March 24, 2017 --The days when a chemist's assistant like Michael Faraday or a friar like Gregor Mendel could single-handedly revolutionize a field of science may seem long gone, but one British student is showing the world that anyone can play a role in research. This week NASA is feeling grateful to the sharp eyes of 17-year-old Miles Soloman of Sheffield, England, who was able to help uncover a faulty sensor on board the International Space Station (ISS) when he noticed some wacky readings in a data spreadsheet. His findings add to a long history of amateurs making real contributions to science, a phenomenon many researchers are eager to encourage. Miles's physics teacher, James O'Neill, had no idea what was going to happen when he enrolled his class in the TimPix project from the Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS), an initiative that provides classes with data collected from a radiation detector on board the ISS. By studying the data sets, students can learn about energy and "contribute to research that will improve our understanding of radiation in space," IRIS wrote on their website.

March 23, 2017 --If some NASA researchers have their way, Mars exploration technology of the future may rely on an art form from the past. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed a Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER) prototype that could change how we explore Mars. The rugged yet portable machine takes its inspiration from the art of origami, which, despite Americans' association with grade-school arts and crafts, is proving to be a cutting-edge design philosophy. Recent developments in the field have led to an explosion of uses ranging from solar panels to bulletproof barriers. What sets PUFFER apart from other rovers is that it folds flat, making its mini-profile even slimmer.

March 23, 2017 --If some NASA researchers have their way, Mars exploration technology of the future may rely on an art form from the past. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed a Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER) prototype that could change how we explore Mars. The rugged yet portable machine takes its inspiration from the art of origami, which, despite Americans' association with grade-school arts and crafts, is proving to be a cutting-edge design philosophy. Recent developments in the field have led to an explosion of uses ranging from solar panels to bulletproof barriers. What sets PUFFER apart from other rovers is that it folds flat, making its mini-profile even slimmer.

March 20, 2017 --In the age of same-day delivery, the International Space Station sent a package 249 miles down to Earth on Sunday in less than six hours. There was, however, one sizable difference between it and the cardboard box sitting on your front doorstep. The SpaceX capsule that splashed into the waters off California carried more than 5,000 pounds of completed science experiments and used equipment. The astronauts' release of the capsule down to Earth further shows the relationship between SpaceX and NASA to support life and science aboard the International Space Station. The private company has become a lifeline to the six astronauts living aboard the ISS, bringing them food, equipment, and experiments, and returning some of those materials to Earth.

March 17, 2017 --Thousands of blasts from the past are teaching nuclear physicists new lessons about old physics. Scientists and film experts are teaming up to save a treasure trove of cold war-era nuclear test footage, teetering on the brink of decomposition. By digitizing the records and applying current video analysis, the team has learned we don't know quite as much as we thought we did about atomic bombs. The United States carried out hundreds of aboveground nuclear tests between 1945 and the early 1960s, when they were banned. Recording more than 10,000 videos from various angles, the government strived to glean every last bit of scientific information possible about the deadly new technology.

March 12, 2017 --In traditional computers, the smallest units of information exists in one of two states: 1 and 0, or on and off. Long strings of 1s and 0s can store increasingly complex information that can be used use to perform useful tasks, but that information storage is limited by the size of those individual bits of information in a computer's hard drive. But now, researchers have figured out a way to magnetically store information on the smallest unit possible: a single atom. There's a long way to go before atom-sized information storage technology can make it to your home computer or smartphone, but now researchers have proven that it is possible to store information on an incredibly small level. Theoretically, this new technology could lead to massive data storage capacities on an impressive scale – even in the smallest of devices.

March 11, 2017 --Dominating the night sky, Earth's natural satellite is often the first target to catch the eye of budding astronomers, and now the moon's siren call is pulling the world's leading space powers too. The five space agencies responsible for building the International Space Station (ISS) met last month in Tsukuba, home to the Japanese space agency JAXA, to decide what comes after the aging ISS. Discussions advanced an evolving plan to build a lunar space station, settling on a tentative orbit and paving the way for finalized plans that may come in late 2017 or early 2018. But friction remains around the ultimate goal of the station: Will the ISS successor be a truly lunar space station or a spaceport on the way to Mars? With the ISS's decommissioning tentatively scheduled for 2024, the International Spacecraft Working Group (ISWG), composed of the American, Russian, Japanese, European, and Canadian space agencies, is looking ahead to the next phase of human space exploration.

March 9, 2017 --Physicist Stephen Hawking may be a proponent of artificial intelligence, but he has also been outspoken about the potential challenges it creates. In a recent interview, he sounded a similar tone, and offered a solution that conservatives may find hard to accept. Speaking to The Times of London to commemorate being awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of London, a title that was conferred on him on Monday, Professor Hawking expressed optimism for the future. He added, however, that he is concerned about artificial intelligence (AI), as well as other global threats. "We need to be quicker to identify such threats and act before they get out of control," Hawking said.

March 9, 2017 --Physicist Stephen Hawking may be a proponent of artificial intelligence, but he has also been outspoken about the potential challenges it creates. In a recent interview, he sounded a similar tone, and offered a solution that conservatives my find hard to accept. Speaking to The Times of London to commemorate being awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of London, a title that was conferred on him on Monday, Professor Hawking expressed optimism for the future. He added, however, that he is concerned about artificial intelligence (AI), as well as other global threats. "We need to be quicker to identify such threats and act before they get out of control," Hawking said.

March 3, 2017 --On March 6, NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter is expected to cross paths with the Red Planet's moon Phobos. At first, computer models showed the two satellites missing each other by just seven seconds. Mission controllers decided that was too great a risk for the $671 million spacecraft, whose name stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN. So, on Tuesday, they fired its rocket engine enough to increase its velocity by 0.4 meters per second. Controllers say that small correction will yield a safe 2.5 minutes between MAVEN and Phobos on the 6th.