HercuList Secrets

'Cannibal' stars have shortest known orbit of all binary systems

An explosive cannibal white dwarf has been discovered in an incredibly close orbit around its stellar victim, proving a 30-year-old theory about how such binary star systems evolve. Discovered in images ...

Catch the best views of Mercury at its highest in the sky on Saturday (Oct. 8)

Because Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, light from our star often makes the planet tough to spot. This makes the weeks around the periods of greatest elongation when it is furthest from the sun the best time to spot the tiny planet.

Early Webb Space Telescope Images Get Stunning Glow Up From X-ray Filter

Across the dark canvas of space lie lots of colorful speckles representing galaxies. Many look. By combining infrared data from the JWST and X-ray data from Chandra, NASA is starting to create a ...

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket aborts double-satellite launch at last minute

The SpaceX rocket aborted its launch 30 seconds before liftoff. The Falcon 9 is now set to launch on Oct. 7. ... A veteran SpaceX rocket poised to make its 14th flight aborted a launch attempt on Thursday (Oct. 6) with less than one minute before liftoff.

Astronomy Magazine

The Sky This Week: It's a Hunter's Moon

Astronomy Magazine

Bright Mercury reaches greatest western elongation from the Sun this week, turning it into a conspicuous sight. Michael Karrer (Flickr) (CC BY-NC 2.0), cropping by Astronomy.com. Friday, October 7. Asteroid 4 Vesta is stationary at 2 A.M. EDT.

ISS Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Shows Off Her Wildest Space Cosplay Yet

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti dressed up as a space plane flight attendant while on the ISS. 2011 video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET. Samantha Cristoforetti contains multitudes ...

When making a detour is faster: Optimizing navigation for microswimmers

Complex currents often affect the motion of microswimmers and make it difficult for them to reach their destination. At the same time, making use of these currents to navigate as fast as possible is a certain evolutionary advantage.

Microbial enzymes are the key to pectin digestion in leaf beetles

A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, shows in a new study how leaf beetles could successfully use new and previously indigestible food sources in the course of evolution. The insects acquired enzymes from ...

Mars' buried 'lake' might just be layers of ice and rock

Science News

Science News

"Follow the water" has long been the mantra of scientists searching for life beyond Earth. After all, the only known cradle of life in the cosmos is the watery planet we call home. But now there's more evidence suggesting that a potential discovery of ...

Mitochondrial DNA 'Inserts' Reveal New Way the Genome Evolves

Laboratory Equipment

Laboratory Equipment

Key Points: Scientists have shown that in 1 in every 4,000 births, some of the genetic code from mitochondria inserts itself into DNA. Mitochondrial DNA appears more often in cancer DNA, suggesting that it acts as a sticking plaster to try and repair ...