All Stories by Lisa Grossman
- Astronomy
Betelgeuse went dark, but didn’t go supernova. What happened?
Astronomers are anxious to learn why Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars in the sky, dimmed dramatically, but didn’t explode, in 2019.
- Astronomy
Arecibo Observatory, an ‘icon of Puerto Rican science,’ will be demolished
The telescope, known for cameos in moves like Contact and for fast radio burst observations, was feared to be on the verge of collapse.
- Space
Planets with many neighbors may be the best places to look for life
Solar systems with many planets in circular orbits suggest a calm life-nurturing past, while single exoplanets with eccentric orbits hint at chaos.
- Planetary Science
Chemical reactions high in Mars’ atmosphere rip apart water molecules
Mars is so dry because its water constant escapes into space. A new study suggests this process occurs in the ionosphere and faster than thought.
- Planetary Science
Doubts over a ‘possible sign of life’ on Venus show how science works
Detecting phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere made headlines, but reanalyses and new searches call into question the original discovery of the molecule.
- Space
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx survived its risky mission to grab a piece of an asteroid
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft just tried to grab a piece of asteroid Bennu. If successful, the spacecraft will return the sample to Earth in 2023.
- Space
A spherical star cluster has surprisingly few heavy elements
A globular cluster in the nearby Andromeda galaxy challenges conventional wisdom about how galaxies form.
- Space
The asteroid Bennu’s brittle boulders may make grabbing a sample easier
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is about to collect a bit of asteroid Bennu. Here’s why it’s good that new research suggests its boulders are brittle.
- Space
The first black hole image helped test general relativity in a new way
The Event Horizon Telescope’s iconic image of the black hole at the center of galaxy M87 once again shows Einstein was right.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, an experimental drug hinted at serotonin’s many roles in the brain
Excerpt from the October 3, 1970 issue of Science News
- Space
Neutrinos could reveal how fast radio bursts are launched
Highly magnetized stellar corpses called magnetars may be the source of two different cosmic enigmas: fast radio bursts and high-energy neutrinos.
- Space
Phosphine gas found in Venus’ atmosphere may be ‘a possible sign of life’
Astronomers have detected a stinky, toxic gas in Venus’ clouds that could be a sign of life, or some strange unknown chemistry.
