Featured Picture

Space Spiral

2010-09-21T07:51:00.001-05:00

An unusually "perfect" cosmic corkscrew surrounds the binary star system LL Pegasi in a new Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers think the spiral's evenly spaced rings are being created because one of the stars in the binary pair is dying. Unlike more massive stars that end their lives in explosive supernovae, LL Pegasi is quietly shedding its outer layers of gas and dust to form what's called a planetary nebula.

The dying star itself is still hidden by a dusty cocoon. But it's ejecting material at about 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) an hour, the researchers calculate, forming a new ring in the spiral as it orbits around the center of the binary system. As the star completes an orbit, every 800 years, its lost matter winds around the system in a regular geometric pattern.

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill

2010-05-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

Oil blobs and oil sheen are seen in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, La. Cleanup and containment of a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico continue as people along beaches and bayous waited to find out just how badly it might damage the delicate coast.

Hubble's newest scar

2009-07-28T10:02:00.003-05:00

This image provided by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope taken with it's Wide Field Camera 3 on Thursday July 23, 2009 shows the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the impact feature (dark spot) and 'backsplash' of material from a small object that plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated. The only other time in history such a feature has been seen on Jupiter was in 1994 during the collision of fragments from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. This is a natural color image of Jupiter as seen in visible light.

Living on your head

2009-04-16T09:58:00.001-05:00

An unusual abode in the Polish city of Gdansk.

Nature's visual effects

2009-03-20T13:24:00.004-05:00

Spewing clouds of smoke, ash and steam thousands of feet into the sky, this dramatic image shows the raw power of an undersea volcano erupting. The spectacular columns blasted out of the South Pacific on March 18^th, six miles off the coast of Tonga's main island Tongatapu.

Sand storm

2009-03-15T17:24:00.003-05:00

A huge sandstorm engulfs the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, March 10, 2009. The storm, which was still raging hours after it started, disrupted flights at the city's King Khalid International airport, with weather authorities announcing that visibility would drop to zero, and warning residents to take precautionary measures.

Circular Star Tracks

2009-03-04T10:30:00.002-05:00

A 45-minute time exposure made for circular star tracks is seen over this run-down barn along County Road A near Iron River, Wis., Sunday night, Feb. 15, 2009. During the time exposure, the barn was lit with a battery powered spotlight using a technique called light painting.

Sub Battered Venus

2009-01-06T13:41:00.002-05:00

This still shot of a European Space Agency animation shows solar wind stripping Venus of its atmospheric gases. While Earth has a magnetic field to prevent this phenomenon, Venus and Mars do not.

The Space Shuttle goes home

2008-12-19T10:54:00.002-05:00

NASA snapped this shot of the Space Shuttle Endeavor piggybacking on a 747 over the Mojave Desert on December 10, 2008.

Venice, Italy

2008-12-03T12:21:00.005-05:00

A view of a flooded St. Mark's Square, with St. Mark's Basilica in the background, in Venice, Italy, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008.

Water in Venice has risen to its highest level in more than 20 years, with the sea level topping 156 centimeters (61 inches) on Monday, well past the 110 centimeter (40 inch) flood mark, leaving most streets submerged.

Barack Obama Elected President of the United States

2008-11-05T10:16:00.002-05:00

Barack Hussein Obama makes history by being the first African-American to win the US presidential election in a landslide.

He will be sworn in on January 20, 2009, becoming the 44^th President of the United States of America.

Barack Obama for President

2008-08-29T11:04:00.002-05:00

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, gave his acceptance speech last night, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008, at the Democratic National Convention at the Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, in front of 84,000 people.

Let's hope his message of hope prevails on November 4th.

The Scary Funnel

2008-07-03T11:46:00.002-05:00

A huge tornado funnel cloud touches down in Orchard, Iowa, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. The Globe Gazette and Mitchell County Press News reported that Lori Mehmen of Orchard, took the photo from outside her front door. Mehmen said the funnel cloud came near the ground and then went back up into the clouds. Besides tree and crop damage, no human injuries were reported.

