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Life isn't easy if you're a genetic experiment. Or an expendable minion, a powerful being wedged into an itty-bitty living space, or a recently downgraded scientific entity. Fortunately, it's a little easier to bear the pain if you've got someone in a similar situation to share the load. More »
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If fantasy artist Frank Frazetta had ever worked for Disney, perhaps we would have seen Mickey Mouse on a distant sand and sandals world plagued by ferocious monsters. This Frazetta-inspired painting gives us a glimpse of the Micky fantasy adventure that never was, but ignores one important question: What would Minnie be wearing? More »
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One lure of space travel is the possibility that we might find a source of energy on another world. Now, a study published this month in The Astronomical Journal suggests that remote, frozen planetoid Pluto may harbor complex hydrocarbons like ethane and butane that are used as fuel here on Earth. These hydrocarbons, if confirmed, would also help explain the reddish-brown color we've seen on Pluto's surface. More »
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Back in the Forties, the science fiction rag Planet Comics published the ongoing feature "Life On Other Worlds." This section peppered scientific know-how amongst whatever gonzo shit the writer happened to make up. Here's a tour of our Solar System using old issues of Planet Comics. Did you know that Mars is occupied by gargantuan Romans?

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The new Dreamworks Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots is about a cat and a hat and is really kind of meritless, unless you're a member of fursuit fandom who can only appreciate Salma Hayek when she's a sultry tabby. More »
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When scientists first discovered the dwarf planet Eris back in 2005, they claimed that the icy body was actually larger than Pluto. But when Eris' orbit passed in front of a dim star late last year, astronomers got their first chance to take a good hard look at the dwarf planet's actual diameter. And as it turns out, Eris and Pluto are almost identical in size; in fact, Pluto might actually be just a little bit bigger. More »
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Surface temperatures on Pluto are around -230C, making the likelihood of a liquid ocean on the dwarf planet's surface more than a little unlikely. In fact, scientists have long assumed that Pluto's surface is covered mostly with ice. What goes on beneath that ice, however, is something of a mystery. More »
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The Kuiper Belt, the vast asteroid belt of ice and rock that lies beyond Neptune, is home to three objects big enough to be considered dwarf planets: Haumea, Makemake, and our old friend Pluto. And now, we might have found three more. More »
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We've just learned that there's strong evidence that saltwater flows on the surface of Mars. It's another reminder that water is everywhere in our solar system, whether it's ice, vapor, or liquid. Here's a handy guide to where all the water can be found. More »
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The Hubble Space Telescope may be getting old, but it still has excellent spotting power — witness its discovery of a fourth moon of Pluto, which is between 8 miles and 21 miles in diameter. More »
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Last week saw Neptune Day, the first anniversary - in Neptune years - of the planet's discovery on September 23, 1846. That got us thinking: what are the "birthdays" for all the other planets? Here's a handy, mildly insane guide. More »
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After almost twenty years of hunting for telltale clues, we now know that the demoted planet Pluto has an atmosphere of small but still very deadly amounts of carbon monoxide gas which helps keep it at incredibly cold temperatures. More »
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There were many reasons why Pluto got demoted to dwarf planet status, one of which was that it couldn't clear its orbit of asteroids and other debris. But Earth's orbit is also crowded...too crowded for Earth to be a planet? More »
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Despite being located billions of kilometers away from its host star, the dwarf world formally known as a planet may harbor and interesting secret beneath its icy crust. More »
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Pluto lost its status as a planet because of the discovery of Eris, another Kuiper Belt object that was slightly larger. But now Pluto has put Eris back in its place. More »
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Barrie W. Jones is an astronomer whose new book, Pluto: Sentinel of the Outer Solar System, deals with the discovery and exploration of planetoid Pluto. In this excerpt, he describes New Horizons, a spacecraft that will visit Pluto in 2015. More »
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The great challenge for any climber is to conquer each continent's tallest mountain. But tomorrow's climbers can consider a far more extreme challenge: leaving Earth to climb the tallest peaks of the solar system. Here's how they'll do it. More »
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We're still trying to map the solar system's vast outer reaches beyond Neptune. It's teeming with space rocks, some of which are many miles across, and could at some point become meteors shooting towards Earth. More »
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It's been the decade where comic culture took over pop culture, and superheroes became movie stars. But what are some of our picks for the best comics from the last ten years? We're glad you - okay, we - asked. More »
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One of our 5 Comics You're Not Reading But Should Be, Pluto stands out as a perfect example of how to reboot and resurrect old franchises in a decade full of attempts. But even those unfamiliar with the original Astro Boy will find themselves drawn into Naoki Urasawa's robot murder mystery. Unconcerned with repeating former glories, Pluto shifts focus away from the robot pinocchio this summer's movie made us tired of, and instead explores and recasts the world that original Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka built around him, finding new things to say with old ideas and characters. Tense, atmospheric and - unlike so many other reboots - fresh and contemporary, this isn't just one of the best science fiction comics of the last ten years, but one of the best crime comics, as well. More »
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In 2015, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will reach Pluto and its frosty moon, Charon. But the journey of discovery will just be beginning, as New Horizons ventures out into the Kuiper Belt, made up of icy bodies just like Pluto. More »
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You're not new to comics, but you've read all the big names and you're not sure where to go next. Luckily, we're here with five suggestions to make your November bookshelf that little bit heavier. More »
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For those still distraught about Pluto's demotion from full-fledged planet to dwarf, the battle is not over. The former planet has made some powerful allies who believe their discoveries will convince astronomers to bring Pluto back into the planetary fold. More »
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Now Illinois has something else going for it in addition to that Sufjan Stevens album that isn't as good as it should've been; the Prairie State has declared that Pluto is still, officially, a planet. More »
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Ever since the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto to a dwarf planet (does it even deserve a capital "P"???) in 2006, astronomers around the world have been at odds to describe just what they mean when they say the word "planet." For the moment, the solar system is holding steady with eight of them, but late last week evidence returned from the Mercury MESSENGER mission showed that the smallest planet left is shrinking. One has to wonder: how long will it be before Mercury gets plutoed? More »
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