Articles filed under Science
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Mathematician Gladys West dies at 95. She was a hidden figure behind GPS.Jan 31, 2026 5:48 pm - Dr. Gladys West, who died Jan. 17 at 95, used her mathematical skills to become a barrier-breaking researcher for the Navy, mastering a bulky supercomputer known as Stretch while calculating satellite orbits and developing a precise model of the Earth’s surface. Her research laid the groundwork for the Global Positioning System, GPS, a technology that has made getting lost a thing of the past.
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RFK Jr. picks promoters of debunked vaccine-autism claims for key panelJan 29, 2026 3:55 pm - Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reshaped a key federal autism advisory board, appointing members who have echoed his controversial views, including promoting debunked claims linking vaccines to autism.
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40 years later, a new look at lessons from the Challenger disasterJan 28, 2026 3:46 pm - As high school teacher Christa McAuliffe prepared to be strapped into the space shuttle Challenger, Brian Russell, an official at the company that built the craft’s solid rocket boosters, had just participated in a fateful teleconference from his Utah headquarters.Like every other engineer in the conference room at Morton Thiokol on that day four decades ago, the 31-year-old Russell opposed launching because the bitterly cold temperature at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center threatened the O-rings that sealed the rocket boosters.
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Ailing astronaut returns to Earth early in NASA’s first medical evacuationJan 15, 2026 7:18 am - An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
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NASA, in a rare move, cuts space station mission short after an astronaut’s medical issueJan 09, 2026 3:43 pm - In a rare move, NASA is cutting a mission aboard the International Space Station short after an astronaut had a medical issue.The space agency said Thursday the U.S.-Japanese-Russian crew of four will return to Earth in the coming days, earlier than planned.
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The moon and sun figure big in the new year's lineup of cosmic wondersDec 29, 2025 8:43 am - Kicking off the year’s cosmic wonders is the moon, drawing the first astronauts to visit in more than 50 years as well as a caravan of robotic lunar landers including Jeff Bezos’ new supersized Blue Moon. A supermoon looms on Jan. 3 and an astronomical blue moon is on the books for May.
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Paraplegic engineer becomes the first wheelchair user to blast into spaceDec 20, 2025 5:12 pm - A paraplegic engineer from Germany blasted off on a dream-come-true rocket ride with five other passengers Saturday, leaving her wheelchair behind to float in space while beholding Earth from on high.
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New director announced for FermilabDec 15, 2025 3:24 pm - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has a new director. Norbert Holtkamp will take over Jan. 12, the University of Chicago announced Monday.
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How monogamous are humans? A study ranks us between meerkats and beavers.Dec 13, 2025 2:40 pm - How monogamous are humans, really? It’s an age-old question subject to significant debate. Now a University of Cambridge professor has an answer: Somewhere between the Eurasian beaver and a meerkat.
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More loons are filling Maine’s lakes with their ghostlike callsDec 13, 2025 1:44 pm - Loons are on the mend in Maine, filling more of the state's lakes and ponds with their haunting calls, although conservationists say the birds aren't out of the woods yet.