CRUNCH THE NUMBERS Scientists estimate that the Milky Way contains 100 million black holes.
AvigatorPhotographer/iStockphoto
-
Magazine
In the Aug. 19 SN: Bulletins from the tick wars, roots of Rwandan genocide, spin-resistant spiders, making mums blue, tardigrade saga continues, HIV antibodies from cows, Maxwell’s demon aces memory test and more.
Atom & Cosmos
Topic Image Rail
CHARGED UP Auroras are triggered in Earth’s atmosphere by the solar wind, a constant stream of charged particles wafting away from the sun. This photo of an aurora was taken from the International Space Station on June 26.
NASA
During a total solar eclipse in 1919, Arthur Eddington and colleagues tested Einstein’s theory of gravity. Although the results showed Einstein’s theory was correct and Newton’s was wrong, Newton’s math was good enough to predict where the eclipse would be.
F.W. DYSON, A.S. EDDINGTON, C. DAVIDSON
Atom & Cosmos
-
Astronomy
News
We share the Milky Way with 100 million black holes
New census calculates black hole populations in galaxies big and small.News
Where does the solar wind come from? The eclipse may offer answers
A quick-fire polarization camera should help scientists detect the origins of the solar wind during the Aug. 21 eclipse. -
Cosmology
News in Brief
Milky Way’s loner status is upheld
Galaxy surveys show the Milky Way lives in a vast cosmic void, which could help ease tensions between ways of measuring how fast the universe is expanding.News in Brief
New data fuel debate on universe’s expansion rate
Quasar observations add to discrepancy in measurements of the universe’s expansion speed. -
Planetary Science
News
Moon had a magnetic field for at least a billion years longer than thought
The moon’s magnetic field could have lasted until about a billion years ago.The Science Life
What Curiosity has yet to tell us about Mars
Curiosity has revealed a lot about Mars in the last five years. But NASA’s rover still has work to do on the Red Planet. -
Particle Physics
News
Normally aloof particles of light seen ricocheting off each other
Scientists spot evidence of photons interacting at the Large Hadron Collider.News in Brief
Neutrino experiment may hint at why matter rules the universe
T2K experiment hints at an explanation for what happened to antimatter. -
Exoplanets
News
Fewer big rogue planets roam the galaxy, recount shows
Jupiter-mass planets without parent solar systems are less common than astronomers thought, a new study suggests.News
Kepler shows small exoplanets are either super-Earths or mini-Neptunes
The final catalog from the Kepler space telescope splits Earthlike exoplanets into two groups and pinpoints 10 new rocky planets in the habitable zone. -
Astrobiology
News
Potential ingredient for alien life found on Titan
The atmosphere and oceans of Saturn’s moon Titan contain vinyl cyanide, a compound predicted to form cell-like bubbles.Letters to the EditorReaders weigh in on ET and the meaning of life
All about aliensNew telescopes and spacecraft will soon help researchers scour our galaxy for signs of extraterrestrial life. But what might aliens look like? And if they do exist, why haven’t they returned our calls? These are just some of the questions addressed in the Science News special report “In Search of Aliens” (SN: 4/30/16, p. 24).
