Space
- Earth
An ancient cold snap causes heated debate
Despite criticism from fellow scientists, some researchers won’t let go of the idea that a comet caused a prehistoric cold snap.
- Physics
Scientists traced an incoming neutrino back to its galactic birthplace
The high-energy particle was born in a blazar 4 billion light-years away, scientists now report.
- Space
The Parker Solar Probe aims to touch the sun
The Parker Solar Probe is about to make a historic voyage to the sun.
- 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.
- Space
An active sun is a somewhat smaller sun
The sun grows and contracts a little over cycles lasting around 11 years, new data show. Changes in the strength of its magnetic fields may help explain this.
- 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.
- Space
Scientists Say: Nebula
Nebulae are huge dust clouds in space. Some come from dying stars. Others are places where stars are born.
- Chemistry
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
Inside a meteorite, scientists found sulfur and iron wrapped in tiny diamonds. Those gems hint the rock formed inside a long-lost planet.
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- Planets
Asteroids may have delivered water to early Earth
Scientists shot mineral pellets at a simulated planet. It showed an impact wouldn’t have boiled off all of an asteroid’s water.
