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It has been not quite a half-century since human beings stepped foot on another planetary body for the first time. Forty-nine years ago today, to be exact. It was on July 20, 1969 when Neil A. Armstrong, Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, descended the steps of the Lunar Module and upon reaching the surface uttered these instantly famous words: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." (Btw, if you think he didn't actually say "a man," thereby committing a grammat

BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN – That rocket looked so tiny from a mile away. Shining white against the dull beige sands of Baikonur, the Soyuz had three people on board all set for a ride to the International Space Station. From this distance, though, it appeared fragile, like a child's plaything. Standing beside me was a member of the backup crew, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques. He passed the time talking to me about other launches he had seen. When the Soyuz finally lighted its engines –

On Tuesday, Jupiter officially “gained” 10-12 moons. But that doesn’t make up for the dozens of moons the solar system has lost over time. Unlike the recent crop, the long lost moons were of pretty substantial size. This includes even a few now missing moons for Jupiter. The king of our planets started out in a gas envelope, like the other planets. It’s system had quite a bit of heft, but the slow drag of this cloud may have pulled in moons as large as Mercury into the inner hell of the

I thought we’d all signed off on every use of bacon. I thought Reddit and Epicurious and Epic Meal Time had taught us that bacon goes with everything. But judging by the looks I get at the diner when I dip my bacon in butter, we have not. We apparently have not collectively agreed that bacon, like french fries or baby…

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The 2015 discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 system, with its seven Earth-sized planets, has redirected much of the exoplanet search toward M-dwarf systems — and justifiably so. Based on Kepler data, researchers estimate M-dwarfs (the most common type of star) host around 10 billion Earth-sized planets in the Milky Way alone. But one question that immediately pops up regarding the search for exoplanets is that of habitability. In addition to other criteria, the presence of an atmosphere is crucial f

Can we stop being mad at plastic straws for a minute? Some folks are saying plastic straws are stupid and useless while others make the point that I’m disabled and I need these to drink. What if the fate of the ocean doesn’t hinge on plastic straws at all? Because the largest source of garbage plastic in the ocean is…

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If you’re an avid Mail user and always rushing to send an email on your iPhone, mistakes tend to happen frequently. One of iOS’s features on iPhone or iPad can help you call attention to a mistyped email address, with one simple Mail setting.

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San Diego Comic-Con is upon us. And if you’re flying to this, or planning a trip to another geeky convention, you probably already know what you should and shouldn’t try to pack in your luggage. (It’s not in your best interest to surprise the Transportation Security Administration with a thermal detonator, Gom Jabbar,…

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When we last rounded up our staff’s Weekly Upgrades, our editors were buying kayaks, learning history via podcast, rediscovering the joys of community radio, and using jetlag to our advantage.

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We’ll be the first to say that being worried about someone knowing if you’ve read their message is a little ridiculous. Reading the message is the whole point of texting, and yet… we can also admit there are some strategic reasons why you’d want a message to appear unread. Many messaging services like WhatsApp,…

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