MELBOURNE, Fla. (Reuters) – NASA has picked space technology company Maxar Technologies Inc as the first contractor to help build its Gateway platform in lunar orbit, a crucial outpost for America’s mission to relay astronauts to the moon in 2024, the U.S. age... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Microfossils of a globular spore connected to a T-shaped filament excavated in an Arctic region of northwestern Canada represent the oldest-known fungus, a discovery that sheds light on the origins of an important branch in Earth’s tree ... More »
(Reuters) – A three-year-old filly collapsed and died after racing at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Friday, a day before the Preakness Stakes. Congrats Gal fell to the track after finishing last in the Miss Preakness Stakes, officials said. “Congrats Gal... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – A SpaceX launch already scrubbed once due to inclement weather was postponed again nearly 24 hours later on Thursday, this time for “about a week,” in order to update satellite software and “triple-check everything,” Elon Musk’... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – British livestock genetics firm Genus agreed on Thursday to license its know-how on virus-resistant pigs to Beijing Capital Agribusiness Co Ltd, which will seek regulatory approval for the pigs in the world’s biggest pork market. Genus has ... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX postponed a planned Wednesday night blastoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first 60 satellites for his new Starlink internet service, citing excessive winds over the Florida launch site. Launc... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX postponed its planned Wednesday night blastoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first cluster of satellites for his new Starlink internet service, citing excessive winds over the Florida launch site. The mis... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Brazil’s agriculture minister will ask Chinese officials on Thursday to greenlight exports to the Asian nation of sugar made from genetically modified (GM) sugarcane, which is expected to be widely used in Brazil in coming years. Minister T... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The moon may be dynamic and tectonically active like Earth – not the inert world some scientists had believed it to be – based on a new analysis disclosed on Monday of quakes measured by seismometers in operation on the moon from 1969 an... More »
CHYNOVSKA JESKYNE, Czech Republic (Reuters) – Czech speleologists have come up with a way to explore flooded cave systems without strapping on scuba gear, wet suits, helmets and water-proof lamps: 3D mapping. The new tool was developed by Geo-CZ, a company tha... More »
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Amid a swirling economic crisis and protests over budget cuts for research in Argentina, one scientist has found a novel way to fundraise: winning money on a television game show. Marina Simian, a biologist for Argentina’s National Sci... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – While people and other vertebrates are color blind in dim light, some deep-sea fish may possess keen color vision to thrive in the near total darkness of their extreme environment thanks to a unique genetic adaptation, scientists said on... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A fossil unearthed in northeastern China of a feathered dinosaur a bit bigger than a blue jay that possessed bat-like wings represents a remarkable but short-lived detour in the evolution of flight and the advent of birds, scientists sai... More »
GV, Alphabet Inc’s venture capital arm, led a $58.5 million investment to launch Verve Therapeutics, a new biotech focused on developing therapies that edit the human genome to treat heart diseases. Gene editing therapies are seen to have huge scope in treatin... More »
(Reuters) – The detailed manual used by U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to land on the moon in 1969 is going up for auction in July and could fetch up to $9 million, New York auctioneers Christie’s said on Wednesday. The 44-page ring-bound Apoll... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – Nearly two weeks after a fiery explosion during a ground test of its new crew capsule, SpaceX confirmed on Thursday that the vehicle was destroyed, but neither the company nor NASA, its primary customer, have publicly acknowled... More »
(Reuters) – “It’s a challenge to describe that noise,” says Reuters senior photographer Mike Blake, after witnessing his first rocket launch. “It’s a sound of rippling energy. Reverberating, cracking. It’s something that stays with you.” Blake worked with Joe ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A jawbone found in a cave on the Tibetan Plateau in China is providing surprising insights into Denisovans, the enigmatic extinct cousins to Neanderthals and our own species, including that they were pioneers at enduring high-altitude en... More »
LONDON, (Reuters) – Scientists in the United States say they have taken a step toward developing a possible diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition characterized by exhaustion and other debilitating symptoms. Researchers at Stanford Universit... More »
LONGKOU, China (Reuters) – During initial tests of their 8.1-metre (27-foot) tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China’s youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case. But when t... More »
