All Stories by Maria Temming
- Planetary Science
50 years ago, astronomers were chipping away at Pluto’s mass
Prior to the discovery of Pluto’s moon Charon, astronomers struggled to pin down the dwarf planet’s mass.
- Science & Society
Gender-affirming care improves mental health for transgender youth
Several state legislatures have taken steps to restrict access to gender-affirming health care for transgender adolescents. That goes against medical guidelines.
- Space
Vera Rubin’s work on dark matter led to a paradigm shift in cosmology
‘Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter, and Beyond’ tells the story of how astronomer Vera Rubin provided key evidence for the existence of dark matter.
- Earth
Greece’s Santorini volcano erupts more often when sea level drops
During past periods of lower sea levels, when more of Earth’s water was locked up in glaciers during ice ages, the Santorini volcano erupted more.
- Astronomy
A super-short gamma-ray burst defies astronomers’ expectations
A faraway eruption of gamma rays that lasted for only a second had a surprising origin: the implosion of a massive star.
- Astronomy
The tiny dot in this image may be the first look at exomoons in the making
New ALMA observations offer some of the strongest evidence yet that planets around other stars have moons.
- Astronomy
The latest picture of a black hole captures Centaurus A’s massive jets
Data from the Event Horizon Telescope reveal new details of jets spewing from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Centaurus A.
- Physics
An atomic clock that could revolutionize space travel just passed its first test
The most precise clock ever sent to space successfully operated in Earth’s orbit for over a year.
- Animals
How a gecko named Mr. Frosty could help shed new light on skin cancer
The distinctive coloring and skin tumors of a type of gecko called Lemon Frost have been pegged to a gene implicated in human skin cancer.
- Animals
New images clarify how glasswing butterflies make their wings transparent
Close-up views of glasswing butterflies reveal the secrets behind the insect’s see-through wings: sparse, spindly scales and a waxy coating.
- Chemistry
Many cosmetics contain hidden, potentially dangerous ‘forever chemicals’
Scientists found signs of long-lasting PFAS compounds in about half of tested makeup products, especially waterproof mascaras and lipsticks.
- Animals
Mouse sperm thrived despite six years of exposure to space radiation
A space station experiment suggests future deep-space explorers don’t need to worry about passing the effects of space radiation on to their children.
