SPACE SPEW The same process that forces water out of flushed toilets on the space shuttle also applies to the gushing vents on Saturn’s moon Enceladus (shown).
SSI/JPL/NASA, Emily Lakdawalla (mosaic)
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Magazine
In the Oct. 28 SN: Real-life vampires, the ultimate flu shot, no rings for Pluto, tsunami debris stowaways, jellyfish flouts sleep stereotypes, honey carries pesticides, teen concussion stats, a shape-shifting robot and more.
Atom & Cosmos
Topic Image Rail
BRIGHT BURST After two neutron stars slammed together, scientists detected gravitational waves, a burst of gamma rays and a glow from ejected material, shown in this artist’s conception.
NSF, LIGO, A. Simonnet/Sonoma State Univ.
FROM THE INSIDE OUT The best images of the Milky Way are artist’s impressions like this one, as it’s difficult to map the galaxy from our position inside it. But new measurements will give us more direct clues to what the Milky Way actually looks like.
R. Hurt, ESO, JPL-Caltech/NASA
Atom & Cosmos
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Astronomy
How Bizarre
Here’s what space toilets can teach us about finding signs of alien life
Lessons learned from flushing space toilets can help researchers plan life-hunting missions to icy moons.News
Neutron star collision showers the universe with a wealth of discoveries
A collision of neutron stars was spotted with gravitational waves for the first time. Telescopes captured gamma rays, visible light and more from the smashup. -
Cosmology
Science Visualized
Map reveals the invisible universe of dark matter
The Dark Energy Survey reports a new tally of the dark universe.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. -
Planetary Science
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Particle Physics
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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).
