NASA announced on May 21, 2012, that it has released an updated version of its free NASA App for iPhone and iPod touch, which includes several new features and a redesigned interface to make it better for its millions of users.

Chinese/English researchers have concluded that the largest mass extinction known in Earth’s history, which occurred about 250,000 million years ago, took 10 million years for the Earth to recover, and many cycles of major setbacks.

Researchers at Rockhampton-based CQUniversity have come up with what appears to be a better model for predicting rainfall in Queensland.

The SpaceX Dragon space capsule completed its docking with the International Space Station on the morning of Friday, May 25, 2012. The first private spacecraft has docked with the ISS, marking the beginning of a new era for NASA and its continuing exploration of the solar system.

The SpaceX Dragon space capsule was successfully launched early in the morning of Tuesday, May 22, 2012, for its historic mission to the International Space Station – the first trip to the ISS for a commercial space vehicle.

An aborted launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday, May 19, 2012, prevented the first commercial spacecraft (Dragon) from docking with the International Space Station. The problem has been fixed and SpaceX officials are confident that another try on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 will be successful.

A study published in May 2012 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that half of U.S. teens have unhealthy blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar levels. Such cardiovascular risk places them at risk for future heart attacks and other cardiac problems.

The first commercial mission to the International Space Station was aborted just before liftoff early Saturday morning on May 19, 2012, when a sensor picked up an indication of high pressure in one of the first-stage engines of the SpaceX rocket.

The most accurate count to date of the number of potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) out there in the solar system has come from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). These PHAs have the most potential of slamming into Earth and causing damage and havoc.

Having exhausted all other possible causes, Melbourne University researchers conclude that the dramatic increase in local temperatures over the past 60 years can only be human-caused.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, humans are using resources faster than the Earth can provide them. By the year 2050 we will need three Earths to support human consumption.

A new clinical trial headed by scientists from the United States is hoping to find treatments to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia that robs people of their memories.

According to a May 2012 study published in the journal Neurology, nearly 1 out of 3 adults in the United States sleepwalk or, as the authors say, have “nocturnal wanderings.”

The Sun should put on a fantastic display in the western part of North America and Eastern Asia on Sunday/Monday, May 20/21, 2012, respectively, as the Moon blocks out most of the Sun, producing a solar eclipse and leaving only a “ring of fire”.

An American researcher has concluded that celebrity endorsements, such as from George Clooney or Tom Hanks, can help a politician become more likeable in the perception of the public, but may also do the opposite and hurt that politician. See how it all works in the lives of TV and movie stars and the politicians they support.

Two U.S. physicists from the University of California at Santa Barbara have looked into why coffee spills so easily when you walk around with it inside a mug. They have explained it, but you’ll probably still keep on spilling your coffee.

Archaeologists discovered an ancient Mayan mural that contains a calendar, which refutes the idea that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. It looks like we are safe again from another misguided doomsday scenario.

SpaceX announced on May 10, 2012, that it will join forces with Bigelow Aerospace. SpaceX will offer manned missions to low-Earth orbit in SpaceX Dragon capsules and Falcon Rockets. These spacecraft, filled with paying tourists, will go to private space stations built by Bigelow Aerospace.

Autonomous cars, those that drive themselves, are part of your future, and being part of your future is what Google wishes to be, hence the Google driverless car, now officially licensed in, ironically, the biggest gambling state in the USA.

A video camera placed strategically along a forest path in Cameroon (Africa) has caught a band of Cross River gorillas walking past. This rare footage shows these critically endangered gorillas.