Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Earth might once have resembled a hot, steamy doughnut
Newly proposed space objects called synestias are large, spinning hunks of mostly vaporized rock. They look like a jelly-filled doughnut.
- Planetary Science
New Horizons’ next target caught making a star blink
The team behind the spacecraft that visited Pluto has seen its next quarry blocking the light from a distant star.
- Planetary Science
Giant mud balls roamed the early solar system
The first asteroids may have been great balls of mud, which would solve some puzzling features of meteorites.
- Animals
Water bears will survive the end of the world as we know it
Water bears have a till-death-do-us-part pact with the sun, study suggests.
- Planetary Science
Here are Juno’s first close-ups of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
The Juno spacecraft swooped just 9,000 kilometers above Jupiter’s Great Red Spot on July 10. Here are the first pictures.
- Astronomy
Teeny-weeny star vies for title of smallest known
A Saturn-sized star is one of the smallest yet discovered.
- Astronomy
Teensy star vies for title of smallest known
A Saturn-sized star is one of the smallest yet discovered.
- Astronomy
The most distant star ever spotted is 9 billion light-years away
A bright blue star sends its light from two-thirds of the way across the universe, thanks to a chance alignment with a galaxy cluster.
- Astronomy
Astronomers get glimpse of star 9 billion light-years away
A bright blue star sends its light from two-thirds of the way across the universe, thanks to a chance alignment with a galaxy cluster.
- Planetary Science
Juno will fly a mere 9,000 km above Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
Juno is about to get up close and personal with Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
- Planetary Science
Readers intrigued by Mars’ far-out birth
Readers sent feedback on the Red Planet's formation, jumping genes and more
- Planetary Science
The moon might have had a heavy metal atmosphere with supersonic winds
Heat from a glowing infant Earth could have vaporized the moon’s metals into an atmosphere as thick as Mars’, a new simulation shows.
