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Science News Explores publishes news from all fields of science for students from middle school and up, with resources for parents and educators.

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Send Your Name to Jupiter's Moon Europa

Go farther with NASA - all the way to Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Sign up to send your name on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft by Sunday, Dec. 31.

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The Space Station Turns 25

The International Space Station advances scientific knowledge in Earth, space, physical, and biological sciences, for the benefit of all.

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Technology Drives Exploration

NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate aims to transform future missions while ensuring American leadership in aerospace.

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Globular Cluster Omega Centauri Looks Radiant in Infrared

A cluster brimming with millions of stars glistens like an iridescent opal in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called Omega Centauri, the sparkling orb of stars is like a miniature galaxy. It is the biggest and brightest of the 150 or so similar objects, called globular clusters, that orbit around the outside of our Milky Way galaxy. Stargazers at southern latitudes can spot the stellar gem with the naked eye in the constellation Centaurus. Globular clusters are some of the oldest objects in our universe. Their stars are over 12 billion years old, and, in most cases, formed all at once when the universe was just a toddler. Omega Centauri is unusual in that its stars are of different ages and possess varying levels of metals, or elements heavier than boron. Astronomers say this points to a different origin for Omega Centauri than other globular clusters: they think it might be the core of a dwarf galaxy that was ripped apart and absorbed by our Milky Way long ago. In this new view of Omega Centauri, Spitzer's infrared observations have been combined with visible-light data from the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Visible-light data with a wavelength of .55 microns is colored blue, 3.6-micron infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera is colored green and 24-micron infrared light taken by Spitzer's multiband imaging photometer is colored red. Where green and red overlap, the color yellow appears. Thus, the yellow and red dots are stars revealed by Spitzer. These stars, called red giants, are more evolved, larger and dustier. The stars that appear blue were spotted in both visible and 3.6-micron-, or near-, infrared light. They are less evolved, like our own sun. Some of the red spots in the picture are distant galaxies beyond our own.

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NASA.gov brings you the latest news, images and videos from America's space agency, pioneering the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.

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Science Fair Project Ideas: 1,200+ Free K-12 Science Projects

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Over 1,200 free science projects searchable by subject, difficulty, time, cost and materials. Browse the library or let us recommend a winning science project for you!

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7th grade and middle school in general are a big time for science fairs because it's a wonderful educational level for students to come up with ideas to explore using the scientific method and ways to investigate their questions. Parents and teachers still provide direction, especially helping students devise manageable experiments and work technology to present their results. However, the actual experiment should be done by the 7th grader. The student should record data and analyze it to determine whether or not the hypothesis is supported. Here are some ideas appropriate for the 7th grade level.

Use a prism to show the spectrum of visible light onto a sheet of paper. Mark the endpoints, which is how far into infrared and ultraviolet you can see. Compare your visual range with that of other family member or other students. Is there a difference in range between genders? Do family members have a similar range? See if you can draw any conclusions ​using the scientific method.

Composting is a great way to reduce waste and recycle nutrients, yet some household products and foods are contaminated with heavy metals and organic chemicals. Devise a test to measure one of these chemicals and compare the concentration in compost versus that in ordinary soil in your yard.

Houseplants can absorb and detoxify indoor pollution. Do research to identify good houseplants to clean the air in a home, office, or classroom. Now, take the project to the next level and determine which plants are most practical, affordable, and useful. Make a chart of the chemicals the plants clean, whether they are toxic to children and pets, whether they can live in low light conditions or require bright light or special care, how much the plants costs, and whether they are readily available.

Which brand of ibuprofen (or could test another type of pain reliever) dissolves the most quickly?

Does the pH of juice change over time?

Insects can sense light and dark. Can they still see light if it's only red or blue, etc?

How well does a football helmet really protect against impact? You could use a skating helmet or any other protective gear, depending on what you have available.

How does the concentration of chlorine in water affect the rate or percentage of seed germination?

What is the effect of watering schedules on the germination (or growth rate) of seeds from a certain plant?

How does the presence of a medication in water affect the survivability of Daphnia?

Does the presence of de-icer salt affect the movement behavior of earthworms?

Does the bounciness of a golf ball relate to its ability to be hit a long distance?

Does the species of wood affect the rate at which it burns? Its heat output?

Does the mass of a baseball bat relate to the distance the baseball travels?

Is the paper towel that absorbs the most water the same as the paper towel brand that absorbs the most oil?

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7th grade and middle school in general are a big time for science fairs because it's a wonderful educational level for students to come up with ideas to explore using the scientific method and ways to investigate their questions. Parents and teachers still provide direction, especially helping students devise manageable experiments and work technology to present their results.

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The Engineering Process: Crash Course Kids #12.2

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ScienceDaily: Your source for the latest research news

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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate & environment, computers, engineering, health & medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.