The Grand Canyon gets flooded

2008-03-07T14:20:00.003-05:00

More than 300,000 gallons of water per second were unleashed from Glen Canyon Dam towards the Grand Canyon in the United States in an experiment to mimic natural floods and recharge the ecosystem. Before the dam was built, the river was muddy and natural flooding built up sandbars essential to native plant and fish species. The manmade flood will carry rich sedimentary residue to nourish the Grand Canyon area, improving the fish habitat in the river and rebuilding beaches. After the flood ends it is hoped the water will leave behind sediment, and restore sandbars, as it goes back to normal levels.

The world's largest swimming pool

2008-01-24T10:48:00.000-05:00

A view of the swimming pool at the resort of San Alfonso del Mar in Algarrobo city on the southern coast of Chile, some 100 km (62 miles) west of Santiago, January 21, 2008. Acknowledged by the Guinness World Records as the world's largest swimming pool, the lagoon measures 1,013 metres (3,323 ft)) in length, covers an area of eight hectares (20 acres), contains 250,000 cubic meters of water and is navigable in small boats.

Oui the frog

2008-01-16T11:55:00.001-05:00

Oui the frog sits on a miniature motorcycle in the eastern beach town of Pattaya January 10, 2008. Oui's owner says Oui loves playing with human toys and posing for photographs.

Typhoon Krosa

2007-10-08T13:08:00.000-05:00

A giant wave hits the shore in Ilan county, eastern Taiwan. Typhoon Krosa pounded northern Taiwan Saturday, October 6^th, with powerful winds and torrential rain, forcing offices and schools to close and disrupting air and road traffic.

99942 Apophis

2007-08-30T19:57:00.000-05:00

April 13, 2029: Asteroid 99942 Apophis will pass 21,557 miles from Earth—5,000 miles closer than most weather satellites. It will be visible to the naked eye. At that time, Earth's gravity may perturb the 820-foot asteroid's motion and magnify its chance of returning to hit us on April 13, 2036.

Leatherback turtles

2007-08-01T12:28:00.000-05:00

Baby turtles are kept in a pail before their release into the sea at Malaysia's Ma' Daerah Turtle Sanctuary Centre in Kemaman, in the northeastern state of Terengganu.

Leatherback turtles that survived the age of the dinosaurs face extinction across the Western Pacific today, even though rescue strategies could be as simple as saving their eggs from fishing nets.

New Species

2007-06-07T09:06:00.000-05:00

During an expedition in eastern Suriname, scientists said they have discovered at least 24 new amphibians, including this Atelopus frog with distinctive fluorescent purple markings, as well as six types of fish, 12 dung beetles and one ant species, and warned that these creatures are threatened by illegal gold mining.

Baby-cry Sumo

2007-04-30T15:19:00.000-05:00

University student sumo wrestlers attempt to make babies cry during the "Baby-cry Sumo," an annual contest which is supposed to bring good health, at Tokyo's Sensoji temple in Tokyo.

Sydney's black out

2007-04-10T09:18:00.000-05:00

Sydney, Australia's largest city, plunged into darkness for an hour on Saturday, March 31, 2007, as it turned off its lights to mark "Earth Hour," and underwent a self-imposed blackout to raise awareness of global warming.

This combo, taken one week apart, shows the difference of switching many of the lights that normally illuminate the city's skyline off. Both businesses and homeowners took part in the exercise.

Circus performer

2007-04-04T09:17:00.000-05:00

Contortionist Liu Cen holds an Easter egg between her feet as the Chinese State Circus rehearse in London, April 4, 2007. The circus will run from April 5-15.

Chinese faces

2007-03-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

Chinese people take part in a patriotic performance art event in Zhengzhou. About 3000 people joined in, yelling patriotic slogans around faces sculpted in the earth.

