(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/ Gerald Eichstädt /Seán Doran) Jupiter is without a doubt inhospitable, but it does have one thing going for it — increasing evidence that it’s rich in water. Astrophysicist Gordon L. Bjoraker of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center recently published a paper in the Astronomical Journal, outlining how he and his team of researchers detected signatures of water emitting from Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. By studying the gian ...read more

Captured: approximately 15,000 galaxies (12,000 of which are star-forming) widely distributed in time and space. (Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Oesch (University of Geneva), and M. Montes (University of New South Wales)) A version of this article originally appeared on The Conversation. Astronomers are engaged in a lively debate over plans to rename one of the laws of physics. It emerged overnight in Vienna at the 30th Meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), in Vienna, where members of ...read more

SciStarter, the Citizen Science Association, and the Citizen Science Day Working Group are excited to announce Citizen Science Day on Saturday, April 13, 2019! The fourth annual Citizen Science Day celebrates and raises awareness about the amazing volunteers, projects, and scientific breakthroughs that are part of citizen science, encourages new people to get involved, and connects people to local events. All organizations interested in citizen science, including museums, aquariums, nature cent ...read more

Photo: Flickr/Mark Berry [Note from the authors of “Seriously, Science?”: After nine years with Discover, we’ve been informed that this will be our last month blogging on this platform. Despite being (usually) objective scientists, we have a sentimental streak, and we have spent the last few days reminiscing about the crazy, and often funny, science we have highlighted. Therefore, we have assembled a month-long feast of our favorite science papers. En ...read more

(Credit: kunmom/shutterstock) Once upon a time, Earth was colder, locked in its latest ice age. Eventually, roughly 14,000 years ago, things started thawing and the planet warmed back up. But that climate change, according to a new paper in Science, caused a major shift in vegetation. And if we don’t curb our fossil fuel use and cut carbon emissions soon, the authors say, we’ll see another big shift in plant life within 100 to 150 years. Ancient Global Warming An international tea ...read more

(Credit: Cessna152/Shutterstock) Brazil has seen a recent uptick in cases of syphilis affecting the eyes, an infection that can lead to serious vision loss if not treated quickly enough. While ocular syphilis is a rarely-seen form of the sexually transmitted infection, one study put rates at around 2 percent of syphilis patients, it can cause serious problems for those infected, including loss of vision, cataracts and glaucoma. This comes as rates of syphilis in the U.S. have trended ...read more

The International Space Station orbits some 250 miles above Earth’s surface, and is routinely exposed to impacts by tiny, fast-moving objects like paint chips, often leaving marks on the outside of the station’s hull. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Early this morning, NASA announced the International Space Station — one of the most expensive and complex structures ever built — is slowly leaking air out of minuscule hole just 2 millimeters wide. Although the astron ...read more

(Credit: Mitch M/shutterstock) A version of this article originally appeared on The Conversation. The Green, a gathering place in New Haven, Connecticut, near Yale University looked like a mass casualty zone, with 70 serious drug overdoses over a period spanning Aug. 15-16, 2018. The cause: synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K2, Spice, or AK47, which induced retching, vomiting, loss of consciousness and trouble breathing. On July 19, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers t ...read more

This artist’s concept shows Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft collecting tiny dust grains from the asteroid Itokawa. (Credit: JAXA) Japan’s asteroid-visiting Hayabusa spacecraft wasn’t a complete disaster, but it definitely got off to a rocky start. Launched in 2003, the world’s first sample-return mission was quickly sidelined when it was struck by charged particles from a powerful solar flare shortly after its launch. Despite this, Hayabusa eventually reached its targ ...read more