-
Magazine
In the June 8 SN: Measles roars back, collapsars spin gold, a new kind of dementia, the Southern Ocean's secrets, Denisovans lived on top of the world, and more.
Search Content
-
News
Known as the ‘mother of Hubble,’ astronomer Nancy Roman dies at 93
12/31/2018 - 17:11 Astronomy, Science & SocietyNancy Roman, a groundbreaking astronomer known as the “Mother of Hubble,” died on December 25 at the age of 93.As NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy, Roman oversaw the early planning and development of the Hubble Space Telescope (SN: 10/10/64, p. 231) as well as other space observatories and satellites. “I knew that taking on this responsibility would mean that I could no longer do research, but...
-
Context
Top 10 cosmological discoveries
03/21/2014 - 09:34 Cosmology, History of ScienceTalk about making a cosmic ripple. This week’s report of gravity waves from the Big Bang is the biggest cosmological news of the century. It’s the science news equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane or F5 tornado. If the new results hold up, the understanding of the universe will have taken a bigger leap for humankind than hopping around on the moon. And the BICEP2 result will join an...
-
Feature
Everlasting light
08/23/2013 - 12:41 CosmologyOn the next clear night, go outside and look up. If you’re away from city lights, you may be amazed by the darkness of the sky between the stars. But what looks like inky black isn’t really so. Even the darkest of night skies still contains the light of all the stars that ever shone.
Photons, or particles of light, are born in the nuclear...
-
News
Universe is a teeny bit older than thought
03/21/2013 - 06:24 Physics, CosmologyThe universe is a little older and perhaps a bit stranger than previously thought, according to the best measurements ever taken of the radiation left over from just after the Big Bang. Presented March 21 at a press conference in Paris, the data from the Planck satellite combine to form a map of the remnant glow that largely affirms scientists' theories about the universe's early history. But...
-
Feature
Inflation on Trial
07/13/2012 - 09:35 CosmologyAsk any astronomer what inflation is, and you’ll hear about the moment when the universe’s primordial fireball expanded like a balloon on steroids, smoothing and flattening its initial wrinkles before it grew into the cosmos seen today.
Now, some physicists are trying to let a little air out of that scenario.
Generally regarded as one of the most successful theories about the early...