Your Chance to Own a Bag of Moon Dust

One of the many items available in Sotheby’s inaugural space exploration-themed auction (occurring 19 July) is a bag of moon dust and rocks, collected by Neil Armstrong during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. The bag (labeled LUNAR SAMPLE RETURN) was forgotten for years and then mistakenly auctioned off to Nancy Lee Carlson—who paid $995 for it and other items. Carlson ended up sending the bag …

Best Quotes From Star Wars

It’s been 40 years since the very first Star Wars movie was released, and each year on 4 May the internet celebrates the films. This year, The Guardian has selected 40 memorable lines from the series. With gems from Princess Leia like “Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader’s leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board,” …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

An '80s all-girl skate gang, a Jaguar E-Type hearse, mapping NYC's LGBTQ+ landmarks and more in our look around the web

1. Extraordinary Aurora Given a Very Ordinary Name Termed as an aurora, but technically an aurora-like feature, this phenomenon behaves differently—and has been named differently too. While most auroras ripple and fade horizontally, this one appears as a bright green/purple vertical streak. “Steve,” as its known, was discovered by the Alberta Aurora Chasers, who follow and photograph the Northern Lights and it’s now been verified …