Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Space
Planet hidden in Hubble archives
A new way to process images reveals an extrasolar planet that had been hiding in an 11-year-old Hubble picture. The technique could shed new light on other telescope images as well.
- Humans
DOE wants to become more like Bell Labs
Steven Chus prizes DOE's research prowess, but not it's ability to marshall its discoveries into marketable innovations.
- Space
Satellite collision: brief update on Hubble and debris
In an unprecedented collision, two large satellites crashed into each other in low-Earth orbit on February 10. The effect on a planned Hubble repair mission remains unclear.
- Space
New window on the high-energy universe
New telescope finds strange behavior in gamma-ray bursts, and also documents the highest energy burst known.
- Space
Galaxy mix: No dark matter required
New ultraviolet observations suggest dwarf galaxies may form without dark matter. The findings have implications for the early universe.
- Astronomy
A green visitor makes its approach
Comet Lulin, which passes closest to Earth on February 24, may be a sight for sore eyes.
- Planetary Science
Earth may be home to unearthly life
No need to look on other planets for new forms of life — weird life could exist right here on Earth.
- Space
Cosmic mystery
High-energy invaders from space could signal a nearby pulsar, or perhaps dark matter.
- Tech
Two satellites collide in Earth orbit
In an unprecedented collision, two large satellites crashed into each other in low-Earth orbit on February 10.
- Space
About-face: A look at the moon’s farside
Researchers have for the first time mapped the gravitational field of the moon’s farside — the lunar half that is permanently turned away from Earth.
- Chemistry
New money for undergraduate research
A new program will foster interdisciplinary physical-science research at predominantly undergraduate colleges.
- Space
Early galaxy bulges in the middle
By tracing star birth in a galaxy that existed when the universe was less than 1 billion years old, researchers have captured what appears to be the formation of a key galactic component — a central concentration of stars known as the bulge.