When the earth gives in

2007-03-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

A giant sinkhole is seen in Guatemala City, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007. A 330-foot-deep sinkhole killed two teenagers, swallowed about a dozen homes and at least one truck early Friday, and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded city neighborhood.

Mars' watery past

2007-02-15T15:55:00.000-05:00

Shots of the deep valley Candor Chasma show light coloured areas of rock where water could have flowed. Here, light-toned layered rock in Mars' Becquerel Crater. Layers show cyclic changes in thickness. The areas coloured blue are sand dunes.

Home sweet home?

2007-01-26T08:37:00.000-05:00

A view of the interior of an apartment for sale, in central London. A six-meter (77 foot)-square former storage room slightly bigger than a prison cell in the heart of the city's exclusive Knightsbridge neighborhood is now on sale for 170,000 pounds ($258,000), and that's before the cost of renovations.

Mother Nature

2007-01-18T16:43:00.000-05:00

This picture of logging trees in a Swedish forest, as seen from the air, won a Wildlife Photographer of the Year award from London's Natural History Museum.

Madame Speaker

2007-01-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wields the Speaker's gavel after being elected as the first woman Speaker during a swearing in ceremony for the 110th Congress in Washington, DC.

Democrats took control of the US Congress, promising ambitious reform and tough new oversight of Republican President George W. Bush's policy in Iraq.

Ground Zero

2006-12-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

Construction workers guide the first of three 25-ton steel columns into position to be bolted into place in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006, marking the beginning of the Freedom Tower's construction at ground zero.

The columns were signed by families of World Trade Center victims and ground zero workers.

The International Space Station

2006-12-10T14:43:00.000-05:00

The International Space Station (ISS) is seen traveling left to right in this 127 sec. exposure at dawn over Tyler, Texas, Tuesday, Dec. 5. 2006.

Red Water

2006-11-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

A Chinese man washes a bucket in the waters of Yellow River in Lanzhou, Gansu province, after waste water contaminated with dye turned it red for the second time in a month.

The new Solar System

2006-08-28T12:02:00.000-05:00

About 2,500 astronomers meeting in Prague have adopted historic new guidelines that strip Pluto of its status as a planet, demoting the small, distant world to a secondary category.

The researchers said Pluto failed to dominate its orbit around the Sun in the same way as the other planets.

The Heat

2006-08-02T08:34:00.000-05:00

Melting asphalt sticks to a person's shoes during the midst of a heat wave in Givors, France, on Sunday, July 23.

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-07-12T09:16:00.000-05:00

A documentary about global warming, featuring former Vice President Al Gore.

Like he says, Don't believe me, believe the science.

Don't miss it. It will open your eyes, even if you already think global warming is happening and we're not doing enough to stop it.

The Worst President in History?

2006-05-02T12:19:00.000-05:00

The cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

Nice legacy George.

The Missing Link

2006-04-07T15:11:00.000-05:00

Scientists have discovered fossils of a 375-million-year-old fish, a large scaly creature not seen before, that they say is a long-sought missing link in the evolution of some fishes from water to a life walking on four limbs on land.

We apologize.

2006-03-27T20:02:00.000-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Crash - Best Picture

2006-03-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

March 5, 2006. Crash, nominated for 6 Academy Awards, wins 3, including Best Picture, upsetting odds on favorite Brokeback Mountain.

Global Warming

2006-02-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

Ducks swim in the Moskva River in Moscow, where warm currents have prevented freezing.

The Space Shuttle Challenger

2006-01-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

It has been 20 years since Space Shuttle Challenger blew apart as it lifted into space on January 28, 1986.

Seven astronauts died aboard Challenger when it exploded.

Our New Home

2006-01-12T12:16:00.000-05:00

Today, Ray and I became the new owners of this gorgeous colonial in Southbury, Connecticut. Can't wait to move in.

