Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Space
Mars shows signs of recent activity
The surface of Mars had abundant liquid water as well as volcanic activity during the past 100 million years, a new study of the Martian atmosphere suggests.
- Astronomy
Mars organics get new lease on life
More than three decades after the Viking mission failed to find compounds necessary for carbon-based life, a new analysis suggests they could actually be present at detectable levels in the planet’s soil.
- Space
Changing one of nature’s constants
A controversial new study suggests that an immutable value that governs the strength of the electromagnetic force varies along different directions.
- Space
Still no Earths, but getting closer
Two newly discovered planetary systems shed light on the likelihood of producing terrestrial planets.
- Space
Solar system older than estimated
A meteorite’s age has pushed back the estimated time of the solar system’s formation by almost 2 million years.
- Space
Moon shrinks
New pictures expand evidence of the moon’s shrinkage over the past billion years.
- Planetary Science
Worldwide slowdown in plant carbon uptake
A decade of droughts has stifled the increasing growth of terrestrial vegetation.
-
- Astronomy
Celestial wish list
A panel of astronomers ranks proposed astrophysics projects for the coming decade.
- Space
Twinkle, twinkle, little dot
A faint object was once thought to be the first extrasolar planet to be photographed. Then it wasn’t. But now it may go down in the history books after all.
- Tech
The people’s pulsar
Thousands of volunteers help discover a neutron star by donating the processing power in their idle home computers.
-
