Ex-Spy Telescope May Get New Identity as a Space Investigator
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Under a plan, equipment left over from a spy satellite program would be used to investigate dark energy and locate planets beyond the solar system.
Under a plan, equipment left over from a spy satellite program would be used to investigate dark energy and locate planets beyond the solar system.
A residential tower in London is one of the tallest timber buildings in the world.
Cross-laminated timber, a sort of supersize plywood, is already popular in Europe in ever taller buildings that can be a cheaper and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional buildings.
In blind tennis, invented in Japan and spreading in the United States, players rely on their hearing to follow the trajectory of a foam ball that rattles when it bounces or is struck.
A group of scientists is trying to graft existing smaller trees into one huge tree of life that includes every known species, a tree with two million branches and counting.
The world’s bank of digital information is growing at a rate of five trillion bits a second, and there’s a lot going on inside that we don’t know about.
The contest grew out of a question — “What is a flame?” — that the actor Alan Alda asked his teacher when he was 11. The answer — “It’s oxidation” — left him wanting.
In the course of birds’ evolution from dinosaurs, it appears that their skulls pulled a Peter Pan and stopped growing up.
Many doctors will ignore the findings that tests and procedures have been overused and keep doing what they have been doing all along.
Some patients with epilepsy benefit from treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs, suggesting that brain inflammation plays a larger role in the disease than has been suspected.
Professor Huxley shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for a breakthrough discovery that helped better understand the electrical stimulation of nerve cells.
Zoos are increasingly concerning themselves with conservation and saving endangered species, but the effort has limitations.
Birds that exclusively eat seeds provide their chicks with insects, which contain water; as adults they produce water internally.
A New Zealand lizard called the tuatara eats like no other animal — sliding its lower jaw forward and backward, it can slice its food like a steak knife.
Cone-shaped cells on most petals act like a surface of Velcro that pollinating bees can cling to, especially when the wind blows strongly, a study finds.
A census of workplace microbes found that men’s offices have significantly more than women’s, and offices in New York have more than those in San Francisco.
From sketches of the 1761 transit of Venus to satellite photographs of the 2004 event, a look at historical observations ahead of the June 5 transit.
With studies showing that sun exposure as a child increases risks later on, children must be taught early on about the dangers of sun exposure and make a habit of using sunscreen.
The C.D.C. recommends that hair not be removed unless it will interfere with the operation. When shaving is necessary, electrical clippers should be used.
Matted tundra plants are sprouting into forests in a fast reaction to Arctic warming.
What’s the most surprising species close to home? Readers' photos of wild organisms, large and small.
A series of articles and videos about leaders in science like Elizabeth Spelke, Richard Dawkins, Nora Volkow, Eric Lander, Michael Gazzaniga and Steven Pinker.