Bug flies thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean

A Painted Lady butterfly visits children at the Tenafly Nature Center in Tenafly, New Jersey on July 5, 2024.

These ladies are found all over the world, but new research shows that these brave butterflies can migrate thousands of miles across the ocean. Painted Ladies, Vanessa cardfly at least 2,610 miles (4,200 kilometers) across the Atlantic Ocean, from West Africa to French Guiana in South America, according to a new study published in June … Read more

Who pays in a space fender bender (when stuff falls from the sky)?

This support came from the NASA flight support equipment used to mount the International Space Station batteries on a cargo pallet.  The upright survived reentry through Earth's atmosphere on March 8, 2024, hitting a house in Naples, Florida.

When a Florida family filed a claim against NASA earlier this year over “space debris” that fell through their roof, it launched a potentially precedent-setting question: Who is liable if debris from space causes damage or injury? No one was injured when a cylindrical object that was part of a pallet of spent batteries from … Read more

Faster ice melt in Antarctica could lead to more coastal flooding

The Horton Glacier along Ryder Bay in Antarctica.

If you’ve ever built a sand castle on the beach, you’ve seen how seawater in the sand can quickly undermine the castle. A new study from the British Antarctic Survey concludes that warmer seawater may act in a similar way on the underside of ground-based ice sheets, causing them to melt faster than previously thought. … Read more

NASA astronauts remain in space while the crew assesses problems with Starliner

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore say goodbye to friends and family Wednesday, June 5, 2024, as they leave the astronaut crew quarters en route to the launch pad.

Boeing and NASA are once again “adjusting” the return home of two astronauts from the International Space Station Starliner. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were scheduled to stay on the ISS for just a week after docking there on June 6. Now they are not expected to make the trip back to Earth until at … Read more

Are we ready for an asteroid to hit Earth? NASA sees work to be done.

In NASA's scenario, humanity has 14 years to face an asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting Earth.

Is humanity willing to shoot down an asteroid with a 72% chance of hitting Earth within 14 years? Scientists and experts say there is work to be done. When NASA presented the hypothetical scenario, devised by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, to a group of nearly 100 government representatives, they found that their plan to … Read more

Tests range from explosions to splashdown

SpaceX's Starship is launching on its fourth test flight on the way to creating jumbo rockets that can fly astronauts to the moon and even Mars.

SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful spacecraft ever sent into space, completed a fourth test flight Thursday, successfully crashing into the Indian Ocean for the first time since it began conducting test flights last year. The rocket’s first three tests ended in explosions. The unmanned craft is classified as a super-heavy launch vehicle and … Read more

NASA says the alignment will not be visible on June 3

There will be a parade of planets on June 3, but NASA says it won't be quite a celestial show.

People expecting a dazzling parade of planets on Monday, June 3, may be disappointed by what they ultimately see in the sky. Instead, experts say to temper their expectations and wait until the end of the month to see the planets. planetary alignment. The past few months have been quite eventful for backyard astronomers. First … Read more