life Chemistry Happens at Space Temperatures
UV light, which radiates from stars and galaxies, can induce rapid changes in icy hydrocarbon molecules cooled to 5 kelvins, as on a comet. John Matson reports
9/25/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
White Dwarf Binary Stars Make Merger Plans
In the J0651 binary system two white dwarf stars orbit each other in less than 13 minutes--and it's getting a little faster all the time. John Matson reports
9/17/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Dawn Spacecraft Sets Sail for Dwarf Planet Ceres
On September 5th NASA's Dawn spacecraft left the asteroid Vesta and set sail for the dwarf planet Ceres, where it will arrive in 2015. John Matson reports
9/12/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
NASA Spacecraft's Census Tallies Millions of Black Holes
NASA's infrared WISE spacecraft found about 130 glowing black holes in a small region of space, meaning that at least two million active black holes dot the sky. John Matson reports
9/5/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Milky Way and Satellite Galaxies Are Rare Arrangement
Only about 0.5 percent of Milky Way-like galaxies have companions like our satellite galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds. John Matson reports
8/29/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Probes Will Live in Van Allen Belts
The twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes will fly through the Van Allen Belts for two years, measuring charged particles, plasma waves and magnetic fields. John Matson reports
8/20/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Tour Kennedy Space Center on Google Street View
More than 6,000 new images of Kennedy Space Center have recently been added to Google Street View. John Matson reports
8/13/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Curiosity Rover Lands Safely on Mars
After successfully completing its complex series of landing maneuvers, the Curiosity rover is on the Martian surface and ready to begin exploration. John Matson reports
8/6/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Scopes See Exoplanets and Violent Astrophysics
Palomar Observatory's Project 1640 on the Hale Telescope allows astronomers to directly observe exoplanets, whereas the gamma-ray sensitive HESS 2 in Namibia tracks violent astrophysical events such as supernovae and flaring black holes. John Matson reports
7/31/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Pioneer Spacecraft Warmth Takes Heat off Relativity
The tiny slowing of the two Pioneer spacecraft, known as the Pioneer anomaly and considered by some to challenge general relativity, is probably due to the heat produced by electronics and radioactive decay. John Matson reports
7/23/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Mars Rover Prepares for 7 Minutes of Terror
The Curiosity rover is set to begin exploring Mars on August 6. But first it has to land. John Matson reports
7/17/2012 • 1 minute, 34 seconds
Dark Matter Bridges Galaxy Clusters
Gravitational lensing shows that two galaxy clusters are connected by a filament of dark matter. John Matson reports
7/9/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Nonprofit Wants to Launch Asteroid-Spotter
The B612 Foundation wants to put a telescope in orbit around the sun to look for asteroids that might hit Earth. John Matson reports
7/2/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Magnetic Tornadoes May Heat Solar Corona
The sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, is much hotter than the surface. Giant magnetic tornadoes may be behind the heat transfer. John Matson reports
6/27/2012 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Super-Earth Exoplanets Could Be Better for Life
Dimitar Sasselov, director of Harvard's Origins of Life Initiative, explains how rocky exoplanets larger than Earth could have greater potential for life than Earth did. Steve Mirsky reports
6/20/2012 • 1 minute, 26 seconds
Astronomers Seek Biggest Stars
Several nearby star clusters could harbor incredibly huge stars, with masses of up to 600 suns. John Matson reports
6/11/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
SpaceX Dragon Returns to Earth from ISS
The first commercial visitor to the ISS splashed down successfully in the Pacific after a supply run. John Matson reports
6/1/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
SpaceX Private Vessel Reaches ISS
The International Space Station received its first commercial visitor with the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon resupply capsule. John Matson reports
5/25/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Annular Eclipse Hits U.S. Sunday
Residents of western states will be in position to see the ring of fire of an annular eclipse on May 20th. John Matson reports
A space-based telescope picked up faint thermal radiation from a "super-Earth" planet 40 light-years away. John Matson reports
5/14/2012 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Zeppelin Searches for California Meteorite
Scientists are using a zeppelin to do a slow search for signs of fragments left by the April 22nd Sutter's Mill meteorite. John Matson reports
5/8/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Earth Was Longtime Asteroid Punching Bag
Dozens of asteroid impacts at least as bad as the dinosaur killer occurred long after such impacts were previously thought to have petered out. John Matson reports
5/1/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Gamma-Ray Bursts Found Innocent in Ray Case
Gamma-ray bursts can't be the source of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays that reach Earth. John Matson reports
4/24/2012 • 1 minute, 19 seconds
Ballooning Star Split Planet in Two
A recently discovered pair of exoplanets may be the wreckage of one formerly giant planet. John Matson reports
