Lisa Grossman is the astronomy writer for Science News. Previously she was a news editor at New Scientist, where she ran the physical sciences section of the magazine for three years. Before that, she spent three years at New Scientist as a reporter, covering space, physics and astronomy. She has a degree in astronomy from Cornell University and a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz. Lisa was a finalist for the AGU David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism, and received the Institute of Physics/Science and Technology Facilities Council physics writing award and the AAS Solar Physics Division Popular Writing Award. She interned at Science News in 2009-2010.

All Stories by Lisa Grossman

  1. Space

    Stunning images of swirling gas and dust may show a planet forming

    Infrared images show a spiral of gas and dust around a star 520 light-years away. A smaller, tantalizing twist hints at where a planet is coalescing.

  2. Astronomy

    The oldest disk galaxy yet found formed more than 12 billion years ago

    A spinning disk galaxy similar to the Milky Way formed just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, much earlier than astronomers thought was possible.

  3. Chemistry

    Astronauts may be able to make cement using their own pee

    Lunar dust and a compound found in urine could be used to build future dwellings on the moon, a new study finds.

  4. Space

    The closest black hole to Earth may have been spotted 1,000 light-years away

    What appears to be the closest black hole to the solar system shares orbits with two massive stars, a new study finds.

  5. Planetary Science

    Planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres could harbor life

    Lab experiments show yeast and E. coli survive and reproduce in hydrogen gas, suggesting new environments to seek alien life.

  6. Astronomy

    The sun is less magnetically active than similar stars, and we don’t know why

    Why our star seems so different from its stellar kin is a mystery.

  7. Physics

    A year after the first black hole image, the EHT has been stymied by the coronavirus

    With this year’s observing run canceled due to the coronavirus, the Event Horizon Telescope team is analyzing data from 2017 and 2018.

  8. Space

    Red giant stars that eat planets might shine less brightly

    Some stars may shine less brightly after ingesting a planet. That finding, if confirmed, could have implications for calculating cosmic distances.

  9. Space

    Saturn’s auroras may explain the planet’s weirdly hot upper atmosphere

    Data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft could help solve Saturn’s mysterious “energy crisis.”

  10. Space

    Quasar winds with record energy levels were seen fleeing a distant galaxy

    The Hubble Space Telescope has seen the most energetic quasar winds yet, showing these active black holes can blow star-forming gas out of galaxies.

  11. Planetary Science

    If Pluto has a subsurface ocean, it may be old and deep

    New analyses of images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft suggest that Pluto may have had a sea beneath its icy shell for roughly 4.5 billion years.

  12. Space

    A controversial X-ray glow didn’t show up in the Milky Way’s dark matter halo

    A new look at old data suggests that an odd X-ray glow that emanates from some galaxies cannot come from decaying dark matter.