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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightNASA’s New Lander Will Finally Go to Mars in 2018
When NASA cancelled its Mars Insight mission late last year, just three months before its scheduled launch, it wasn’t clear if the lander would ever make it to the surface of the Red Planet. Today, that lander got a second chance and a new launch date in 2018. Insight was originally scheduled to launch this … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech News
The FDA Finally Bans a Bunch Of Pointless Antibacterial Soaps
Sorry, that antibacterial soap isn’t doing anything more to clean you up than any other plain bar of soap. The FDA just announced it is eliminating almost all of the active ingredients used in antibacterial soaps after determining that the soaps didn’t have any more impact on preventing the spread of germs and infections than … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech NewsWhat Today’s Explosion Means for the Future of SpaceX
This morning, a routine test firing of a SpaceX rocket ended in a fiery explosion, destroying both the vehicle and its payload, a communications satellite that Facebook planned to use for beaming free internet down to Africa. As the smoke begins to clear, the future of SpaceX remains clouded in uncertainty. The explosion took place … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightA SpaceX Rocket Just Exploded at Cape Canaveral
There’s been an explosion on SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch complex. Apparently, a Falcon 9 rocket is in flames, and several images of a smoke plume rising above the complex suggest that something is very wrong. Following a flurry of tweets about the explosion, NASA confirmed that there was indeed a series of explosions. The AP … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightWatch Two ISS Astronauts Go on a Spacewalk Live
Two astronauts are about to step outside of their flying metal space-tube for a six-hour walk around the void. The purpose is to do a little DIY space station repair. This is actually the second spacewalk this month for ISS astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins. The last one was to install a new door, … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightHow to Watch the Ring-of-Fire Solar Eclipse
We will never, ever tell you to stare at the sun. Fortunately, we have a far better way for you to get a glimpse of the upcoming ring-of-fire solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, temporarily blocking out its light. A ring-of-fire eclipse is, more prosaically, also … Continued
By Ria Misra -
io9Television
Netflix Panders to Nostalgic Millennials With a New Bill Nye Science Show
Bill Nye has a new science show—but it won’t be on TV. It’s coming to Netflix this Spring. The new series is a talk show called Bill Nye Saves the World. Nye said that early episodes will focus on “the complex scientific issues facing us today,” including episodes on vaccinations, GMOs and climate change. In … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
SpaceX Is Finally Sending a Used Rocket Back Into Space
Having gotten pretty good at landing their rockets, SpaceX will now towards the other half of its plan to build fully reusable rockets: sending one of its used rocket back into space. The cargo for the mission will be a communications satellite from SES, the SES-10. Thanks to the success of the landing missions, however, … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Astronauts Finally Tested Their Alien Detecting DNA Sequencer in Space
They haven’t found alien life out there yet, but following the first successful in-space DNA sequencing, astronauts have a better way to look for it. This first test was mostly just to see that DNA sequencing works in space the same way as it does here on Earth. Although future tests will include new samples … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
A Previously Undiscovered Asteroid Just Came Very Close to Earth
On Saturday, a newly discovered 50-150-foot-long asteroid was spotted. Later that night, it flew by Earth at less than one-quarter of the distance to the moon. Don’t panic, though. It’s fine. We’re fine. Everything’s fine. What has people unsettled isn’t only how close the asteroid came to earth, but rather, how something that large stayed … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech News
The Global Coffee Shortage Is Already a Huge Headache
Hope you’re ready to face the day with nothing but your own unsharpened wits about you. Soon, they will be all you have left. A new report from Australia’s Climate Institute predicts that by 2050, global warming will make at least half of the land currently used for coffee production unable to produce quality beans. … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
NASA’s Solar Observatory Freaked Out But It’s Not Because of the Apocalypse
After more than a week offline, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory—the sun-watching spacecraft responsible for these close-up images of solar flares, fire, and loops—is back. But just what caused it to glitch in the first place? The SDO’s instruments went out on August 2nd in a planned outage during a lunar transit, when the moon crosses … Continued
By Ria Misra -
io9
Write Us Some Six-Word Science Fiction Stories
Tell me a story, io9, and do it in only six words. It’s been a long time since we’ve last asked you to share your six-word science fiction tales with us, which only means that you’ve had extra time to make them that much better. Now we want to hear all the extremely short stories … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech NewsHow to Watch the Exceptional Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight
Every year, the Perseids are a spectacular show. But this year, they’re something even more special than usual, and you shouldn’t miss it. Here’s how, when, and where to watch the Perseid meteor shower—and what you should be looking for when you do. The Perseids are an annual meteor shower that shows up right at … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Smart People Figured Out What’s Carving the Deep Canyons on Saturn’s Moon
A network of dark canyons lines Saturn’s moon, Titan, but just what’s inside those trenches has remained mysterious—until now. Researchers just confirmed that those canyons are flowing with liquid methane. Scientists had spotted the dark canyons on the surface of the moon years ago. But they weren’t sure yet if what they were seeing was … Continued
By Ria Misra -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis SpaceX Rocket Launch and Landing Footage Is Unsettlingly Close
Usually we see rocket launches from far, far away, but SpaceX just released a compilation of extremely close-up camera views from their recent rocket launches and landings that is maybe a little too close for comfort. The video features high speed footage from the company’s recent Falcon 9 launches in December of last year as … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech News
NASA Wants to Build These Six New Prototype Deep Space Houses
Someday, perhaps we will have a little space house all of our own, over whose white picket fence we can watch the sun(s) set into the red sky over our exoplanet ranch. Until then, these six new prototype deep space habitat designs that NASA just released will have to do. Six deep space habitat projects … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech NewsA 17,000-Ton Oil Rig Ran Aground on a Beach
Stormy weather caused the Transocean Winner, a 17,000 ton oil rig, to break free of the tug line that was pulling it out to sea. A few hours later, it ran aground on a Scottish beach. Fortunately, the tug boat had been hauling the Transocean Winner to a scrapyard, so the rig was empty when … Continued
By Ria Misra -
io9Movies
A Fact Check of the Department of Energy’s Fact Check of Stranger Things
The Department of Energy plays a dark role in Netflix’s new series, Stranger Things, but the real DoE wants you to know it’s nothing like its sinister fictional counterpoint. If we’ve learned anything from the show, though, it’s to be wary. Which is why we fact-checked the DoE’s Stranger Things fact-check for you. 1) “HAWKINS … Continued
By Ria Misra -
Tech News
Something Is Killing Off Australia’s Chillies
Chili peppers in Australia have been turning black and rotting on the vine, seemingly without explanation. Now researchers have finally identified just what’s been killing these poor chillies. Initially the ailment looked a lot like a disease called anthracnose, which manifests itself as a series of black, sunken spots that frequently result in death. But … Continued
By Ria Misra
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