Brokeback Mountain

2005-12-19T14:53:00.000-05:00

Directed by Ang Lee, the acclaimed director of The Ice Storm, Sense and Sensibility, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

It's the story of two cowboys who fall in love but can't openly love each other because of the society they live in. A must see.

South Africa: gay marriage must be legal

2005-12-01T10:29:00.000-05:00

South Africa's high court on Thursday said it was unconstitutional to deny gay people the right to marry and instructed parliament to amend marriage laws to include same-sex unions within the year.

The Constitutional Court ruling put South Africa on course to become the world's fifth country to permit same-sex marriage, alongside Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Canada, and the first in Africa, where homosexuality remains largely taboo.

Mountains of Creation

2005-11-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

Giant clouds of gas and dust harboring embryonic stars rise majestically into space in a new picture from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The finger-like features are cool clouds of gas and dust that have been sculpted by radiation and fast-moving winds of charged particles from hot, massive stars.

The Spitzer image shows the eastern edge of a region known as W5, in the Cassiopeia constellation 7,000 light-years away. A massive star outside the frame lights the scene.

Rosa Parks

2005-10-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

Rosa Parks, whose act of civil disobedience in 1955 inspired the modern civil rights movement, died Monday in Detroit, Michigan. She was 92.

Dione

2005-10-21T15:19:00.000-05:00

A close flyby of Saturn's grayish moon Dione reveals it is a mature, frigid world with hints of tectonic activity. The U.S.-European Cassini spacecraft flew within 310 miles (500 kilometers) of the Dione's pale surface last week, showing it possessed a heavily cratered surface but no presence of an atmosphere.

Saddam Hussein

2005-10-18T14:47:00.000-05:00

Saddam Hussein will file into a courtroom in Baghdad, Iraq, tomorrow, October 19, 2005, two years after he was found hiding in a hole near where he was born, to face the trial of his life on charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of over 140 Shi'ite Muslim men two decades ago.

Global Warming

2005-10-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

Global warming is having a devastating effect on the Arctic ice sheet.

Scientists now predict the Arctic could be ice free during the summer long before the end of the century.

Chief Justice

2005-09-29T11:50:00.000-05:00

Thursday, September 29: the US Senate voted 78-22 to confirm Judge John Roberts as the nation's 17^th chief justice. All of the Senate's Republicans, and about half of the Democrats, voted for Roberts.

Roberts is the successor to William Rehnquist, who died earlier this month

Anti-war Protest in Washington D.C.

2005-09-27T10:36:00.000-05:00

Anti-war demonstrators shout slogans as they march past the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005 in Washington D.C.

The Comeback

2005-09-20T14:38:00.000-05:00

In memoriam of a good show that ended its run before it could find an audience. The Comeback.

Same-Sex Marriage

2005-09-15T08:44:00.000-05:00

Boston, September 14, 2005. The Massachusetts Constitutional Convention rejects a proposed constitutional amendment that sought to ban same-sex marriage but legalize civil unions.

As a consequence, same-sex marriage is still legal in the Bay State.

John Roberts

2005-09-13T14:38:00.000-05:00

Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a second day on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. September 13, 2005. Roberts declined to say on Tuesday if he would reverse the long-standing decision legalizing abortion but said he believed the U.S. Constitution accorded Americans the right to privacy, the key underpinning of the landmark ruling.

Link

World Trade Center

2005-09-09T14:27:00.000-05:00

In remembrance of September 11, 2001's upcoming four year anniversary.

May we never forget.

Katrina's aftermath

2005-09-06T11:23:00.000-05:00

Homes surrounded by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Floodwaters contain unsafe levels of E. coli and coliform bacteria, as well as lead, and contact with the water should be avoided.

Hurricane Katrina survivors

2005-09-03T11:14:00.000-05:00

Not everyone had the means to leave the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, as Hurricane Katrina approached, and the government failed to intervene and make sure everybody was safely evacuated.

Unfortunately, many of those who stayed lost their lives.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-30T11:08:00.000-05:00

Category IV Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast's city of New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005, virtually destroying it.