Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Computer simulations heat up hunt for Planet Nine
A giant planet in the far outer solar system could explain orbital oddities of bodies in the fringes of the Kuiper belt.
- Archaeology
Babylonians used geometry to track Jupiter’s movements
Babylonians took a geometric leap to track Jupiter’s movements long before European astronomers did.
- Cosmology
‘The Cosmic Web’ weaves tale of universe’s architecture
A new book chronicles the quest over the last century to understand how the universe is pieced together and how it came to be this way.
- Earth
Earth’s inner secrets divulged in ‘Into the Heart of Our World’
A scientific journey to the center of the Earth includes just as much excitement and mystery as Jules Verne’s classic novel, a new book demonstrates.
- Astronomy
Middleweight black hole suspected near Milky Way’s center
A gas cloud in the center of the galaxy might be temporarily hosting the second most massive black hole known in the Milky Way.
- Planetary Science
Time running out on comet lander
Philae’s days are numbered as temperatures on comet 67P drop and attempts to communicate with the lander fail.
- Planetary Science
Evidence mounts for hidden ninth planet
A new analysis of bodies in the Kuiper Belt strengthens the case for an unseen planet lurking in the outer regions of our solar system.
- Climate
Atmospheric tides alter rainfall rate
Atmospheric tides caused by the moon’s gravitational pull ever-so-slightly alter rainfall rates on Earth by producing rises and falls in atmospheric pressure.
- Science & Society
Human evolution, biomimicry and more go on display
A new human evolution gallery and a lecture series on Europa are among science events to explore in February 2016.
- Astronomy
The votes are in: Exoplanets get new names
Arion, Galileo and Poltergeist are just three winners of a contest to name planets and suns in 20 solar systems.
- Astronomy
Exploding star is the brightest supernova ever seen
The brightest known supernova put out more energy than 500 billion suns.
- Astronomy
As first run of gravitational wave search winds down, rumors abound
Advanced LIGO has completed its first search for gravitational waves. Researchers are crunching the data as rumors swirl of a detection.
