Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Space
Volcanic and ferric surprises on Mercury
Volcanic activity is more recent than expected, MESSENGER shows on its third flyby of the planet. Also, surface iron occurs as oxides.
- Space
New way to help avoid a space shuttle disaster
A new technique to make shuttle launches safer combines tricks from particle colliders, moon landings and vulture tracking.
- Space
Cosmic rays traced to centers of star birth
By detecting gamma rays, a new generation of telescopes bolsters theory that supernovas are origin of some cosmic rays
- Space
The Drake Equation Turns 50: An interview with Frank Drake
The astronomer shares his name with the equation that quantifies the number of detectable civilizations in the Milky Way.
- Space
Gamma-ray observations shrink known grain size of spacetime
A new study eliminates some theories of quantum gravity by finding that spacetime isn’t as lumpy as some models had proposed.
- Planetary Science
Mercury, As Never Seen Before: MESSENGER visits innermost planet
The first spacecraft to visit Mercury in 33 years imaged 25 percent of the crater-pocked surface that had never before been seen close-up.
- Space
Panel says planned NASA rocket won’t do the job
The Ares 1 set to replace the space shuttle is too expensive and won’t be ready soon enough, the Augustine Committee concludes.
- Space
SuperEarths common for other stars
A mother lode of 32 newly discovered planets brings the number of known extrasolar planets to more than 400 and suggests that lightweight planets are common around sunlike stars.
- Space
Images show puny plume from moon crash
Data from another craft suggest iron and mercury, not frozen water, were kicked up when a spent rocket plunged into a lunar crater
- Space
Solar system’s edge surprises astronomers
New observations reveal a dense ribbon structure that current models don't explain.
- Ecosystems
Windy with a chance of weevils
Scientists have traced the reappearance of cotton pests in west-central Texas to a tropical storm.
- Space
Europa’s proposed ocean could be rich in oxygen
A proposed ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa may receive about 100 times more oxygen than previously estimated.
