All Stories by Lisa Grossman
- Space
Only a small fraction of space has been searched for aliens
In their hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI searches have only scouted an area the equivalent of a hot tub out of Earth’s oceans, a new calculation indicates.
- Space
The movie ‘First Man’ captures early spaceflight’s terror
At a time when NASA is considering how to once again send people to the moon, ‘First Man’ is a sobering reminder of how risky the first giant leap was.
- Space
Hubble may have spotted a possible ‘exomoon’
The apparent moon would be the size of Neptune and orbit a distant gas-giant planet known as Kepler 1625b.
- Space
Cool Job: Making stellar connections
Astrophysicist Paula Jofré wants to find links between all the stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
- Physics
Dazzling laser advances bring physicists a Nobel Prize
The winners of 2018 Nobel Prize in physics helped usher in new laser feats, such as making optical “tweezers” and creating amazingly bright beams of light.
- Physics
Distant galaxy seems filled with dark matter
If the Cosmic Seagull is a repository for dark matter, it will be the most distant galaxy to be filled with mysterious stuff.
- Planets
Jupiter has 12 more moons than we knew about — and one is a weirdo
Astronomers found a dozen previously unknown moons of Jupiter. One may be a remnant of a larger moon that was all but ground to dust.
- Planets
New Horizons data reveal first global maps of Pluto and Charon
Astronomers have made new charts of Pluto and its moon Charon. They show high peaks, deep depressions and strange ridges.
- Planets
Finding living Martians just got a bit more believable
What might a real Martian look like? Scientists have a better idea after identifying a buried liquid lake on the Red Planet.
- Planets
Mars appears to have a lake of liquid water
A 15-year-old Mars orbiter has spotted signs of a salty lake beneath the Red Planet’s southern polar ice sheets.
- Planets
Thick atmosphere boosts how fast Venus spins
The thick atmosphere on Venus can change by a few minutes every day how long it takes the planet to rotate.
- Planets
Pluto’s heart has dunes of methane ice
Pluto’s heart-shaped plains are striped with sand dunes. The sand is made of methane ice.
