NASA

We’ve dug into a lot of fascinating topics this past year on Seeking a Scientist, but they’re all so complicated! That means there are a lot of lingering questions that we haven’t had a chance to tackle yet. As we close out 2024, we’re celebrating our favorite science stories of the year and answering the weirdest, wackiest, and most surprising science questions you all submitted — including space trash, immortal jellyfish, and why cats like to sit on puzzles.

Gravity dominates every moment of our experience here on Earth. We may take it for granted, but NASA astronaut Kate Rubins assuredly does not. She knows firsthand the fun and challenges of living in microgravity. During her time in space, Rubins conducted important experiments so that someday humans can handle even longer missions — like heading to Mars.

Friday's Beaver Moon — which appears larger and brighter than a regular full moon due to its proximity to Earth — is projected to rise at 4:43 p.m. CT in the Kansas City area, with mostly clear skies projected. The next one will not be visible for nearly a year.

"Life Beyond Earth?", which runs through June 2025 at the Linda Hall Library, documents the scientific search for extraterrestrial life and features talks with experts in the field.

Kansas City native Edward J. Dwight Jr. is set to be on the next Blue Origin rocket into space. The rare opportunity comes more than six decades after he was passed over to become a NASA astronaut.

After joining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1990, Dr. Ellen Ochoa has flown in space four times and logged nearly 1,000 hours in orbit. Ochoa is visiting Kansas City in April for an event at the Linda Hall Library.

Hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies continue their celebration of September birthdays with an overture and symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich and George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F featuring Jon Kimura Parker as soloist.

Hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies continue their celebration of September birthdays with the Sinfonia in G Minor by J.C. Bach, Robert Schumann's cello concerto, two short works by Charles Tomlinson Griffes, and "The Planets" by Gustav Holst in a performance led by the late Bramwell Tovey.

The crystal clear images of galaxies far, far away being produced by the James Webb Telescope are stunning. But the groundbreaking information being gathered by scientists as a result of those images is the telescope's greatest benefit.

At the height of the space race in the 1960s, Air Force Captain Ed Dwight was chosen to attend a special astronaut training program. He tells the story of what happened next.

Last month, NASA announced that it had identified 5,000 different exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system. Some of these worlds are unlike anything you'll find in our little corner of the universe.

Missouri University of Science and Technology will receive up to a $2 million grant to research space mining as NASA lays the groundwork for moon research communities.