"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

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What happened when people with anorexia tried magic mushrooms

Fri, 08/21/2026 - 6:00am

Researchers are exploring whether magic mushrooms could offer a new treatment for anorexia

Categories: Astronomy

The national debt is $40 trillion. What does that mean mathematically?

Fri, 08/21/2026 - 6:00am

An investigation into the incomprehensibly, unfathomably large amount of money the U.S. owes

Categories: Astronomy

Physicists pinpoint the perfect crystal site for an ultra-accurate nuclear clock

Thu, 08/20/2026 - 2:00pm

Growing crystals “like alchemy,” researchers plotted out the ideal site within the lattice to build a nuclear clock

Categories: Astronomy

China’s solar power rollout is harming birds, a new analysis finds

Thu, 08/20/2026 - 2:00pm

A new study finds that China’s solar energy boom is hurting bird diversity

Categories: Astronomy

Europe’s summer of wildfires is just a taste of what’s to come

Thu, 08/20/2026 - 12:23pm

The area of Europe affected by wildfires is due to triple, a new study finds

Categories: Astronomy

Orbital data centers could transform our night sky forever

Thu, 08/20/2026 - 12:00pm

Without drastic interventions, data centers in space could disrupt scientific observations and fragile ecosystems by adding almost innumerable new “stars” to the heavens above

Categories: Astronomy

Life’s ‘last universal common ancestor’ may predate life itself

Thu, 08/20/2026 - 10:00am

A groundbreaking study hints at a hazy boundary between “life” and “non-life,” as well as two distinct origins of biology on Earth

Categories: Astronomy

China’s Chang’e 7 moonshot will seek water ice at the lunar south pole

Thu, 08/20/2026 - 8:30am

The country’s latest mission, Chang’e 7, will be the first ever to land directly at the moon’s south pole. Whatever it finds there could radically reshape a new space race

Categories: Astronomy

Should you be taking testosterone?

Thu, 08/20/2026 - 7:00am

Testosterone is a longtime favorite of the bodybuilding crowd, but now the hormone is being touted for perimenopause, “looks maxxing,” and more

Categories: Astronomy

NASA calls off rescue mission for its falling Swift space telescope

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 6:00pm

The space agency’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which studied cataclysmic cosmic explosions, is expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere later this year

Categories: Astronomy

Moderna and Merck announce ‘landmark’ trial showing mRNA therapy significantly cuts odds of recurrent skin cancer

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 4:45pm

The combined drug works by nudging the body’s own immune system to make proteins that attack and destroy melanoma cells

Categories: Astronomy

Some microbes could survive on the moon—that’s a big problem for NASA

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 2:00pm

Five common microorganisms found on Earth could survive at the lunar south pole, a new study finds, presenting a contamination risk for future human missions

Categories: Astronomy

The Milky Way’s fastest star could expose our black hole’s spin

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 12:40pm

The star S301 swoops so close to our galaxy’s supermassive black hole that it could, for the first time ever, reveal that dark behemoth’s rotation

Categories: Astronomy

China successfully lands its Zhuque-3 rocket, rivaling Blue Origin and SpaceX

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 12:00pm

Beijing’s success shows how close China is to the U.S. in the new space race

Categories: Astronomy

‘Mini brains’ kept alive for years appear to age like real brains

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 11:00am

Miniature models of the human brain can be kept alive for years, allowing scientists to study neural development and brain diseases

Categories: Astronomy

Trump to nominate White House aide Heidi Overton to head FDA

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 11:00am

Overton is a medical doctor with ties to the “Make America Healthy Again” movement

Categories: Astronomy

How psilocybin alters consciousness to create a sense of ‘oneness’

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 11:00am

Psychedelics can create a new “hidden order” in brain activity that could explain how these drugs alter our sense of self

Categories: Astronomy

Supercentenarians have a cellular superpower

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 11:00am

Could this secret cellular weapon be the key to longevity?

Categories: Astronomy

NASA images reveal 60-foot-wide crater on moon left by SpaceX rocket

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 9:30am

The SpaceX rocket fragment hit the moon at several times the speed of sound on August 5

Categories: Astronomy

How generative AI is reshaping creativity, and what it means for artists

Wed, 08/19/2026 - 6:00am

Moiya McTier explores what makes human creativity unique in the age of AI

Categories: Astronomy