Space
- 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.
- Physics
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.
-
- Chemistry
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.
- Physics
Wireless devices crowd out cosmic radio signals and more
Cell phones and other devices emit radio waves that can interfere with important scientific research. That’s why researchers are seeking ways to share the radio spectrum.
- Physics
Meet STEVE, the northern lights in mauve
STEVE is a nontraditional aurora. It might be a visible version of usually invisible charged particles drifting through Earth’s upper atmosphere.
- Space
Scientists Say: Oort cloud
The very edge of our solar system is a crowded place. It’s full of ice and rocks in a bubble called the Oort cloud.
- Planets
Flared! How a planetary ‘neighbor’ may have been fried
Hoping for life on the planet our stellar neighbor Proxima Centauri? Don’t hold your breath. Its star may have sterilized its Earthlike exoplanet.
- Planets
Here’s why Venus is so unwelcoming
Venus is hard to study. Scientists also find it hard to get money to send spacecraft there. But researchers have ideas about how to tackle both challenges.
