Lisa Grossman

Lisa Grossman

Astronomy Writer

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. Planetary Science

    Water may have killed Mars’ magnetic field

    Extra hydrogen near the Red Planet’s iron core could have shut down convection.

  2. Planetary Science

    This spinning moon shows where debris from giant impacts fell

    A new map shows that light-colored lunar plains point back to huge impact basins, raising questions about the age and history of the moon.

  3. Planetary Science

    Venus may be home to a new kind of tectonics

    Venus’ surface seems to be divided into jostling blocks of crust, defying conventional wisdom about how the surfaces of rocky planets work.

  4. Planetary Science

    5 things we’ve learned about Saturn since Cassini died

    The Cassini spacecraft plunged to its death into Saturn six months ago, but the discoveries keep coming.

  5. Astronomy

    Astronomers can’t figure out why some black holes got so big so fast

    Early supermassive black holes are challenging astronomers’ ideas about how the behemoths grew so quickly.

  6. Planetary Science

    Dwarf planet Ceres may store underground brine that still gushes up today

    Waterlogged minerals and changing ice add to evidence that Ceres is geologically active.

  7. Planetary Science

    Cosmic dust may create Mars’ wispy clouds

    Magnesium left by passing comets seeds the clouds of Mars, a new study suggests.

  8. Astronomy

    We probably won’t hear from aliens. But by the time we do, they’ll be dead.

    Astronomers build on the Drake Equation to probe the chance that humans will find existing aliens. The answer: Not likely.

  9. Astronomy

    Massive stellar flare may have fried Earth’s nearest exoplanet

    A massive flare made Proxima Centauri 1,000 times brighter in 10 seconds, dimming hopes that its planet may be habitable.

  10. Astronomy

    Loner gas clouds could be a new kind of stellar system

    Weird loner clumps of gas that have wandered for 1 billion years may have been stripped from a trio of larger galaxies.

  11. Astronomy

    Watch an experimental space shield shred a speeding bullet

    Engineers tested how well a prototype shield for spacecraft would stand up to space debris by shooting it with a solid aluminum pellet.

  12. Astronomy

    An amateur astronomer caught a supernova explosion on camera

    An amateur astronomer has caught a supernova explosion on camera.