Space Science

Friends and family remember those who gave all to serve their nation.

This intriguing space wallpaper reveals the spectacular stellar nursery IC 2944. The image was released on May 23, 2013 to celebrate a milestone: 15 years of ESO’s Very Large Telescope.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — With a growing sexual assault epidemic staining the military, President Barack Obama urged U.S. Naval Academy graduates Friday to remember their honor depends on what they do when nobody is looking and said the crime has "no place in the greatest military on earth."

A new study from researchers in Europe claims that the average IQ in Western nations dropped by a staggering 14.1 points over the past century. "We tested the hypothesis that the Victorians were cleverer than modern populations using high-quality instruments, namely measures of simple visual reaction time in a meta-analytic study," the researchers wrote in [...]

A joint bar, used to hold two sections of rail together, was repaired last month.

Little Love for Asteroid Retrieval Mission; Squyres Deeply Worried about SLS Launch Rate, Space Policy Online "Another concern Squyres stressed is the low flight rate for the Space Launch System (SLS). "I'm deeply worried," he told Edwards, because no other human spaceflight system has had such a low anticipated launch rate. The first SLS launch is expected in 2017, the second in 2021, and then once every two years thereafter. SLS and the Orion spacecraft need to be adequately funded "to be proven out on a pace that really supports ... a safe pathway" to cis-lunar space, Squyres insisted. Cooke agreed. The flight rate is driven "totally" by funding, he said, and "they definitely need more funding ... starting with inflation." NASA's budget is currently projected to be flat, with no adjustment for inflation, which erodes buying power as the years pass."

Britain scrambled fighter jets, but the incident does not appear to be terror-related.

A depiction of Larry Niven’s Ringworld. Credit: Hill/Wikimedia Commons It’s a big galaxy out there. Even the most skeptical scientist has to accept that if a civilisation like our own exists, then there’s a good chance we’re not the only one to have ever done so. When most people think about SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intellgence), they imagine someone like Ellie Arroway searching the skies for radio transmissions. But what about looking in other ways? Perhaps a highly advanced alien civilisation might build structures large enough for us to see. (...)Read the rest of Hunting for Alien Megastructures (930 words) © Markus Hammonds for Universe Today, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Dyson Sphere, SETI Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Viewers can see what the EF5 tornado looked like from the ground as it gains strength.

Computer simulations of galaxies growing over billions of years show that cold gas to power stars spirals into the cores of galaxies along spiral filaments.