Space

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Space

    Spacecraft in 2021 set their sights on Mars, asteroids and beyond

    This year, a bevy of new missions got under way on Mars and spacecraft prepared to visit asteroids.

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  2. Space

    These discoveries from 2021, if true, could shake up science

    Discoveries in 2021, from hidden subatomic particles to the oldest animal fossils, could shake up science. But more evidence is needed to confirm them.

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  3. Astronomy

    The Parker Solar Probe is the first spacecraft to visit the sun’s atmosphere

    NASA’s Parker Solar Probe crossed a boundary between the sun’s atmosphere and interplanetary space that has been predicted for decades but never observed.

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  4. Astronomy

    The only known pulsar duo sheds new light on general relativity and more

    Einstein was right, among other insights gleaned from watching a one-of-a-kind system of two pulsating dead stars for 16 years.

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  5. Astronomy

    The cosmic ‘Cow’ may have produced a new neutron star or black hole

    A bright, mysterious blast of extragalactic light appears to have spawned a small, compact object.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Ingenuity is still flying on Mars. Here’s what the helicopter is up to

    NASA’s Ingenuity craft was originally planned to operate only 30 Martian days.

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  7. Planetary Science

    This tiny, sizzling exoplanet could be made of molten iron

    A newly discovered exoplanet that whips around its star in less than eight hours is smaller than Earth, as dense as iron and hot enough to melt.

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  8. Astronomy

    Astronomers have found the Milky Way’s first known ‘feather’

    Named for the glacier that feeds India’s longest river, the Gangotri wave spans up to 13,000 light-years and bridges two of our galaxy’s spiral arms.

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  9. Space

    A space rock called Kamoʻoalewa may be a piece of the moon

    New observations reveal the possible origins of a mysterious object called Kamoʻoalewa. It could be the wreckage from an ancient impact on the moon.

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  10. Astronomy

    How massive stars in binary systems turn into carbon factories

    A massive star with an orbiting partner star ejects on average twice as much carbon, an element crucial for life, into space compared with a solo star.

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  11. Space

    An ancient exploding comet may explain why glass litters part of Chile

    A 75-kilometer-long corridor of chunks of glass in the Atacama Desert probably formed when a comet exploded 12,000 years ago, a study finds.

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  12. Astronomy

    Distant rocky planets may have exotic chemical makeups that don’t resemble Earth’s

    Elements sprinkled on white dwarf stars suggest that the mantles of faraway rocky worlds differ greatly from their counterparts in our solar system.

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