Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Space
A comet doubleheader
Astronomers have discovered the first comet that appears to be a contact binary — two chunks somehow held together by a narrow neck of material.
- Space
Askew in the outer solar system
A chunk of ice orbiting backwards around the sun could offer hints about the mysterious origin of some comets.
- Space
Sniping at Jupiter
Giant Jupiter, often thought to protect the inner planets from space debris, may sometimes acts as a sniper, hurling material toward Earth.
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- Astronomy
Ultramassive: as big as it gets
A black hole can consume anything in its path. These monsters can become huge — but perhaps only so huge.
- Astronomy
On that ‘earmark’ for my favorite science center
Featured blog: In the last debate, McCain denounced proposed federal spending on a multimillion dollar "overhead projector."
- Planetary Science
New angles on Mercury
The NASA MESSENGER spacecraft completed its second flyby of Mercury, yielding crisp new images of a large swath of the planet not seen before.
- Space
No naked black holes
In a simulated merger, astrophysicists tried to push the boundaries of two black holes into shedding their event horizons. But the resulting black hole was still shrouded by its event horizon, through which even light can’t escape.
- Physics
Shaping up the sun
The most accurate measurements yet of the sun’s shape show that magnetic activity plays a role in making the sun appear more oval than it really is.
- Physics
Diamonds engage at the nano scale
Manipulating the quantum properties of diamond impurities makes diamond into a kind of microscope that could, for example, reveal the inner working of cells.
- Planetary Science
Water’s role in Martian chemistry becoming clearer
As mission nears end, Phoenix Mars Lander finds strong evidence for minerals similar to those formed on Earth by liquid water.
- Space
Hubble suddenly quiet
Updated September 30: After the orbiting observatory suddenly stopped transmitting data, NASA announced planned repair mission will be delayed at least until early next year
