Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
First signs of boron on Mars hint at past groundwater, habitability
The Curiosity rover has found the first signs of boron on Mars, which could hint at past habitable groundwater.
- Physics
Shadows of two failed searches loom over physics
Physicists are facing two failures this year with no detections of dark matter particles and no signs of supersymmetry from the Large Hadron Collider.
- Astronomy
Magnetic stars could have created LIGO’s massive black holes
Strong magnetic fields could provide a way for massive stars to create heavy black holes when they die.
- Quantum Physics
Vacuum’s quantum effect on light detected
Light can be polarized through interactions with empty space.
- Astronomy
Gaggle of stars get official names
The names of 227 stars have been formally recognized by the International Astronomical Union.
- Astronomy
Stellar vomiting produces dark galaxies, simulations suggest
Dark galaxies might owe their existence to multiple rounds of prolific star birth and death that eject gas and stretch out their homes, new simulations suggest.
- Anthropology
Readers ponder hominid hookups and more
Neandertal evolution, quantum internet and more in reader feedback.
- Astronomy
Scientific success depends on finding light in darkness
Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses using cleverness and persistence to uncover scientific truths.
- Planetary Science
Ice gave Pluto a heavy heart
Sputnik Planitia, the left half of Pluto’s heart-shaped region, might have been carved out by the weight of thick layers of ice built up billions of years ago.
- Astronomy
Star-starved galaxies fill the cosmos
Astronomers are detecting hundreds of galaxies that are almost devoid of stars. There are at least four theories on how they got that way.
- Science & Society
‘The Glass Universe’ celebrates astronomy’s unsung heroines
In “The Glass Universe,” science writer Dava Sobel shines a light on the women at the Harvard Observatory who mapped the stars.
- Astronomy
Giant gathering of galaxies discovered hiding on far side of Milky Way
An uncharted supercluster of galaxies lurks about 800 million light-years away, partly hidden by the Milky Way.
