From MSNBC.COM: 
Antarctic crater linked to ancient die-off
Scientists say impact might have caused extinction 250 million years ago
By Robert Roy Britt
An apparent crater as big as Ohio has been found in Antarctica. Scientists think it was carved by a space rock that caused the greatest mass extinction on Earth, 250 million years ago.
The crater, buried beneath […]

From MSNBC.COM: 
Asteroid risk to Earth lowered, scientists say, Chances of impact move ‘in right direction,’ toward odds of 1-in-24,000
By Alan Boyle
 
After a fresh round of radar observations, astronomers said Thursday that the chances of a catastrophic asteroid impact in the year 2036 are lower than previously thought — and they’re hoping the threat will be […]

From SPACE.COM: 
Voyager 2 Detects Odd Shape of Solar System’s Edge
Voyager 2 could pass beyond the outermost layer of our solar system, called the “termination shock,” sometime within the next year, NASA scientists announced at a media teleconference today.
The milestone, which comes about a year after Voyager 1’s crossing, comes earlier than expected and suggests to […]

From NationalGeographic.COM:
Oldest Observatory in Americas Discovered in Peru
Richard A. Lovett
The oldest astronomical observatory in the Western Hemisphere has been discovered on a hillside a few miles north of Lima, Peru, archaeologists recently reported.
Researchers also found ornate carvings more sophisticated than any before seen in the region.
The site dates back 4,200 years—800 years before such artistic […]

It brings up the quandry, ”When did time begin”?  or, has time always been?  If the Universe has a beginning and and ending, then what happened before it began, and what happens after it ends?  If the Universe has always existed, and always will,  well then…  What the hell is it?   (Believe it or not, sometimes I stay up […]

From: MSNBC.COM: 
Two dwarf galaxies found near Milky Way
Star systems hard to spot despite closeness because they’re so dim
WASHINGTON - Two dim dwarf galaxies are the Milky Way’s newest-known galactic companions, astronomers studying a vast swath of the sky reported on Monday.
This brings the total number of dwarf galaxies in the Milky Way’s cosmic neighborhood to […]

From MSNBC.COM: 
UFOs? No such thing, secret U.K. study finds
Experts say natural phenomena responsible for sightings of ‘flying saucers’
LONDON - Hopes—or fears—that the Earth has been visited by alien life forms have been dismissed in an official report by British defense specialists.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed on Sunday a secret study completed in December 2000 had […]

From NEWSDAY.COM: 
NASA Offers $2M in Lunar Rocket Contest
LOS ANGELES — NASA said Friday it is sponsoring a $2 million contest to spur aerospace designers to build and demonstrate versatile rockets that may one day support a lunar mission.
The competition is part of the space agency’s Centennial Challenges program, which aims to foster innovation by offering […]

 From MSNBC.COM:
Scientists worry about solar superstorm
Sun capable of unleashing geomagnetic blast that could cost tens of billions
By Leonard David
BOULDER, Colo. - Californians have long been bracing for the “big one” in terms of an earthquake. But the sun lobs flares that are the most violent events in the solar system. A large flare releases a […]

 
From MSNBC.COM:
Mars rovers are in good shape for winter
Spirit settles down in refuge; Opportunity rolls toward huge crater
By Leonard David
Those long-lived NASA Mars rovers — Spirit and Opportunity — remain in fairly good shape, with one robot in survival mode as Martian winter arrives while its twin snakes its way across a taxing terrain […]

 
From MSNBC.COM:
New Mexico spaceport ‘open for business’
Construction pace picks up in preparation for maiden launch in July
Work at the New Mexico spaceport has reached a milestone as facilities are ready to support the first rocket flight from the site, now targeted for July. Meanwhile, state planners have issued a request for proposals to design and […]

From MSNBC.COM: 
Kansas farmers harvest meteorites
Discovery last fall sparks new frenzy of hunting
HAVILAND, Kan. - Kiowa County farmers have found a new crop worth harvesting: meteorites.
But even though a 20-pound meteorite can go for up to $20,000, area farmers Don and Sheila Stimpson have another goal in mind. They want to open a meteorite museum and […]

 
From CNN.COM:
Woman dies a day after Disney World ride
‘Mission:Space’ subjects riders to 2 G’s
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) — A woman died Wednesday after going on a ride at Walt Disney World so intense that it has motion sickness bags.
The 49-year-old woman became ill after riding “Mission: Space” on Tuesday. She was taken to a […]

From NEWSDAY.COM:
Telescope to Search for Extraterrestrials
By Mark Jewell
BOSTON — A new telescope at an observatory outside Boston will become a key tool in the search for extraterrestrials as scientists try to detect light signals from distant civilizations.
An optical telescope dedicated Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Observatory, about 35 miles west of Boston, is the first […]