MILAN – An Anglo-American expert on the evolution of the universe and an Irish-born historian of the rise of Christianity and the cult of the saints are two of the four winners of this year’s Balzan Prizes. Astronomer Joseph Silk and historian Peter Brown joined Polish philosopher Bronislaw Baczko and Russell Lande of the United ...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Four decades after landing men on the moon, NASA is returning to Earth’s orbiting companion, this time with a set of robotic twins that will measure lunar gravity while chasing one another in circles. By creating the most precise lunar gravity map ever, scientists hope to figure out what’s beneath the ...
VAN HORN, Texas – An unmanned spacecraft bankrolled by Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos failed during a recent test flight. The vehicle became unstable at 45,000 feet and ground controllers had to terminate it as a precaution. Additional details about what went wrong were not released. “Not the outcome any of us wanted, but we’re ...
WASHINGTON – Nature is pummeling the United States this year with extremes. Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought. Deadly tornadoes leveling towns. Massive rivers overflowing. A billion-dollar blizzard. And now, unusual hurricane-caused flooding in Vermont. If what’s falling from the sky isn’t enough, the ground shook in places that normally seem stable: Colorado and the ...
LOS ANGELES – The Mars rover Opportunity is snapping pictures like a tourist since arriving at its latest crater destination, much to the delight of scientists many millions of miles away. The solar-powered workhorse beamed back images of the horizon, soil and nearby rocks that are unlike any it has seen during its seven years ...
WASHINGTON – Space junk has made such a mess of Earth’s orbit that experts say we may need to finally think about cleaning it up. That may mean vacuuming up debris with weird space technology — cosmic versions of nets, magnets and giant umbrellas, according to the chairman of an expert panel that issued a ...
WASHINGTON – Space junk has made such a mess of Earth’s orbit that experts say we may need to finally think about cleaning it up. That may mean vacuuming up debris with weird space technology — cosmic versions of nets, magnets and giant umbrellas, according to the chairman of an expert panel that issued a ...
LOS ANGELES – Ancient humans fashioned hand axes, cleavers and picks much earlier than believed, but didn’t take the stone tools along when they left Africa, new research suggests. A team from the United States and France made the findings after traveling to an archaeological site along the northwest shoreline of Kenya’s Lake Turkana. Two-faced ...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Astronauts may need to take the unprecedented step of temporarily abandoning the International Space Station if last week’s Russian launch accident prevents new crews from flying there this fall. Until officials figure out what went wrong with Russia’s essential Soyuz rockets, there will be no way to launch any more astronauts ...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Astronauts may need to take the unprecedented step of temporarily abandoning the International Space Station if last week’s Russian launch accident prevents new crews from flying there this fall. Until officials figure out what went wrong with Russia’s essential Soyuz rockets, there will be no way to launch any more astronauts ...