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A 15,600-year old footprint discovered in southern Chile is believed to be the oldest ever found in the Americas, according to researchers. The footprint was first discovered in 2010 by a student at the Universidad Austral of Chile. Scient... More »
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – A NASA safety panel said on Thursday that Saturday’s accident on a SpaceX astronaut capsule happened after eight engines were test fired, but offered scant details on what caused the mishap or the extent of the damage. NASA’s Aerospac... More »
MUNICH (Reuters) – Researchers in Germany have created transparent human organs using a new technology that could pave the way to print three-dimensional body parts such as kidneys for transplants. Scientists led by Ali Erturk at Ludwig Maximilians University ... More »
(Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX suffered an anomaly in one of its Crew Dragon capsules while conducting engine tests at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Saturday, the company said. “The initial tests completed successfully but the final test r... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top legislature will consider tougher rules on research involving human genes and embryos, the first such move since a Chinese scientist sparked controversy last year by announcing he had made the world’s first “gene-edited” babies.... More »
JINCHANG, China (Reuters) – About 100 excited Chinese teenagers completed a five-hour tour of a space colony against a desolate backdrop not unlike the desert planet of Tatooine, the home world of Luke Skywalker. They were not on the set of Star Wars, but at a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists on Monday provided the most comprehensive look to date at one of the solar system’s most exotic features: prime lakeside property in the northern polar region of Saturn’s moon Titan – if you like lakes made of stuff like liqui... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The aerospace company behind Israel’s failed first moonshot said on Saturday it would pursue a second mission with funds raised from private donors and the public. The robot craft Beresheet, built by non-profit SpaceIL and state-owned Isr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Using a global network of telescopes to see “the unseeable,” an international scientific team on Wednesday announced a milestone in astrophysics – the first-ever photo of a black hole – in an achievement that validated a pillar of scienc... More »
(Reuters) – The most powerful operational rocket in the world, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, launched its first commercial mission on Thursday from Florida in a key demonstration for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company in the race to grasp lucrative mi... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists are expected to unveil on Wednesday the first-ever photograph of a black hole, a breakthrough in astrophysics providing insight into celestial monsters with gravitational fields so intense no matter or light can escape. The U.... More »
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co has delayed by at least three months its first uncrewed flight to the International Space Station under NASA’s human spaceflight program, and pushed its crewed flight until November, industry sources said on Wednesday. Reuters rep... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Scientists in southwest China’s Yunnan province have cloned what they called the “Sherlock Holmes of police dogs” in a program they hope will help cut training times and costs for police dogs, state media reported on Wednesday. The dog, na... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – It would be irresponsible for any scientist to conduct human gene-editing studies in people, and a central registry of research plans should be set up to ensure transparency, World Health Organization experts said on Tuesday. After its first... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Top scientists and ethicists from seven countries on Wednesday called for a global moratorium on gene editing of human eggs, sperm or embryos that would result in genetically-altered babies after a rogue Chinese researcher last year announc... More »
BRASILIA (Reuters) – The United States and Brazil have negotiated an accord to safeguard U.S. space technology the South American nation hopes will be used in commercial rockets lifting off from its launch site near the equator, the Brazilian government said o... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – An unmanned capsule from Elon Musk’s SpaceX splashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, successfully completing a mission crucial to NASA’s long-delayed quest to resume human space flight from U.S. soil later this year. After a... More »
(Reuters) – An unmanned capsule from Elon Musk’s SpaceX was due to return to earth on Friday after a short-term stay on the International Space Station, capping the first orbital test mission in NASA’s long-delayed quest to resume human space flight from U.S. ... More »
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Russia, a leading producer of natural resources, plans to join Luxembourg in mining for minerals in outer space, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said on Wednesday. Space mining has been the realm of science fiction, but a ... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – A SpaceX rocket with an unmanned crew capsule blasted off on Saturday for the International Space Station, in a key milestone for Elon Musk’s space company and NASA’s long-delayed goal to resume human spaceflight from U.S. soil... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe needs its own technology to guard against a growing threat to its satellites from space junk ranging from dead satellites to tiny particles, according to a top adviser to the European Space Agency (ESA). With the world increasingly re... More »
