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Editors of EarthSky

View from space: Arkansas tornado track

A violent tornado touched down in Arkansas on April 27, 2014, killing as many as 15 people. In an April 28 satellite image, you can see the tornado's track. Compare it to a satellite image of the same area taken before the tornado.

Exoplanet’s day lasts only 8 hours

The length of an exoplanet's day has been measured for first time. Planet Beta Pictoris b, 63 light-years away, is 16 times larger and 3,000 times more massive than the Earth, yet a day on the planet only lasts 8 hours.

A circuit board modeled on the human brain

New microchips based on the human brain are 9,000 times faster and use significantly less power than a typical PC.

Growing lettuce in space

A new space-faring lettuce is taking root on the International Space Station. Its name is "Outregeous."

Sun’s fourth-closest neighbor is cold and frosty

Astronomers have discovered a dim, star-like body that surprisingly is as frosty as Earth's North Pole. This "brown dwarf" is only 7.2 light years away, making it one of the sun's nearest neighbors.

First sex-determing genes appeared 180 million years ago

The Y chromosome, which distinguishes males from females at the genetic level, appeared some 180 million years ago, according to a new study published in Nature.

Is spacetime like a liquid?

A very slippery superfluid, that’s what spacetime could be like, say physicists.

A dance of supermassive black holes

This is the first time a pair of orbiting, supermassive black holes has been found in an ordinary galaxy.

Whoa! 26 atom-bomb-scale asteroid impacts since 2000

Most exploded over an ocean, and too high in the atmosphere to do damage, but evidence is mounting that asteroid impacts are more frequent than once believed.

MESSENGER completes 3,000th orbit of Mercury, sets mark for closest approach

MESSENGER has been getting closer to Mercury since March. It's now closer to the planet than any spacecraft has been before.