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In 2005, NASA's Deep Impact probe shot an 800-pound subsidiary probe into the comet Tempel 1. Now, six years later, the new Stardust probe has returned to the comet to see our handiwork. But this isn't just about proving humanity can leave its mark anywhere in the cosmos - the artificially created crater kicked up valuable data about what's inside the comet's core. More »
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Space epics almost always play fast and loose with science, treating the laws of physics like suggestions. But some movies dismember Newton and Einstein with way more gusto than others. Here's our report card for bad science in 18 movies. More »
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Every great disaster movie has some moments of pure, epic destruction, where everything collapses, burns or blows up real good. Bonus points for destroyed landmarks and victim cameos. Here are 30 amazing money shots from the greatest disaster porn flicks. More »
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Sean Connery, shirt unbuttoned halfway to his navel, plays chicken with a meteor fragment heading straight for his base, while Natalie Wood and Martin Landau watch. Will it strike before he can launch his missiles to destroy the big meteor? More »
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What you see here is the icy core of Comet Hartley 2, a flare of light at its back. NASA's EPOXI spacecraft captured this incredible image from 435 miles away early this morning. More »
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The debate over bad science in science-fiction movies has gotten a major new source of ammunition: Phil Plait, writing for Discover Magazine, has rounded up a fairly definitive list of the best and worst moments in movie science. More »
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Sure, disaster movies are just empty calories of mass destruction — but even when you don't take them seriously, there are always some scenes that you just can't excuse. We've collected the most infuriating moments from the biggest disaster movies. More »
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With so much focus on corporate bailouts, climate change, and the threat of terrorism, one source of potential disaster has gone sorely neglected: asteroids. It's been ten years since Deep Impact and Armageddon taught us the dire consequences of an asteroid colliding with Earth, but experts say it's time to start taking seriously the threat of objects from space. More »
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Doctor Who is over and Stargate Atlantis is taking a little break, but luckily another British time-travel show hits our screens this weekend. In Primeval, scientists discover a rift in time in space that's letting prehistoric monsters rampage throughout the English countryside. Otherwise, it looks like we're in a slow period until the big fall scifi premieres, which spells only one thing: TV marathon madness. There's a Who marathon, plus a ton of Monster Quest episodes. Plus there are new Middleman and Eureka episodes, and the cable networks take a break from the usual Predator fest to bring us the awesomeness of Reign Of Fire. More »
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It happens to the best dashing science fiction hero: You come up with a preternaturally clever plan to stop the bad guys, involving a totally cunning bit of MacGyvering or hustle... and it totally fails. Your super-gadget blows up. Or your allies flake. The bad guys turn out not to be total idiots. Or all the random variables you totally had a handle on turn out different. It's what you do after your cunning plan fails that separates the good guys from the great guys. Here are our favorite failed plans. More »
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This summer will be the biggest "blockbuster" movie season ever, with no fewer than 23 would-be smash hits coming out between early May and mid-August. It didn't used to be this way. Back in the mists of time — like, say, in the late 1990s — there were only one or two big science fiction movies per summer, and only a handful of huge summer movies total. But summer movies have gotten bigger and more franchise-driven in the past decade, and science fiction is at the center of that transformation. We chart the rise of summer-movie gridlock, with a list of every summer scifi hit since 1980. More »
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Click to view Space epics almost always play fast and loose with science, treating the laws of physics like suggestions. Sound in space, unprotected bodies splatting in vacuum, and alien planets that all look just like Calabasas. But some movies dismember Newton and Einstein with way more gusto than others. We rated 18 movies based on how many laws of physics they mangled, and here's our report card. More »
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