All Stories by Ron Cowen
- Space
Today’s weather: thunder and antimatter beams
Positrons appear to be common in terrestrial lightning storms.
- Space
New planet small but tough
Astronomers have confirmed a rocky planet outside the solar system for the first time.
- Space
Superhot solar mystery may be solved
Jets of hot gas heat the sun’s nebulous outer atmosphere to millions of degrees, well above the temperature on the surface, a new study suggests.
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Liquid Acquisition
Two new scenarios ramp up debate over how Earth got its water.
- Space
Space rock surprise
Meteorite analysis suggests it may be possible to make amino acids in the absence of water, boosting the chances of finding life elsewhere in the universe.
- Space
Cosmic reincarnation idea may be dead
Cosmological patterns that were recently put forth as evidence for a pre–Big Bang universe are easily explained by current theory, critics say.
- Space
Collider in the sky
Protons buffeted by stellar winds in the Eta Carinae star system are accelerated to energies comparable to the maximum power of the world’s biggest particle smasher.
- Space
Crab nebula outbursts shock astronomers
Short-lived gamma-ray flares recently recorded from the Crab nebula supernova remnant, known for its steady emissions, are perplexing researchers and forcing them to consider new models for particle acceleration.
- Space
Beast at galaxy core sits, lacking spin
New observations suggest that the Milky Way's central black hole rotates slowly or not at all, reinforcing its image as a gentle gravitational giant.
- Space
Newfound planet stirs old debate
The discoverers of a fourth body orbiting a nearby star say its origins pose a challenge to existing theory, but some disagree.
- Space
It’s really full of stars
Astronomers find such an abundance of red dwarfs in eight nearby galaxies that they suggest the stellar population of the universe may be three times current estimates.
- Space
Cosmic rebirth
Circular patterns in the universe's pervasive background radiation suggest that the Big Bang was not the beginning of the universe, but only the latest of its incarnations.
