5+ day, 1+ hour ago   (667+ words) A tiny asteroid detected just hours before impact has shown how quickly modern planetary defence systems can respond. An asteroid only about 80 centimetres wide was detected in space just hours before it entered Earth’s atmosphere, giving scientists a rare opportunity…...

4+ week, 2+ day ago   (416+ words) This ancient creature was supposed to be living an ocean away. Instead, its bones turned up in one of Germany's most famous fossil beds. That single-species interpretation also influenced broader views of Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs. Scientists traditionally considered these marine…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago   (703+ words) ESA’s BepiColombo mission is approaching a decisive stage as the spacecraft prepares for its next major steps around Mercury. The spacecraft’s approach represents a major milestone for a mission designed to operate in one of the most demanding environments ever…...

3+ day, 22+ hour ago   (546+ words) Scientists chased two ESA satellites as they burned through Earth’s atmosphere, capturing rare data on spacecraft reentry and atmospheric effects. Researchers have captured one of the most detailed observations yet of satellites breaking apart in Earth’s atmosphere, after a team…...

4+ week, 19+ min ago   (433+ words) Earth erased much of the evidence from its violent early years, but the Moon did not. Rocks recovered from a previously inaccessible region are now revealing a record scientists have waited decades to examine. Rocks collected from the Moon’s far…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago   (723+ words) Astronomers have discovered a massive rocky exoplanet with extreme density and a bizarre tilted orbit around a nearby star. Astronomers have found Gliese 523b, a bizarre exoplanet that combines a huge size, extreme density and a highly unusual orbit around its…...