For the first time since 1638, a lunar eclipse coincides with the winter solstice. Add the Ursid meteor shower, and the tonight's sky offers a triple dose of wintry glamor.

"Just think how many periodic tables you could put on my whole head!"

Is it the surface of an asteroid? Alzheimer's-ravaged brain tissue riddled with amyloid plaques? An electron micrograph of Limburger cheese? Answer after the jump.

Cosmologists are finding circles in the sky�specifically, in the pattern of microwave background radiation, the echo of the Big Bang. Some think they're traces of a time before time; others argue that they're the "bruises" left by collisions with universes other than our own.

We know about Archaeopteryx lithographica thanks to an image-making process found in the Earth's crust.

A political stunt threatens science funding with a misleading take on the nature of basic research. It's too bad that we can't send the responsible members of Congress to the corner until they learn to behave.

On the Indonesian island of Flores, researchers have discovered the remains of a giant bird that might have preyed on the mysterious and controversial Homo floresiensis, an extinct, diminutive close relative of modern humans.

With the successful recovery of the SpaceX Dragon capsule, private space exploration takes a great leap forward. But it's also a reminder of the history of private business in manned spaceflight, both real and imagined.

An animated tour of the known universe gives a glimpse of cosmic structure�and hints at our limited view.

With NASA's discovery of a new species of arsenic-tolerant bacteria appearing to dissolve in a highly-public storm of professional scrutiny, we're all enrolled a crash course in the rites and rituals of scientific practice.