Out There
Telescope That ‘Ate Astronomy’ Is on Track to Surpass Hubble
After 20 years, the James Webb Space Telescope is now on schedule for a 2018 launch.
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After 20 years, the James Webb Space Telescope is now on schedule for a 2018 launch.
By DENNIS OVERBYE
What a bird in Vienna could do with his beak and a few raw materials like bamboo and even cardboard was enough to impress scientists.
By JAMES GORMAN
Archaeologists have found ancient starch grains pinpointing the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru as a hearth of early potato cultivation.
By STEPH YIN
By studying hills that formed after an asteroid struck the Yucatán Peninsula, researchers found that materials deep in Earth’s crust were brought toward the surface.
By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR
We're not saying you can't talk about politics on Thanksgiving. But here are some conversation starters about science and medicine for your dinner table.
By MICHAEL ROSTON
The canyon is about the size of Montana and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, and the planet’s cooling may have led to its formation.
By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR
By altering photosynthesis in tobacco, researchers improved the plant’s production, a method they hope will prove successful in food crops.
By JUSTIN GILLIS
The computer giant says it’s ready to start planning a prototype quantum computer, a superpowerful device that relies on subatomic particles instead of transistors.
By JOHN MARKOFF
Most fracking-induced quakes in the United States are related to wastewater disposal from oil and gas wells. Scientists see a different culprit in Alberta.
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
To researchers, automated teller machines are like miniature laboratories where they can study the DNA of a city.
By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR
Construction workers dynamiting rock for a new school unearthed the fossil of an “alien-looking” dinosaur.
By KENNETH CHANG
Researchers tracked narwhals and found that they reconstruct their underwater world with more resolution that most other animals on the planet.
By JOANNA KLEIN
A new study finds that plastic debris in the oceans carries a smell similar to other sources of their food.
By TATIANA SCHLOSSBERG
New research finds ash and lava from the Santorini volcano in the Aegean Sea spawned the tsunami that struck the island of Crete, the center of Minoan culture.
By HENRY FOUNTAIN