What had been a modest comet seen only with binoculars or telescopes flared up this week to become visible to the naked eye.

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Pluto may be no more than a distant, icy rock in the minds of astronomers who stripped it of planethood, but its downgrade to a “dwarf planet” has created a teachable moment in classrooms nationwide.
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NASA’s goal of returning astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and pushing on to Mars will require significant strides in both understanding and warding off of hazardous space radiation, according to a report released Monday.
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With NASA expected to reduce expenditures on astrobiology by half in the year ahead, the SETI Institute-a major recipient of that funding-is seeking private money to help support the nearly 50 scientists it has on staff studying the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe.
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Earth’s recent warming trend might in part be due to a lack of starlight reaching our planet, scientists say.
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The brain responds to sickness by knocking the thermostat up a few notches to stimulate production of disease-fighting antibodies.
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Scientists have long understood what makes bubbly. But the odd behavior of tiny trains of gas beads had remained a mystery.
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The arrest of tomb robbers led archaeologists to the graves of three royal dentists, protected by a curse and hidden in the desert sands for thousands of years in the shadow of Egypt’s most ancient pyramid, officials announced Sunday.
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Trustees of the cash-strapped Academy of Natural Sciences are selling more than 15,000 minerals and gems that haven’t been cleaned or displayed for decades in a deal estimated to be worth several million dollars
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VIDEO: With its tiny fist clenched, this robot is no thicker than a dime. But watch what it can do.
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