SEATTLE/PARIS (Reuters) – A rocket carrying six satellites built by Airbus SE and partner OneWeb blasted off from French Guiana on Wednesday, the first step in a plan to give millions of people in remote and rural areas high-speed internet beamed down from spa... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – NASA gave its final go-ahead on Friday to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX company to conduct its first unmanned test flight of a newly designed crew capsule to the International Space Station on March 2. The approva... More »
MOJAVE, Calif. (Reuters) – A Virgin Galactic rocket plane on Friday soared to the edge of space with a test passenger for the first time, nudging British billionaire Richard Branson’s company closer to its goal of suborbital flights for space tourists. Virgin ... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel’s first lunar lander on a mission that if successful will make the Jewish state only the fourth nation to ever to achieve a controlled touchdow... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – No one would ever look at the huge and ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex as an underdog. But its newly discovered evolutionary great uncle certainly was. Scientists on Thursday said they have unearthed in central Utah fossils of a relatively s... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists are providing new evidence to answer the longstanding question about why zebras have stripes. It appears stripes make terrible landing strips, bamboozling the fierce blood-sucking flies that try to feast on zebras and carry de... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – Israel’s first spacecraft designed to land on the moon is set to blastoff from Florida on Thursday in the first privately-funded lunar mission, as the Jewish state seeks to become only the fourth nation to reach the surface of ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A small tropical reef fish was able to recognize itself in a mirror, scientists said on Thursday in a finding that raises provocative questions about assessing self-awareness and cognitive abilities in animals. The study involved experim... More »
SANT CUGAT, Spain (Reuters) – David Aguilar has built himself a robotic prosthetic arm using Lego pieces after being born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition. Aguilar, 19, who studies bioengineering at the Universitat Internacional de Catal... More »
(Reuters) – Scientists in New Zealand say they have found a USB memory stick containing holiday photos inside a frozen slab of seal poo. The scat, valuable for studying the health of leopard seals, had been stored in a freezer for a year before it was thawed o... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket set to carry satellites into space for U.S startup OneWeb has been delayed after an anomaly was discovered on the rocket, company chairman Greg Wyler said on Thursday. The rocket was set to take off next ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists using sophisticated techniques to determine the age of bone fragments, teeth and artifacts unearthed in a Siberian cave have provided new insight into a mysterious extinct human species that may have been more advanced than pr... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A defect has been discovered on part of a Russian space rocket that is due to launch next month carrying satellites into orbit for U.S. startup OneWeb, two Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday. The Russian Soyuz is scheduled to blast ... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries on Tuesday said it has partnered with Germany’s OHB System for a European Space Agency moon mission, which includes developing a lunar lander. Work with the European agency will be managed by OHB, w... More »
(Reuters) – A renewed nuclear arms race, rising greenhouse gas emissions and the emergence of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns have left the modern world as close to annihilation as it was at the height of the Cold War, atomic scientists said on Thursd... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In shallow warm seas about 247 million years ago in what is now China, an oddball marine reptile flourished in the aftermath of Earth’s worst mass extinction, possessing a duckbilled snout and unusually small eyes that made it resemble a... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese scientists have made clones of a gene-edited macaque to aid research of circadian rhythm disorders that are linked to sleep problems, depression and Alzheimer’s disease, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. It was the ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Europe’s Arianespace is discounting the price of satellite launches with its Ariane 5 rockets as it competes against U.S. rival SpaceX for customers before the release of the cheaper Ariane 6 rocket next year, a senior executive said on W... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British scientists are developing gene-edited chickens designed to be totally resistant to flu in a new approach to trying to stop the next deadly human pandemic. The first of the transgenic chicks will be hatched later this year at the Rosl... More »
