The robots that will sweep Earth’s skies

After six years in space, China's first orbital station, the Tiangong-1 (aka the "Heavenly Palace") has finally outlived its operational limits and begun its descent back to Earth. It's expected to re-enter the atmosphere in a few months, whereupon a...

Long-delayed Thirty Meter Telescope gets the go-ahead, for now

Building the world's largest telescope has proven to be even more difficult than one might expect. The Thirty Meter Telescope, which has been planned for construction atop of Hawaii's Mauna Kea, has hit a number of snags, but it got a major approval...

A lawsuit almost stalled NASA’s Cassini mission

Captain Scott Kelly wasn't kidding when he famously quipped that "space is hard". Even getting to the launch pad can prove to be a daunting challenge. Take the Cassini mission to study Saturn, for example. Despite an investment of $3.4 billion and ne...

Honolulu is the first big US city to ban phone use at crosswalks

Cities have tried innumerable measures to keep pedestrians' eyes off their phones when they cross the street, and there have even been some state-level attempts at legislation to force a change in behavior. Honolulu, however, has officially drawn th...

The future of a cleaner, cheaper power grid is batteries

On the southern edge of the island of Kauaʻi sits an unsightly diesel power plant. The rust-covered smokestacks (a by-product of being next to the ocean) that emit a mechanical engine drone are a stark contrast to the serene beauty of the rest of the...

Photographer captures nature through surveillance webcams

Nature photography usually involves a lot of being outside and walking. That's fine for some, but photographer Marcus DeSieno captures our world's natural majesty from his computer, via online traffic and weather camera feeds.