4/16/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Space Shuttles Head for Final Destinations
Starting with Discovery, the decommissioned space shuttle fleet will go on display at museums around the country. John Matson reports
4/10/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Supernova Turned Star Inside-Out
When the star Cassiopeia A exploded, nearly all the iron from the core was expelled to the outer regions of the supernova. John Matson reports
4/3/2012 • 1 minute, 18 seconds
Martian Water Stuck in Minerals
Significant amounts of water exist on Mars, sequestered within hydrated minerals and stored in the planet's crust. John Matson reports
3/27/2012 • 2 minutes, 9 seconds
Mars Makes Movie Execs See Red
John Carter is the latest in a string of movies set on the Red Planet that have all wound up in the red, financially. John Matson reports
3/20/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
"Man in the Moon" Facing Factors Figured
A new study explains why the odds favored the man-in-the-moon side to always face Earth. John Matson reports
3/13/2012 • 1 minute, 10 seconds
Dark Matter Clump Furrows Brows
Dark matter doesn't usually collide much with itself or with ordinary matter, but it appears to be uncharacteristically clumping in the galaxy cluster A520. John Matson reports
3/6/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Mars May Still Be Quaking
Rockfalls visible in orbiter images of Mars indicate that geologic activity occurred just a few million years ago and may be ongoing. John Matson reports
2/28/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
John Glenn Orbited 50 Years Ago Today
On February 20, 1962, John Glenn went to space, becoming the first American in orbit, and a national icon. John Matson reports
2/20/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Black Hole May Eat Asteroids
The black hole at the center of Milky Way could be steadily feeding on a cloud of asteroids, producing frequent, small x-ray flares. John Matson reports
2/14/2012 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Flame Dances on Board Space Station
The Flame Extinguishment Experiment, or FLEX, on board the ISS allows researchers to study zero-gravity fire--and ways to fight it. John Matson reports
2/6/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Kepler Finds Multiple Exoplanets around Single Stars
The Kepler spacecraft has found 26 previously unknown exoplanets orbiting 11 stars. John Matson reports
1/30/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Point Up and Click
The 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is now accepting entries. John Matson reports
1/24/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Binary Stars Have Plenty of Planets
NASA's Kepler spacecraft has found two binary star systems that each host a planet, implying that millions exist. John Matson reports
1/13/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
GRAIL Mission May Find a Former Second Moon
The twin GRAIL craft will map lunar gravity and could find evidence for the remains within the moon of a former second satellite. John Matson reports
1/9/2012 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Leap Seconds May Disappear
This month the International Telecommunication Union will consider a proposal to abolish leap seconds. John Matson reports
1/3/2012 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Earth Usually Has Second Tiny, Temporary Moon
Irregular natural satellites, captured from the population of near-Earth asteroids, orbit Earth for a few months and move on. John Matson reports
12/27/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Another Billionaire Joins the Space Race
Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen, via his new venture, Stratolaunch Systems, hopes to launch spacecraft from massive airplanes. John Matson reports
12/19/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Black Holes Dwarf the One in Milky Way
Galaxies NGC 3842 and NGC 4889 host black holes, each of which about 2,500 times the mass of the one at the center of the Milky Way. John Matson reports
12/13/2011 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Kepler Finds Its First Planet in the Habitable Zone
NASA's Kepler telescope has discovered its first exoplanet that could be at temperatures allowing liquid water, a big hurdle for life. John Matson reports
12/6/2011 • 1 minute, 38 seconds
Curiosity Leaves Earth for Mars
The newest Mars rover, Curiosity, dwarfs NASA's previous rovers in size and scientific prowess. John Matson reports
11/28/2011 • 1 minute, 47 seconds
Runaway Stars May Be Fleeing Bigger Bullies
A class of wandering stars called OB runaways may have been thrown from home by competing binary star systems that got too close. John Matson reports
11/21/2011 • 1 minute, 48 seconds
Bright Exoplanet Lighting Could Indicate Intelligent Life
New telescopes could spot aliens on planets around distant stars, if they like their cities really brightly lit. John Matson reports
11/15/2011 • 1 minute, 26 seconds
Planetary Scientists Hope to Bring Back Mars Moondust
The Phobos-Grunt mission, which could launch November 8th, will try to grab some Phobos soil and bring it back to Earth. John Matson reports
11/7/2011 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Asteroid Plans Close Earth Flyby
On November 8th an asteroid will pass Earth within the moon's orbit, offering a rare opportunity for study. John Matson reports
11/1/2011 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Soyuz Makes Launch from South American ESA Site
A Soyuz rocket carried into space components for a European GPS system--but the bigger news was the launch site, the European Space Agency home in French Guiana. John Matson reports
10/24/2011 • 1 minute, 25 seconds
Did Saturn's Moon Iapetus Once Have Its Own Moon?
