All Stories by Maria Temming
- Chemistry
American whiskeys leave unique ‘webs’ when evaporated
If you don’t have a sophisticated palate, it turns out you can distinguish among bourbons with a microscope.
- Space
Rules guarding other planets from contamination may be too strict
Voluntary international guidelines for visiting the moon, Mars and other places — and for bringing stuff back to Earth — are overly cautious, scientists say.
- Space
The solar system may have a new smallest dwarf planet: Hygiea
New images reveal Hygiea is round, a final criterion for promoting the wee world from asteroid to dwarf planet status.
- Space
Strontium is the first heavy element detected from a neutron star merger
The discovery of strontium created inside a neutron star smashup gives the clearest picture yet of what goes on inside this chaotic environment.
- Planetary Science
Astronomers have spotted a new type of storm on Saturn
In 2018, telescopes on Earth and in space identified a never-before-seen kind of storm activity on the ringed planet.
- Space
How the second known interstellar visitor makes ‘Oumuamua seem even odder
With its gaseous halo and tail, the second discovered interstellar object, 2I/Borisov, looks basically like your run-of-the-mill solar system comet.
- Earth
50 years ago, an Antarctic fossil pointed to Gondwanaland’s existence
Fifty years ago, fossils from Antarctica helped seal the deal that the southern continents were once connected in one, giant landmass called Gondwanaland.
- Chemistry
The development of the lithium-ion battery has won the chemistry Nobel Prize
Three scientists have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for helping create lithium-ion batteries, which power everyday devices from smartphones to electric cars.
- Cosmology
A new book explores how the concept of the multiverse has evolved
Tom Siegfried, author of ‘The Number of the Heavens,’ discusses what the multiverse has meant to great thinkers throughout history.
- Neuroscience
Maryam Shanechi designs machines to read minds
Maryam Shanechi creates computer programs that link brain and machine to one day help patients with paralysis or psychiatric disorders.
- Earth
Here’s where Earth stores its carbon
Most of Earth’s carbon is stored inside the planet. But giant lava outflows and now humans have released huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
- Space
NASA’s new black hole visualizations showcase how gravity warps light
Images from computer simulations highlight how the extreme gravity of a black hole tampers with light rays emanating from its accretion disk to create weird patterns.
