The little town of Tekapo, New Zealand (pop. 830) is fighting to preserve the night sky.
In 1965, officials of this pristine lakeside town recognized the importance of protecting the skies around the nearby Mount John Observatory and began putting controls on outdoor illumination.  According to an AP report, the ordinances require that, “low-energy sodium lamps [...]

Thanks to the slowing spin of the Earth on its axis (don’t worry, there is no immediate peril associated with the fact), the official timekeepers of the world must adjust their atomic clocks by adding a second to them tonight - 11:59:59 will happen twice! Enjoy your celebrations of 2008, your anticipations for 2009, and [...]

Once again as Santa brings gifts to all the good girls and boys, North American Aerospace Defense Command - NORAD - is tracking his progress east to west. “NORAD manages to keep track of him with satellites, radar, and strategically placed ‘SantaCams’,” says Navy Petty Officer Shane Wolenda. For more than 50 years, NORAD has [...]

Dark matter and normal matter have been wrenched apart by the tremendous collision of two large clusters of galaxies. The discovery, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes, gives direct evidence for the existence of dark matter. "This is the most energetic cosmic event, besides the Big Bang, which we know about," said team [...]