Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Atmospheric rollercoaster followed Great Oxidation Event
Analyses of chromium isotopes in banded iron formations suggest oxygen levels fell for a period after the Great Oxidation Event.
- Space
Panel reports on human spaceflight
Panel suggests how to get human spaceflight program off the ground.
- Planetary Science
Celestial population boom
Large meteoroids are probably more common than telescopic surveys suggest, new analyses find.
- Space
The Status Quark
Murray Gell-Mann reflects on matter’s building blocks and scientists’ resistance to new ideas.
- Space
Particle imbalance may upset the apple cart
An asymmetry that the standard model of particle physics may not account for hints at the existence of a new and massive elementary particle.
- Space
Extrasolar planets at full tilt
Violent interactions between planets may have played a key role in shaping the architecture of many extrasolar planet systems. The sun’s planetary system may have escaped or recovered from such a catastrophe.
- Astronomy
Comet dust harbors life’s building blocks
Samples collected from a comet’s halo suggest comets could have carried amino acids to the early Earth
- Tech
Scientists propose lab-grade black holes
Creating tiny, artificial black holes could help uncover what happens to particles on the edge of full-sized black holes.
- Space
Half the boom better than no boom at all
The Large Hadron Collider will begin colliding protons at half of the designed energy this November, with plans to repair the faulty sections of the accelerator at the end of 2010.
- Space
Titan may host prebiotic brew
Saturn’s moon Titan may harbor a prebiotic mix of chemicals similar to those present at the dawn of life on Earth.
- Planetary Science
Stars go kaboom, spilling cosmic secrets
Astronomers hope type 1a supernovas will help in quest to explain dark energy.
- Space
Galaxies going green
An unusual group of green, pea-shaped galaxies may be nearby analogs of remote galaxies undergoing a high rate of star formation.
