Wanna know how to buy a moon rock? Hint: black market

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Moon rocks are rarely offered for sale. Sample moon rocks collected by NASA’s Apollo astronauts are considered National Treasures, property of the United States government, and would never be sold to the public. They have been however, given away. Here are funny stories about lost moon rocks and tips on how you can come into…

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What causes that unique rainy smell after it rains?

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It’s that distinctive earthy, musky scent that occurs after a good rain, and it has a name unbefitting its pleasant smell – “petrichor”. The petrichor odor is distinctive (and difficult to duplicate) because there are several sources/causes for the smell, including the force of the rain striking the soil and storm winds stirring everything up.…

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Photo Montage: Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Final Flight

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The Space Shuttle Endeavor passed over Southern California today, riding on the back of a Boeing 747 and flanked by a lone jet fighter, on route to its final destination – the California Science Center. This is the last flight for a space shuttle. Check the photo montage here.

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See why Junk DNA might not be as worthless as they thought

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40 years ago, scientists coined the term “Junk DNA” to describe the part of the genome that does not contain any genes. Given that genes represent the body’s instructions for how to make vital proteins, egotistical scientists figured Mother Nature must have screwed up in the 98% of the genome without any genes. Or so…

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Life may be able to survive on more planets that we originally thought

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Astronomers are changing their tune and now think extraterrestrial life may be able to survive on more planets than they originally thought. In fact, there may be seven times more life bearing planets than they originally estimate. Earth differs from most planets in that it orbits the Sun on a fairly circular orbit. Most other…

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