A sub-satellite of the Saturnian moon would explain two of the most puzzling features of Iapetus. John Matson reports
10/17/2011 • 1 minute, 11 seconds
Fewer Big Asteroids Close In on Earth
The WISE spacecraft's census of near-Earth asteroids lowers the population of the big, bad ones. John Matson reports
10/4/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Chinese Space Program Takes Giant Leap
China launches the unmanned Tiangong 1 later this week, setting up opportunities for docking and long-duration stays. John Matson reports
9/26/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Solar System Likely Once Had Another Gas-Giant Planet
To evolve into our current solar system, the original version probably had a fifth gas giant, computer simulations indicate. John Matson reports
9/20/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Satellite Set to Make Big Splash or Thud
NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite will fall out of orbit soon, with large pieces perhaps reaching Earth's surface, according to NASA's Nick Johnson at a telephone press conference. John Matson reports
9/12/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
NASA Hopes Hard Sci-Fi Will Inspire Future Space Force
NASA will teach writers about space science and promote sci-fi novels in the hope of inspiring young readers to learn science and math and become part of the space workforce. John Matson reports
9/5/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Failed Star Found in the Neighborhood
NASA's WISE satellite has found a Y dwarf star, cool enough to touch, that is the hub of the seventh closest star system to us. John Matson reports
8/29/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Exoplanet Looks Potentially Lively
Newly discovered exoplanet HD 85512 b could be hospitable to life. John Matson reports
8/22/2011 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Opportunity Knocks at Martian Crater
Seven years into its three-month mission, the Mars rover Opportunity reaches Endeavour Crater, a possible geologic treasure trove. John Matson reports
8/17/2011 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Kuiper Belt Gets New Notches
A telescopic sky survey finds 14 previously unknown objects in and around the Kuiper Belt. John Matson reports
8/8/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Jupiter Mission Counts Down
The space shuttle era is over, but a mission to Jupiter is next up on the launch pad. John Matson reports
8/1/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
New Moon Rises over Pluto
A Hubble telescope search for dust rings around Pluto turned up a previously unknown moon. John Matson reports
7/26/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Kepler Searches for Habitable Planets, Part 2
NASA's Kepler mission's principal investigator, Bill Borucki, talks about the search for exoplanets that might be habitable. Part 2 of 2. John Matson reports
7/18/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Kepler Searches for Planets in Habitable Zones
NASA's Kepler mission's principal investigator, Bill Borucki, talks about the search for exoplanets that might be in habitable zones around their stars. John Matson reports
7/11/2011 • 1 minute, 25 seconds
Space Station Gets Close Wake-up Call
Orbital debris within 250 meters of the International Space station is a warning to clean up the neighborhood before a tragic impact. John Matson reports
7/4/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Planets with Stabilizing Moons May Be Common
Computer simulations show that about 10 percent of planets could have a massive moon that helps to stabilize the planetary tilt. John Matson reports
6/27/2011 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Voyager 1 May Have Reached the Heliopause
After 34 years in space, 17 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 has reached or is about to reach the heliopause. John Matson reports
6/21/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Fragments of Single Meteorite Show Different Chemistry
The Tagish Lake meteorite fragments contain widely varying organic compounds, a sign that chemical reactions were taking place on board the body in space. John Matson reports
6/13/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Step Right Up and Guess the Star's Age
A database of stars with known ages and spin rates could let astronomers gauge more stars' ages and find the ones old enough to support planets that could have complex life. John Matson reports
6/6/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
What's Flinging Comets Out of the Oort Cloud?
A planet-size object could be behind the odd departure of some comets from the Oort Cloud--and toward us. John Matson reports
5/31/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
WiggleZ Project Confirms Dark Energy's Effects
A survey of 150,000 galaxies confirms predictions about dark energy, thought to be what's driving galaxies apart. John Matson reports
5/23/2011 • 1 minute, 16 seconds
Space Boat Could See Sea Near Saturn
Among projects under consideration by NASA is one that would send a boat to the hydrocarbon sea on Saturn's moon Titan to check out its composition and chemistry. John Matson reports.
5/16/2011 • 1 minute, 17 seconds
Milky Way Should Have Much More Companionship
Our understanding of dark matter says the Milky Way should have many times more than its dozen or so small satellite galaxies. John Matson reports
5/9/2011 • 1 minute, 15 seconds
Comet Bops Past Neptune Cleanly
Comet Hale-Bopp has been spotted beyond the orbit of Neptune, far enough from the sun to be without its dirty tail. John Matson reports
5/2/2011 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Giant Energetic Bubbles Adorn the Milky Way
Two 30,000 light-year-long blobs called Fermi bubbles have been discovered on either side of our galactic plane. John Matson reports
