Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Hydrogen volcanoes might boost planets’ potential for life
Volcanoes that spew hydrogen could increase the number of potentially habitable planets in the universe.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon may not conceal an ocean after all
A lack of cracks on Mimas suggests that the icy moon of Saturn doesn’t conceal a subsurface ocean of liquid water.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon may not conceal ocean after all
A lack of cracks on Mimas suggests that the icy moon of Saturn doesn’t conceal a subsurface ocean of liquid water.
- Astronomy
Black hole enjoys fantastically long stellar feast
A supermassive black hole about 1.8 billion light-years away has been gorging on the same star for a record-breaking decade.
- Astronomy
Seven Earth-sized planets orbit nearby supercool star
A planetary system called TRAPPIST-1 has seven Earth-sized planets, three in the habitable zone, researchers report.
- Microbes
Microbes survived inside giant cave crystals for up to 50,000 years
Microbes trapped in crystals in Mexico's Naica mine may represent some of the most distinct life-forms found in Earth so far.
- Planetary Science
Europa lander mission takes another step toward reality
NASA is working on a possible lander mission in which the main science goal would be to search for signs of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
- Planetary Science
Juno spacecraft won’t go into shorter orbit around Jupiter
Juno will remain in its 53-day orbit around Jupiter due to an issue with two helium check valves, NASA reports.
- Astronomy
Citizen scientists are providing stunning new views of Jupiter
A camera aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft is giving citizen scientists a crack at discovering never-before-seen features of Jupiter.
- Planetary Science
Ceres harbors homegrown organic compounds
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has detected organic matter — the building blocks of life — on the dwarf planet Ceres, a new study suggests.
- Astronomy
Supernova spotted shortly after explosion
Early observations of exploding star could indicate that stars become unstable as they near death.
- Astronomy
Middling black hole may be hiding in star cluster
A black hole with about 2,200 times the mass of the sun has been detected. If confirmed, it could represent a new type of gas-starved black holes and hint at how supermassive ones may form.
