By the end of the year, the world's greatest telescope should be able to see deeper into space and further back in time than ever. If all goes as planned, it will detect events closer to the big bang, explore the "cosmic web" of galaxies and intergalactic gas that make up the large-scale structure of the universe, and reveal much more about how and when distant stars and planets were formed. ...more

July 13, 2008

A new analysis of volcanic glass recovered from the moon decades ago found the rocks contain traces of the constituents of water, challenging a long-held notion that the moon is perfectly dry. ...more

July 10, 2008

What's that crackling noise? It's the voice of the sun. That's right, our neighboring star is making plenty of clatter, and scientists expect it to get louder this year after the start this month of a new solar cycle. The racket is likely to cause disruptions to cell phones and the world's satellite communications and power grids. ...more

January 28, 2008

Researchers have found a surprising diversity of hardy bacteria in a seemingly unlikely place - the so-called sterile clean rooms where NASA assembles its spacecraft and prepares them for launching. ...more

October 12, 2007

In an age of al-Qaida, sleeper cells and the threat of nuclear terrorism, Huntsville is dusting off its Cold War manual to create the nation's most ambitious fallout-shelter plan, featuring an abandoned mine big enough for 20,000 people to take cover underground. ...more

September 30, 2007