A Japanese spacecraft journeyed to an ancient rock and returned to Earth with a 4.6-billion-year-old relic of the early solar system. But it wasn't easy.25 min read In a gray camouflage tee and blue denim jeans, Masaki Fujimoto is dressed all too casually for a man about to make history. Queen's Don't Stop Me Now has been playing on repeat, in his head, for weeks. One line is particularly prophetic for the 56-year-old astrophysicist. "I'm burning through the sky…"It's less than 48 hours from when a 16-inch-wide steel capsule will do just that, rocketing through the atmosphere before...…A Japanese spacecraft journeyed to an ancient rock and returned to Earth with a 4.6-billion-year-old relic of the early solar system. But it wasn't easy.25 min read In a gray camouflage tee and blue denim jeans, Masaki Fujimoto is dressed all too casually for a man about to make history. Queen's Don't Stop Me Now has been playing on repeat, in his head, for weeks. One line is particularly prophetic for the 56-year-old astrophysicist. "I'm burning through the sky…"It's less than 48 hours from when a 16-inch-wide steel capsule will do just that, rocketing through the atmosphere before...WW…

We're building a Great Garbage Shell around the Earth, full of defunct satellites and tiny pieces of junk.10 min read The Pacific Ocean is home to two monstrous, swirling vortices of human junk. Tangled fishing nets, garbage bags and millions of tiny pieces of plastic twirl in the waves east of Japan and sway in the current along the California coast. The kipple at opposite ends of the Pacific is connected by a stream of debris, weaving its way across the world's largest ocean.The disjointed mass of waste is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's often portrayed as a , an...…We're building a Great Garbage Shell around the Earth, full of defunct satellites and tiny pieces of junk.10 min read The Pacific Ocean is home to two monstrous, swirling vortices of human junk. Tangled fishing nets, garbage bags and millions of tiny pieces of plastic twirl in the waves east of Japan and sway in the current along the California coast. The kipple at opposite ends of the Pacific is connected by a stream of debris, weaving its way across the world's largest ocean.The disjointed mass of waste is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's often portrayed as a , an...WW…

A telescope in the back of a 747 finally puts to rest a longstanding question about lunar water.6 min read Eleven years ago, a trio of spacecraft changed forever. Data collected by the robotic travelers indicated Earth's only natural satellite was not a dry, dusty desert as we'd long believed. The spacecraft picked up the telltale chemical signature of water. Our moon wasn't soaking, but it was damp.Scientists couldn't pull apart the chemical signature to definitively say how much was "molecular" water, the stuff we know as H2O, and how much was hydroxyl, a molecule that's one hydrogen atom...…A telescope in the back of a 747 finally puts to rest a longstanding question about lunar water.6 min read Eleven years ago, a trio of spacecraft changed forever. Data collected by the robotic travelers indicated Earth's only natural satellite was not a dry, dusty desert as we'd long believed. The spacecraft picked up the telltale chemical signature of water. Our moon wasn't soaking, but it was damp.Scientists couldn't pull apart the chemical signature to definitively say how much was "molecular" water, the stuff we know as H2O, and how much was hydroxyl, a molecule that's one hydrogen atom...WW…

A telescope in the back of a 747 finally puts to rest a longstanding question about lunar water.Eleven years ago, a trio of spacecraft changed forever. Data collected by the robotic travelers indicated Earth's only natural satellite was not a dry, dusty desert as we'd long believed. The spacecraft picked up the telltale chemical signature of water. Our moon wasn't soaking, but it was damp.Scientists couldn't pull apart the chemical signature to definitively say how much was "molecular" water, the stuff we know as H2O, and how much was hydroxyl, a molecule that's one hydrogen atom short of...…A telescope in the back of a 747 finally puts to rest a longstanding question about lunar water.Eleven years ago, a trio of spacecraft changed forever. Data collected by the robotic travelers indicated Earth's only natural satellite was not a dry, dusty desert as we'd long believed. The spacecraft picked up the telltale chemical signature of water. Our moon wasn't soaking, but it was damp.Scientists couldn't pull apart the chemical signature to definitively say how much was "molecular" water, the stuff we know as H2O, and how much was hydroxyl, a molecule that's one hydrogen atom short of...WW…

Misinformation has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic, spreading faster and further than ever before. How do we slow the deception down?13 min read How fast does a lie travel? Cordell Hull, the longest-serving US Secretary of State and "father of the United Nations," thought he'd worked it out. "A lie will gallop halfway round the world," he proclaimed in 1948, "before the truth has time to pull its breeches on." Hull shared his adage in a time before social media, before satellites and . There were no tweets. No posts. He couldn't have known the rise of the internet and a...…Misinformation has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic, spreading faster and further than ever before. How do we slow the deception down?13 min read How fast does a lie travel? Cordell Hull, the longest-serving US Secretary of State and "father of the United Nations," thought he'd worked it out. "A lie will gallop halfway round the world," he proclaimed in 1948, "before the truth has time to pull its breeches on." Hull shared his adage in a time before social media, before satellites and . There were no tweets. No posts. He couldn't have known the rise of the internet and a...WW…