Enlarge / An illustration depicts a NASA spacecraft approaching the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. Though there are no plans to mine Psyche, such asteroids are being eyed for their valuable resources (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU) In April 2023, a satellite the size of a microwave launched to space. Its goal: to get ready...

Enlarge / The Velomobile Bülk, with its hood in place. Note the hood has an anti-fog covering on the visor (which is flipped up). The two bumps near the front of the hood are there to improve clearance for the cyclist's knees. (credit: JOHN TIMMER) My brain registered that I was clearly cycling. My feet were clipped in...

Enlarge / All galaxies have large amounts of gas that influence their star-formation rates. (credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and J. Lee (NOIRLab)) Galaxies pass gas—in the case of galaxy NGC 4383, so much so that its gas outflow is 20,000 light-years across and more massive than 50 million Suns. Yet even an outflow of this immensity...

Enlarge / Pink lights appear in the sky above College Station, Texas. (credit: ZoeAnn Bailey) After a night of stunning auroras across much of the United States and Europe on Friday, a severe geomagnetic storm is likely to continue through at least Sunday, forecasters said. The Space Weather Prediction Center at the US-based...

Enlarge / Galaxy rotation has long perplexed scientists. (credit: NASA/James Webb Telescope) One of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics today is that the forces in galaxies do not seem to add up. Galaxies rotate much faster than predicted by applying Newton’s law of gravity to their visible matter, despite those laws...

Enlarge / Sometimes you gotta get your nose in there to remember the distinct aroma of 1980s RPG classics. (credit: Akupara Games) There are people who relish the feeling of finally nailing down a cryptic clue in a crossword. There are also people unduly aggravated by a puzzlemaster's puns and clever deceptions. I'm more...