Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Space
First Earth-sized planets netted
The Kepler space telescope gets one step closer to its mission of discovering habitable worlds by finding two orbs of terrestrial proportions orbiting a distant sunlike star.
- Space
Distant world looks too ripe for life
The first extrasolar planet to be discovered in its star’s habitable zone is probably inhospitably hot.
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- Space
Christmas gamma-ray burst still puzzles
Nearly a year after receiving a spectacular celestial gift, astrophysicists are still asking: “What is it?”
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- Space
Super Saturnian storm
The Cassini spacecraft captured images of massive tempest in planet’s northern hemisphere.
- Space
Lakes may lurk beneath chaos on Europa
Pockets of liquid water underlie fractured ice on the Jupiter moon’s surface, a new study concludes.
- Astronomy
Supernova may have kicked off solar system
Force of explosion could explain chemical mysteries contained within asteroids.
- Space
How the moon got its magnetism
Earth’s tug or asteroid impacts may have generated the ancient lunar magnetic field.
- Space
Atom & Cosmos
An asteroid's star turn, a 520-day mission to nowhere and the brightest millisecond pulsar ever.
- Space
Mars’ history is a fluid situation
Recent data from two spacecraft suggest the planet was mostly dry and cold, with a wet, warm subsurface.
- Space
The Drake Equation: All in the family
On November 1, the formula for estimating the abundance of extraterrestrial life in our galaxy celebrates its 50th birthday. It’s known as the Drake equation for its creator, Frank Drake, who is also my father.
