Experts debate whether people or probes make the best space explorers. ...read more

Researchers hope an underground experiment will reveal an elusive particle. ...read more

For decades, Piri Welcsh has had professional and personal stakes in understanding the genetics of breast cancer. In the 1990s, the molecular geneticist participated in an international race to clone BRCA1, the first gene linked to breast cancer risk, and she works to this day in the lab of pioneering breast cancer geneticist Mary-Claire King at the University of Washington. And then there’s Welcsh’s own family. Her grandmother died of breast cancer, her mother is a breast cancer ...read more

For most animals, sex time is obvious. During the fertile phase of their reproductive cycles, females go into heat. They act, smell and look different, sending an unambiguous signal to males: “Come impregnate me.” But what about humans? Women have sex throughout their menstrual cycles, and don’t show conspicuous outward changes around ovulation — the time of month when pregnancy can occur. Yet many researchers think there are subtle clues that a lady is in her fertile w ...read more

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday to talk about the proposed NASA budget for 2020. While Bridenstine referred to the Trump administration's proposed NASA budget as “strong,” and emphasized that funding for spaceflight exploration is high, the budget proposal also strikes funding from some missions. And, in total, it allocates $500 million less than what Congress appropriated for NASA last year. Congress, not the executive ...read more

Climate change is riddled with questions that have uncertain answers. How fast will Earth’s population grow? When will renewables become affordable enough to take over? How much carbon dioxide can the oceans suck up? But even with these uncertainties, researchers in a new study say it's clearer than ever that the actions society chooses to take today will dictate the climate for future generations. “They make clear our choices — in a world of uncertain ...read more

The best part of our work is meeting the people who power citizen science either by visiting and joining SciStarter, engaging in projects, or sharing, saving, or facilitating projects and events. If you're receiving this message, that includes YOU! We'd love to meet you in person at any of the following events. Fingers crossed that one of them takes place near you. If so, please come say "hi!" Cheers! The SciStarter Team Citizen Science Association Conference, Raleigh NC, M ...read more

Relocating historic structures can be tricky business. ...read more

"Foreign Accent Syndrome" (FAS) is a rare disorder in which patients start to speak with a foreign or regional tone. This striking condition is often associated with brain damage, such as stroke. Presumably, the lesion affects the neural pathways by which the brain controls the tongue and vocal cords, thus producing a strange sounding speech. Yet there may be more to FAS than meets the eye (or ear). According to a new paper in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, many o ...read more

Galactic smash-ups can reignite or destroy galaxies — but which will it be? Astronomers using space- and ground-based telescopes to peer inside the mergers of nearby galaxies are hoping to learn more about these events and what they mean for the history and future of our universe. Mergers: Good or Bad? Galaxy mergers have built our universe into the place it is today. Over time, smaller galaxies crash into each other, creating larger, more complex structures. But what exactly happens durin ...read more