All Stories
- Astronomy
On a mountain in Wyoming, the eclipse brings wonder — and, hopefully, answers
Astronomy writer Lisa Grossman joined scientists on a mountain in Wyoming who were measuring the corona using four different instruments to try to figure out why it’s so hot.
- Planetary Science
Mars has nighttime snow storms
When clouds of water-ice particles cool at night, snow starts to fall rapidly on Mars, simulations suggest. The squalls could explain observations made by the Phoenix lander in 2008.
- Science & Society
Today is the day! A last-minute guide for watching the Great American Eclipse
You’ve probably heard this already, but there’s a total solar eclipse traversing the United States today, August 21. Here’s what you need to know.
- Astronomy
Eclipse watchers will go after the biggest solar mystery: Why is the corona so hot?
Usually when you move away from a heat source, it gets cooler. Not so in the sun’s atmosphere.
- Astronomy
Does the corona look different when solar activity is high versus when it’s low?
Carbondale, Ill., will get two eclipses in a row, seven years apart — making it the perfect spot to watch the solar cycle in action.
- Astronomy
Cosmic lens lets astronomers zoom in on a black hole’s burps
The beginnings of a jet from an active black hole in a distant galaxy were spotted thanks to a lucky alignment.
- Astronomy
Here are the paths of the next 15 total solar eclipses
From 2017 to 2040, there will be 15 total solar eclipses. Here's a map of where to see them.
- Astronomy
We share the Milky Way with 100 million black holes
New census calculates black hole populations in galaxies big and small.
- Astronomy
Where does the solar wind come from? The eclipse may offer answers
A quick-fire polarization camera should help scientists detect the origins of the solar wind during the Aug. 21 eclipse.
- Astronomy
Eclipses show wrong physics can give right results
Math for making astronomical predictions doesn’t necessarily reflect physical reality.
- Life
Embryos kill off male tissue to become female
Female embryos actively dismantle male reproductive tissue, a textbook-challenging study suggests.
- Neuroscience
How an itch hitches a ride to the brain
Scientists have figured out how your brain registers the sensation of itch.
