"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."
--1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

"Correction: It is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum. The 'Times' regrets the error."
NY Times, July 1969.

— New York Times

Astronomy

Asteroid 2024 YR4 no longer threatens to hit Earth, but we can still hit it — for science!

Space.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 10:00am
Despite a brief panic, asteroid 2024 YR4 isn't likely to hit us anytime soon, but we can still study the asteroid up close to help us understand these space rocks.
Categories: Astronomy

Dust devils on Mars produce lightning-like zaps of electricity

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am
NASA’s Perseverance rover recorded unusual sounds as a Martian dust devil passed directly over the robotic vehicle in 2021, and we now know they came from electrical activity in the storm
Categories: Astronomy

Dust devils on Mars produce lightning-like zaps of electricity

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am
NASA’s Perseverance rover recorded unusual sounds as a Martian dust devil passed directly over the robotic vehicle in 2021, and we now know they came from electrical activity in the storm
Categories: Astronomy

Is ChatGPT a Drug? Metaphors Show What Students Think of AI

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

Analyzing the metaphors we use to talk about ChatGPT can reveal how we’re thinking about the new tech

Categories: Astronomy

How I Diagnosed My Rare Neurological Condition after Decades of Hiding It

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

A personal quest and progress in brain science finally put a name on baffling behaviors

Categories: Astronomy

Science Crossword: Blacked Out

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

Play this crossword inspired by the April 2025 issue of Scientific American

Categories: Astronomy

Math Puzzle: Finish the Cycle

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

Finish the cycle of numbers in this math puzzle

Categories: Astronomy

A New Picture of Schizophrenia Emerges, and So Do New Ways to Treat It

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

As a complex picture of schizophrenia emerges, so do new ways to treat the disorder

Categories: Astronomy

‘Dark Matter’ May Be a Whole Shadow World of Mysterious Atoms and Forces

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

Dark matter could be an entire dark sector of the universe, with its own particles and forces

Categories: Astronomy

Smarter Flood Protection Is Inspired by Nature

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has uncharacteristically been working with nature instead of bulldozing it into submission. Will this enlightened approach prevail?

Categories: Astronomy

Dinosaur Armor and Weaponry Was Even More Impressive Than Researchers Thought

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am

Studies of the horns, spikes, plates and clubs of dinosaurs could help settle a long-standing debate over their function

Categories: Astronomy

'Apollo 1' director surprised by details of ill-fated mission in new documentary

Space.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 9:00am
It was the opening scene of "Apollo 13" and was recreated for the Neil Armstrong biopic "First Man." It was also included in director Mark Craig's "Last Man on the Moon," inspiring "Apollo 1."
Categories: Astronomy

mRNA Vaccine Technology Appears Targeted under Trump and RFK, Jr.

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 8:00am

Scientists say that officials from the National Institutes of Health urged them to remove references to mRNA vaccine technology

Categories: Astronomy

The far side of the moon was once a vast magma ocean, Chinese lunar lander confirms

Space.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 8:00am
New findings from China's Chang'e 6 lunar farside samples offer insights into the moon's volcanic past and mantle evolution.
Categories: Astronomy

Medicaid Cuts Kick Down on People Caught in the Opioid Epidemic

Scientific American.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 7:30am

Proposed cuts to Medicaid could undo advances in treatment for opioid use disorders, risking more overdoses, deaths and stress on the U.S. health system

Categories: Astronomy

Surprising skeletons prompt a radical rethink of Egyptian pyramids

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 7:00am
For years, Egyptologists have assumed pyramid tombs were just for the rich – but the burials at a site called Tombos don’t fit this pattern
Categories: Astronomy

Surprising skeletons prompt a radical rethink of Egyptian pyramids

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 7:00am
For years, Egyptologists have assumed pyramid tombs were just for the rich – but the burials at a site called Tombos don’t fit this pattern
Categories: Astronomy

Have we vastly underestimated the total number of people on Earth?

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 6:00am
A new way of estimating rural populations has found that we may be undercounting people who live in these areas, potentially inflating the global population beyond the official count of 8.2 billion – but not everyone agrees
Categories: Astronomy

Have we vastly underestimated the total number of people on Earth?

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 6:00am
A new way of estimating rural populations has found that we may be undercounting people who live in these areas, potentially inflating the global population beyond the official count of 8.2 billion – but not everyone agrees
Categories: Astronomy

How NASA's Starliner mission went from 10 days to 9 months: A timeline

Space.com - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 6:00am
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are on their way home from a nine-month space mission that was supposed to last just 10 days. Here's a rundown of their eventful time off Earth.
Categories: Astronomy