Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Space
Twinkle, twinkle little planet
Scientists could use scattered light to identify habitable extrasolar planets.
- Space
Rocky cores form first
A theorist says new extrasolar findings prove that the standard model of planet formation is correct.
- Planetary Science
Surprise found in comet dust
Scientists find an odd mineral that could offer clues to the solar system's origins.
- Astronomy
Otherworldly triple play
Astronomers have discovered the first known system of three superEarths beyond the solar system.
- Astronomy
Accidental astrophysicists
MATH TREK: The mathematicians thought they'd just extended a fundamental result in algebra, but it turns out that they'd also proven a conjecture in astrophysics.
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- Astronomy
Not a ripple
Another null result for gravitational waves. But findings from LIGO still reveal new information about the Crab Pulsar.
- Science & Society
Confirmed: Big Dipper to Get Doritos
A European astronomy group beamed a video of a Doritos sacrifice to the god of salsa at a possible alien race in a star system associated with the Big Dipper.
- Humans
Doritos in Space
Today, a huge European radar-transmitter system sent an ad for a cheesy snack radiating out into space.
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- Planetary Science
Shake, shake, shake
Instrument succeeds in capturing first soil sample, allowing Mars Phoenix Lander team to begin scientific studies.
- Astronomy
From planet to plutoid
Pluto and its dwarf planet neighbors are christened plutoids, the International Astronomical Union rules.
