LATEST
Squid go into space – for the sake of humanity
15:39 13 May 2011
Some of our most intelligent invertebrates are blasting off on the next shuttle flight. Their mission: to reveal whether good bacteria go bad in space
Alien life may huddle under hydrogen blankets
THIS WEEK: 10:13 12 May 2011 | 5 comments
Earth-sized worlds far from the warmth of their stars could maintain liquid water and life if they are well wrapped by hydrogen in their atmospheres
Ghostly nebulae show mysterious alignment
17:33 11 May 2011
Elongated nebulae in the centre of our galaxy seem to lie in the same plane as the galactic disc, hinting at a mysterious alignment of stars in the region
NASA floats Titan boat concept
21:56 09 May 2011
The first extraterrestrial boat could sail on one of Titan's hydrocarbon lakes, searching for signs of life on the Saturn moon
The limits of knowledge: Things we'll never understand
COVER STORY: 10:24 09 May 2011 | 49 comments
From the machinery of life to the fate of the cosmos, is there anything science can't explain? Yes, says Michael Brooks
Saturn moon's atmosphere forged by comet impacts
IN BRIEF: 18:00 08 May 2011
Titan is the only moon in the solar system with much of an atmosphere, but the origin of its nitrogen-rich air has been a puzzle
'Dwarf' black holes might help explain dark matter
THIS WEEK: 15:45 06 May 2011 | 2 comments
Black holes might come in more sizes than small, medium and large – if so, mini black holes could contribute to the universe's mysterious dark matter
Beam them up: Launching spacecraft on a photon drive
FEATURE: 12:53 06 May 2011 | 9 comments
Move over, dirty great launchers with tiny payloads. NASA and the US military are sparking a lighter kind of rocket science, says Stephen Battersby
Beleaguered mission measures swirling space-time at last
21:51 04 May 2011 | 4 comments
Nearly six years after Gravity Probe B stopped making observations, researchers analysing its data have measured the way the spinning Earth drags space around with it
Asteroids make life's raw materials
THIS WEEK: 18:00 04 May 2011 | 5 comments
Rocks from an asteroid have been shown to power the synthesis of life's essential chemicals for the first time
COSMOLOGY
Laws of physics may change across universe
A controversial study suggests that a physical constant varies in space – it could explain why our corner of the cosmos is just right for life
SPACE TECHNOLOGY
NASA mulls sending space station to an asteroid
Agency engineers suggest detaching one of the station's current crew compartments and using it to ferry astronauts to an asteroid by 2025