(Reuters) – Skywatchers howled at the moon at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles when the full lunar eclipse appeared shortly after 9 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday and our celestial neighbor was bathed reddish-orange during a Super Blood Wolf Moon. “Amazing... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists conducting a recent painstaking examination of the two tons of rock left over after the fossilized bones of the celebrated Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue were extricated in the 1990s came across a surprise: shark teeth. The huge ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Look up into the night sky on Sunday and – if it is clear – you may witness the so-called “Super Blood Wolf Moon” total lunar eclipse, which will take a star turn across the continental United States during prime time for viewing. The tota... More »
LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – A leading geneticist who ran the conference where a Chinese scientist said he had made the world’s first “gene-edited” babies condemned him on Monday for potentially jeopardizing lives and having no biology training. Robin Lovell-Badg... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian scientists have protested about claims made at a local science conference that rubbish the work of some of the world’s greatest physicists and suggest modern breakthroughs such as in-vitro fertilization were in fact invented in ancien... More »
(Reuters) – After studying a space rock some 4 billion miles (6.4 billion km) from Earth, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft set off on a new hunt for moons in the solar system’s most distant edge, searching for clues on our solar family’s creation, scientists sai... More »
(Reuters) – NASA’s New Horizons explorer successfully “phoned home” on Tuesday after a journey to the most distant world ever explored by humankind, a frozen rock at the edge of the solar system that scientists hope will uncover secrets to its creation. The nu... More »
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – A NASA explorer is believed to have reached the solar system’s outermost region early Tuesday morning, flying close to a space rock 20 miles long and billions of miles from Earth on a mission to gather clues about the creation of the ... More »
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – A NASA explorer is on track to reach the solar system’s outermost region by early Tuesday morning, when scientists expect it to fly by a space rock 20 miles long and billions of miles from Earth, the most distant close encounter of it... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A Chinese space probe is moving into position to land on the dark side of the moon for the first time, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, a mission seen as an important step as the country looks to push forward its space p... More »
(Reuters) – A SpaceX rocket carrying a U.S. military navigation satellite blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Sunday, marking the space transportation company’s first national security space mission for the United States. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying ... More »
(Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX scrapped Saturday’s launch of a long-delayed navigation satellite for the U.S. military due to strong upper level winds. The next launch attempt will be on Sunday at 8:51 a.m. EST/ 13:51 UTC, according to Space X officials. The l... More »
(Reuters) – Thunderstorms forced Elon Musk’s SpaceX to postpone Thursday’s launch of a navigation satellite for the U.S. military, which was poised to be the rocket company’s first national security space mission for the United States. SpaceX said its Falcon 9... More »
(Reuters) – Three members of the International Space Station’s crew returned safely to Earth on Thursday, landing in Kazakhstan on a Russian Soyuz craft, NASA reported. It was the first return from the space station since October, when U.S. astronaut Nick Hagu... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Spacex said on Thursday that poor weather conditions forced the cancellation of a scheduled morning launch of its Falcon 9 rocket that was to carry a global positioning system (GPS) satellite into space for the U.S. Air Force. The company ... More »
(Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX halted on Wednesday the long-delayed launch of a navigation satellite for the U.S. military, failing to complete its first designated national security mission for the United States due to a technical issue with its rocket. Space... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have unearthed fossils of a large meat-eating dinosaur that stalked northern Italy 198 million years ago that was remarkable both in life and in death. The researchers said on Wednesday Saltriovenator zanellai was about 25 fee... More »
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX halted Tuesday’s launch of a long-delayed navigation satellite for the U.S. military, postponing for at least a day the space transportation company’s first designated national security mission for the United States... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have discovered the most distant object known in our solar system, so remote and unusual they chose the nickname “Farout” for the slow-moving, icy, pinkish dwarf planet about 120 to 130 times further from the sun than Earth. A... More »
(Reuters) – Sue, the largest, most complete and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex ever unearthed, gets to show off its new lair this week at the Field Museum in Chicago. The museum on Friday will unveil the 40-1/2-foot-long (12.3-meter) Sue, one of the world’s ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A microscopic examination of fossils from China has revealed that the fur-like body covering of pterosaurs, the remarkable flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, was actually made up of rudimentary feathers. The surprising disco... More »
