If life on comets was possible, Lovejoy would be a popular destination – scientists have found it releases alcohol and sugar in crazy amounts. But jokes aside, the finding is important as it backs the idea that comets could have seeded life on Earth. This is the first discovery that has witnessed a comet releasing ethyl alcohol in such amounts – 500 bottles of wine every second. “We found that... 

A close up detail focusing on a smooth region on the “base” of the “body” section of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera and downloaded on August 6. Spelling an end to more than a decade of pursuit, European Space Agency (ESA)’s Rosetta spacecraft has finally caught up with a comet in an unprecedented coup. The unmanned probe swung... 

Scientists follow the flight of the Rosetta spacecraft from the control centre of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Darmstadt, western Germany, on August 6, 2014. European Space Agency (ESA)’s Rosetta spacecraft is set to ensconce itself in the orbit of a comet, it has been chasing for more than a decade. On Wednesday, the craft started the final engine burn that will take it into the orbit around... 

A chilling report prepared for President Medvedev by Minister Serdyukov of the Russian Defense Ministry on the building of an additional 5,000 underground ‘bomb’ shelters in Moscow warns that even though progress is being made, the appearance of the new Comet Elenin [photo right] in our Solar System means “additional resources” will have to be added “immediately” as the 2012 timeline for...