Could Juggling Be The Next Big Olympic Sport?
Competitive juggling is a sport that requires skill, concentration, technical mastery and creativity. And there's a push to bring it to the Summer Games someday.
Guillaume Le Gentil, The 18th Century Astronomer With the Worst Luck
Today in 1769, Captain James Cook and his crew observed the transit of Venus from Tahiti, a big deal for astronomers then; only his French colleague Guillaume Le Gentil had spent years preparing to do the exact same thing, and had much worse luck on his expedition.
What Do Sounds Sound Like On Mars? Perseverance Rover Is Going To Find Out
The next Mars rover is set to land next month, and it's equipped with microphones to make the first audio recordings on another planet. So how does sound work on Mars, which has about 1 percent of the atmosphere Earth does?
Cincinnati Built An Observatory Any Stargazer Could Use
Today in 1843, former president John Quincy Adams joined thousands to dedicate a public observatory in Cincinnati, a building known as "the birthplace of American astronomy."
Earth Is Habitable, But Some Planets May Be Super-Habitable
A paper from Washington State University suggests some far-off planets may be super-habitable - as in, they may be more appropriate for life than Earth is!
The Hubble Telescope’s First Space Photo Was Kind Of Blurry
It was on this day in 1990 that the Hubble Space Telescope took its first photo from space. Unfortunately the telescope had a problem with one of its mirrors that required astronauts to go up and fix.
The Earth’s Rotation Is Slowing, Thanks To The Moon
We’re hearing a lot about how a research project has shown that Earth days used to be about a half-hour shorter than they are now. Why is our planet rotating more slowly now? It's mostly because of the moon.
A Pole-Sitting Champ Finds Out It’s Lonely At The Top
Richard "Dixie" Blandy called himself the greatest flagpole sitter of all time - they say he spent more time atop flagpoles than most flags.
Look, It’s The History Of Halley’s Comet
Do people still say “look, it’s Halley’s Comet” as a distraction, or is that over for the next 40 years or so?
What Was July 4th Like Before The Fourth Of July?
What were people doing on the Fourth of July before American independence? One of the most interesting stories is from July 4, 1054 - in China.