Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Gamma-ray bursts may repeatedly wipe out life
Brief bursts of high-energy radiation may sterilize most planets across the universe, hampering the chances for widespread intelligent life.
- Planetary Science
Rover finds methane in Mars air, organics in rocks
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found organic molecules on Mars, but scientists can’t say whether they are a sign of life on the Red Planet.
- Astronomy
Year in review: Kepler gets second chance at life
This year, Kepler engineers figured out how to stabilize the almost-defunct Kepler telescope, while astronomers found hundreds more worlds.
- Planetary Science
Year in review: Tectonics active on Europa
Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa has a shifting exterior analogous to Earth’s plate tectonics.
- Planetary Science
Solar wind probably leaches Mars’ lower atmosphere
Initial results from NASA's MAVEN probe may help explain how Mars has lost its atmosphere: The solar wind penetrates the Red Planet’s atmosphere and fuels escaping gas.
- Planetary Science
Year in review: Ocean may power Enceladus’ geysers
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft builds a stronger case for a subsurface ocean on Enceladus that drives ice geysers on the moon’s south pole.
- Planetary Science
Year in review: Business booming on Mars
Mars now has seven robots studying it and together they have given scientists their best view of any planet in the solar system other than Earth.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta casts doubt on comets as Earth’s water providers
Water in comet 67P’s thin, hazy atmosphere doesn’t chemically match Earth’s oceans, suggesting that asteroids, not comets, brought water to the planet.
- Planetary Science
Martian crater was once filled with liquid water
Sandstone deposits on Mars indicate that Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover’s stomping ground, was once a lake fed by rivers.
- Chemistry
Early asteroid impacts may have aided life’s origin
RNA ingredients found in laser-induced simulation of explosions.
- Planetary Science
Pluto probe wakes up one last time
The New Horizons probe will remain active for the remainder of its journey to Pluto.
- Astronomy
Radio burst from beyond Milky Way detected in real time
First real-time detection of radio burst from outside galaxy triggers worldwide hunt for cause of mysterious signals.
