Soon-to-be-famous comet passes a ringed galaxy

Beautiful image of Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring from this weekend. This is the comet that will pass extremely near Mars in October. Thank you, Damian Peach!

Deadly quake strikes south China

A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck China's Yunnan province on August 3, 2014. Reports early August 4 are of 12,000 homes collapsed, at least 398 dead and 1,800 injuries.

Watch online as the moon sweeps in front of Saturn

Online coverage of the moon photobombing Saturn - seen from Australia - will begin on Monday, August 4, starting at 4 a.m. PDT / 7 a.m. EDT / 11:00 UTC.

Scientist warns of inevitable solar super-storm propelled towards Earth

Such a storm would wreak havoc with our communication systems and power supplies, and scientists say we're overdue.

Methane release likely caused mystery crater on Yamal peninsula

A science team measured methane concentrations up to 50,000 times standard levels inside the crater.

Asteroid impacts may have buried Earth’s earliest rocks

More than 4 billion years ago, giant asteroid impacts melted, mixed and buried the surface of Earth

More heat waves and cold snaps ahead

Climate extremes are here to stay, say researchers.

Deep-sea octopus guards her eggs for nearly 4.5 years

This Octomom was observed to set a new record - 53 months - for the longest brooding period of any known animal.

Wildly misaligned planet-forming disks in binary star system HK Tau

There've been hints in the past that this type of misaligned system exists, but this is the cleanest and most striking example, astronomers say.

Scientists discover vast methane plumes escaping from Arctic seafloor

Scientists aboard the icebreaker Oden observe a methane mega flare.