(Reuters) – Three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry on Tuesday signaled that he is willing to take NASA up on its offer to tour its lunar lab in Houston after his pronouncement this week that he does not believe humans ever walked on the Moon. During the “Wingin... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Saturday launched a first probe ever to explore the dark side of the Moon, marking another milestone in its ambitious space program, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The probe, the Chang’e-4, is expected to make the first-... More »
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) – A woman in Brazil who received a womb transplanted from a deceased donor has given birth to a baby girl in the first successful case of its kind, doctors reported. The case, published in The Lancet medical journal, involved connecting... More »
BRISTOL, England (Reuters) – Gorillas at a zoo in England have demonstrated a distinctly human trait while attempting to solve a new puzzle game – cheating. The gorillas were presented with a wall-mounted device where the aim is to guide a peanut through a ser... More »
(This story corrects to delete incorrect information that rocket carried a University of Illinois satellite) By Joey Roulette (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California on Monday carrying 64 small satellites into low orbit around... More »
(Reuters) – NASA’s deep space explorer Osiris-Rex flew on Monday to within a dozen miles of its destination, a skyscraper-sized asteroid believed to hold organic compounds fundamental to life as well as the potential to collide with Earth in about 150 years. L... More »
BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Reuters) – A Russian-made Soyuz rocket blasted a three-man crew into orbit on Monday, beginning the first manned voyage to the International Space Station since a mission in October was aborted in midair because of a rocket mal... More »
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – NASA on Thursday named nine U.S. companies, including Lockheed Martin Corp, that will compete for funding under the space agency’s renewed long-term moon program, a private-public undertaking to develop technology that will explore th... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prehistoric 15-foot-long (4.5 meters) whale that sucked prey into its mouth represents a key missing puzzle piece concerning the evolution of today’s huge filter-feeding whales, scientists said on Thursday. The researchers described fo... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese government on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to research activities for people involved in the editing of human genes, after a Chinese scientist said he had edited the genes of twin babies. Scientist He Jiankui said this wee... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India fired a rocket carrying 31 satellites into space on Thursday, including its own advanced earth observation satellite among the other smaller ones launched for eight countries. The rocket launched from the southern state of Andhra Pr... More »
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Self-driving cars, meet Amazon’s self-driving toys. Amazon.com Inc’s cloud unit on Wednesday announced a $399 autonomous toy car, aimed at helping web developers try out some of their own self-driving technology. Customers can train and t... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Furhat tilts his or her head, smiles, exudes empathy and warmth, and encourages us to open up. The robot, a three-dimensional bust with a projection of a human-like face, aims to build on our new-found ease talking to voice assistants like S... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Scientists who have mapped the genome of Australia’s symbolic animal, the koala, say it could help them develop better vaccines to treat the animals, who are battling an epidemic of the bacterial disease chlamydia. The development will also ... More »
FILE PHOTO: Larry Nassar, a former team USA Gymnastics doctor, who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, returns from a break to listen to victim testimony in the courtroom during his sentencing hearing in Lansing, Michigan, U.S., January ... More »
(Reuters) – A recently discovered asteroid was due to zip within 39,000 thousand miles (64,000 km) of Earth on Friday, marking the second space rock to pass within the orbit of the moon this week, according to NASA scientists. Measuring between 50 and 130 feet... More »
An undated picture shows a magnification of a lab-grown fully matured human egg ready for fertilization. Doctor David Albertini/University of Edinburgh/Handout via REUTERS LONDON, (Reuters) – Scientists have succeeded for the first time in growing human eggs i... More »
The greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) is shown in this undated handout photo taken in Brittany, France, released on February 7, 2018. Courtesy Olivier Farcy/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bats are the longest-lived mammals relative to body si... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – “Cheddar Man”, Britain’s oldest, nearly complete human skeleton, had dark skin, blue eyes and dark curly hair when he lived in what is now southwest England 10,000 years ago, scientists who read his DNA have discovered. The finding suggests ... More »
