Space

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Planetary Science

    How upcoming missions to Mars will help predict its wild dust storms

    Predicting the weather on Mars is essential for landing and keeping rovers — or astronauts — safe on the surface. The next Mars missions will give forecasts a boost.

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  2. Space

    This is the most comprehensive X-ray map of the sky ever made

    A new X-ray map of the entire sky, using data from the eROSITA telescope’s first full scan, looks deeper into space than any other of its kind.

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  3. Space

    Self-destructive civilizations may doom our search for alien intelligence

    A lack of signals from space may also be bad news for Earthlings.

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  4. Planetary Science

    Some exoplanets may be covered in weird water that’s between liquid and gas

    “Supercritical” water, a corrosive substance used to break down toxic waste on Earth, coats some small worlds around other stars, simulations suggest.

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  5. Space

    A newfound exoplanet may be the exposed core of a gas giant

    A planet about 734 light-years away could be a former gas giant that lost its atmosphere or a failed giant that never finished growing.

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  6. Planetary Science

    An asteroid’s moon got a name so NASA can bump it off its course

    A tiny moon orbiting an asteroid finally got a name because NASA plans to crash a spacecraft into it.

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  7. Space

    Colliding black holes may have created a surprising flare of light

    A flare-up after a gravitational wave outburst may be the first sighting of light from colliding black holes.

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  8. Particle Physics

    Physicists spot a new class of neutrinos from the sun

    Researchers with the Borexino experiment in Italy have detected neutrinos produced in the secondary fusion process taking place in the sun’s core.

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  9. Space

    LIGO and Virgo detected a collision between a black hole and a mystery object

    The first evidence of an object more massive than any neutron star and more lightweight than any black hole has astronomers wondering what it is.

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  10. Space

    Black hole plasma jets are shaped like bell-bottoms

    Jets of high-energy particles change from slightly curved sides to flared cones as they shoot away from galaxies, just like flare-legged pants.

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  11. Particle Physics

    Measuring the neutron’s lifetime from space could solve an enduring mystery

    Measurements on Earth show that lone neutrons decay after about 15 minutes, and now scientists have measured that lifetime from space.

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  12. Space

    Flat spots on Saturn’s moon Titan may be the floors of ancient lake beds

    Bright radio signals from Titan indicate the presence of ancient lake beds in its tropics, a new analysis finds.

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