Ancient tsunami evidence on Mars reveals life potential

Two large meteorites hitting the planet millions of years apart triggered a pair of mega-tsunamis. These gigantic waves forever scarred the Martian landscape and yielded evidence of cold, salty oceans conducive to sustaining life.

Valkyrie Robots Paving Way for NASA Mars Mission

Four sister robots built by NASA could be pioneers in the colonization of Mars, but first the 2-million-dollar robots are finding new homes on Earth.

These 4 planets orbit star in elaborately timed 'dance'

Astronomers searching for planets using NASA’s Kepler telescope have found an extraordinary family of four. Their orbits are so carefully timed that they provide long-term stability for their planetary system.

Kepler Space Telescope Confirms 1,284 New Planets

A new analysis shows that 1,284 candidate planets are indeed confirmed exoplanets.

First Global Topographic Model of Mercury

NASA's MESSENGER mission has unveiled the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury, revealing in stunning detail the topography across the entire innermost planet and paving the way for scientists to fully characterize Mercury's geologic history.

D-Wave Computers May be the "Revolutionary Quantum Computers" of Tomorrow

Quantum computing is set to revolutionize our world, and major players (such as Google, NASA, and Lockheed Martin) are turning to one company for their quantum needs: D-Wave.

Microscopic 'timers' reveal likely source of galactic space radiation

Most of the cosmic rays that we detect at Earth originated relatively recently in nearby clusters of massive stars, according to new results from NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.

The Universe, where space-time becomes discrete: Relativity and quantum mechanics: A non-local union?

A theoretical study has analyzed a model that saves special relativity and reconciles it with granularity by introducing small-scale deviations from the principle of locality demonstrating that it can be experimentally tested with great precision.

Animation of Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transport System (HERTS)

NASA engineers are conducting tests to develop models for the Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transport System (HERTS) concept. An electric sail could potentially send scientific payloads to the edge of our solar system, the heliopause, in less than 10 years.

Astronomers report most 'outrageously' luminous galaxies ever observed

Astronomers report that they have observed the most luminous galaxies ever seen in the Universe, objects so bright that established descriptors such as 'ultra-' and 'hyper-luminous' used to describe previously brightest known galaxies don't even come close.

Caught for the First Time: The Early Flash of an Exploding Star

This animation is based on photometric observations made by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. By closely monitoring the star KSN 2011d, located 1.2 billion light-years away, Kepler caught the onset of the early flash and subsequent explosion.

New International Space Station Crew Arrives Safely

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched a joint U.S.-Russian crew to the International Space Station Friday (March 18), a space team that includes an astronaut aiming to break an American spaceflight record recently set by NASA

Astronomers Identify Four New Giant Exoplanets

Astronomers have identified four new exoplanets circling stars more massive than the sun. The giants range in size from 2.4 to 5.5 times the mass of Jupiter, with orbital periods ranging from two to four years.

10 Amazing Photos Taken By Scott Kelly On His Year In Space

Commander Scott Kelly has just returned from his 340-day mission aboard the ISS. The record breaking mission has seen Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko spend almost a year in space, and scientists hope to gain an insight into what long stays in microgravity do to the body, with views on missions to Mars in the future.

The icy blue wings of a bipolar planetary nebula

In this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope cosmic snapshot, the spectacularly symmetrical wings of Hen 2-437 show up in a magnificent icy blue hue. Hen 2-437 is a planetary nebula, one of around 3000 such objects known to reside within the Milky Way.