Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
When Worlds Collide
Parallel universes aren’t supposed to be observable, but a cosmic crash might leave a visible sign of their existence.
- Space
Martian sands
Sandy soil on the Red Planet hints at an ancient mix of volcanic activity and water, a potent breeding ground for life.
- Space
Gamma-ray bling!
A recent, unusually luminous gamma-ray burst is shedding new light on these stellar explosions and the visible light they produce.
- Space
Supernova Outbreak
Thanks to a lucky break and an overactive galaxy, astronomers report the earliest detection yet of a normal supernova—the explosive death of a massive star.
- Space
Twisted roots for solar jets
Researchers have constructed the first 3-D image of a jet of gas zooming out of the sun's outer atmosphere, revealing the role that twisted magnetic fields play in generating such outbursts.
- Astronomy
Galaxy’s youngest supernova
Astronomers have found the youngest Milky Way supernova remnant ever recorded from Earth.
- Space
A shifty moon
Astronomers have found evidence that the icy shell of Jupiter's large moon Europa has rotated nearly a quarter-turn, which supports the notion that the moon has a subterranean ocean.
- Materials Science
Like the Nobel, Only Norwegian
Two weeks from now, an astrophysicist, neuroscientist, and nanoscience researcher will each be named to receive $1 million Kavli Prizes.
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- Space
BOOK LIST | Newton: Ackroyd’s Brief Lives
The book promises a personal history of Isaac Newton. Ackroyd also wrote Shakespeare: The Biography and London: The Biography. Nan A. Talese, 2008 176 p. $21.95 NEWTON: ACKROYD’S BRIEF LIVES
- Physics
John Wheeler (1911-2008)
SN Editor in Chief Tom Siegfried remembers the late physicist John Wheeler, who coined the term "black hole" in 1967, with excerpts from conversations the two had engaged in over the past two decades.
- Space
A special place
Two proposed studies might determine whether dark energy is real or humans live in a special place in the cosmos
