Science

Douglas Adams was right, ish... Super-Earth world clocked orbiting 'nearby' Barnard's Star

Icy planet within cosmic spitting distance of humanity
84 Comments
15 Nov 07:03

Rocket Labs mean business, Brits stick pin in Mars map, and Japan celebrates HTV-7’s dive into the atmosphere

RoundupAnother way ISS 'nauts can send stuff home
13 Comments
13 Nov 10:28

Brit boffins build 'quantum compass'... say goodbye to those old GPS gizmos, possibly

VideoDon't expect one in your mobile phone any time soon, admittedly
139 Comments
11 Nov 08:10

Thank $deity that week's over. Look, here's some trippy music generated from pixels of a Martian sunrise to play us out

VideoSo there is fife on Mars?
13 Comments
10 Nov 00:56

Third Soyuz does not explode while auditors resume poking around NASA's big rocket SLS

Meanwhile, SpaceX forges ahead with BFR, pretty chill
18 Comments
08 Nov 21:00

Here's a search engine for all you boffins and eggheads that makes it easier to learn science

Microsoft co-founder's gift from beyond the grave
08 Nov 14:00

FYI NASA just lobbed its Parker probe around the Sun in closest flyby yet: A nerve-racking 15M miles from the surface

FAB, Lady Penelope
51 Comments
08 Nov 06:51

Astroboffins spot one of the oldest, coolest stars in the universe lurking in the Milky Way

Ancient light source may last trillions of years before dying
46 Comments
07 Nov 06:05

Russia inches closer to launching a crew again while NASA waits for a delivery from Germany

De-crewed? More like de-orbit if the ISS had to wait for Orion
15 Comments
06 Nov 13:53

Has science gone too far? Now boffins dream of shining gigantic laser pointer into space to get aliens' attention

Beam would light up planets, lead furious ETs back to Earth
100 Comments
06 Nov 04:53

Which scientist should be on the new £50 note? El Reg weighs in – and you should vote, too

PollHere's our Top Ten pick of the best of Brits
275 Comments
03 Nov 08:09

Dawn of the dead: NASA space probe runs out of gas in asteroid belt after 6.4 billion-mile trip

First it was the Kepler telescope, and now Dawnie has kicked the bucket too
46 Comments
02 Nov 23:20
Soyuz MS-10 mishap

Roscosmos: An assembly error doomed our Soyuz, but we promise it won't happen again

So we're ok to launch a crew in December, right? Er, guys?
65 Comments
02 Nov 15:02
nikla tesla illustration - shutterstock

Nikola Tesla's greatest challenge: He could measure electricity but not stupidity

Something for the Weekend, Sir?A scientist on a banknote? Stick that up your Darcy
199 Comments
02 Nov 09:01
Modular bot

Transformers: Robots... at least it tries: Watch boffins' Optimus Dime rearrange on the fly

Its creators see this shape-shifter droid as more like Big Hero 6 than cheesy Autobots
11 Comments
02 Nov 08:04

Need electric propulsion for your satellite? Want a 'made in Britain' sticker? Step right this way...

UpdatedThales boldly goes where, er, NASA went in the 1960s
21 Comments
01 Nov 12:31

Sensor failure led to Soyuz launch failure, says Roscosmos

Russian space agency schedules ISS crew launch for early December
29 Comments
31 Oct 23:20

Boffins have fabricated microscopic sci-fi tractor beams for real

It can only hold millions of cold rubidium atoms for now though
44 Comments
31 Oct 06:01

Goodnight Kepler! NASA scientists lay the exoplanet expert to rest as it runs out of fuel

Exoplanet telescope out, and Opportunity in its last rites
36 Comments
30 Oct 21:58

Watch closely as NASA deploys the world's biggest parachute at supersonic speeds

VideoEngineers hope it will land a rover safely for the future Mars 2020 mission
39 Comments
30 Oct 07:01

Hi there, Hubble, glad to hear you're doing okay

Our eye on the sky winks open
26 Comments
29 Oct 22:23

One down, two to go. Russia inches closer to putting a crew on Soyuz while celebrating 50 years since the first Return To Flight

Meanwhile, China notches up another launch success and a commerical orbital miss
21 Comments
29 Oct 12:10

The 'roid in Spain drills mainly on the plain: Plucky Brit Mars robot laps up sun, sand and, er, simulated science

Scientists watch from 1,000 miles away as Charlie the Rover plays with ExoMars' toys
29 Comments
27 Oct 10:01

Americans' broadband access is so screwed up that the answer may lie in tiny space satellites

FCC prepares to approve new wave of small internet birds
36 Comments
25 Oct 22:25

Want to roll like one of the biggest minds in physics? Prof Stephen Hawking's wheelchair is up for auction

Christies sets up 'giants of science' memorabilia sell off
21 Comments
24 Oct 19:25

It's big, it's blue, and it'll be raining down on you – it's 3200 Phaethon

Astroboffins baffled by mysterious repeat visitor
22 Comments
24 Oct 05:01

I ship you knot: 2,400-year-old Greek trading vessel found intact at bottom of Black Sea

Carbon dating places it as oldest complete wreck
53 Comments
23 Oct 11:07

BepiColombo launches, Russia ponders next lift-off, and 50 years since Apollo 7 got its feet wet

RoundupThe week in spaaaaaace
13 Comments
23 Oct 09:25
milky_way

Cosmoboffins think grav waves hold the key to sorting out the disputed Hubble Constant

New method could settle the question of how fast the universe is expanding
33 Comments
23 Oct 05:09
CR7 galaxy

Hubble 'scope gyro drama: Hey, NASA, have you tried turning it off and on again? Oh, you did. And it worked? Cool

Just don't let it restart to install updates...
21 Comments
23 Oct 01:13
earth_core

Core-blimey! Riddle of Earth's mysterious center finally 'solved' by smarty seismologists

So solid crew confirm old idea by spotting tiny waves
35 Comments
19 Oct 21:09
BepiColombo on the launchpad

It's Two Spacecraft, One Mission as BepiColombo gets ready to launch

JAXA and ESA in a tree, going to visit Mercury
23 Comments
19 Oct 10:45
hyperion

Good news: Largest, most ancient known galaxy supercluster is spotted. Bad news: It's collapsing on itself

Five quadrillion solar masses – and you'll need a Farcaster to get there
22 Comments
18 Oct 23:14
Plate spinning routine by Henrik Bothe

NASA gently nudges sleeping space 'scopes Chandra, Hubble out of gyro-induced stupor

X-ray probe could be awake by end of this week
The Soyuz in flight following the launch. Pic: Roscosmos

NASA chief in Moscow: 'We will fly again on a Russian Soyuz rocket'

'I have no reason to believe at this point that it won't be on schedule' For reals, my dude?
22 Comments
15 Oct 19:56
Bloodhound SSC (pic: Flock and Siemens)

Bloodhound Super-Sonic-Car lacks Super-Sonic-Cashflow

Plucky Brit land speed record chaser fails to find £25m down the back of the sofa, calls in Administrators
58 Comments
15 Oct 12:05
NASA

NASA's Chandra probe suddenly becomes an EX-ray space telescope (for now, anyway)

Aging kit kicks into safe mode, 65,000+ miles away
36 Comments
12 Oct 22:00
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