Planetary Science

Planetary Science

Uranus smells like rotten eggs

Planetary scientists detected hydrogen sulfide in Uranus’ upper clouds — the same compound that gives rotten eggs their terrible smell.

Planetary Science

This meteorite’s diamonds hint that it was born in a lost planet

Bits of metal nestled inside diamonds suggest the space rock could have formed in a Mars-sized protoplanet in the early solar system.

Space

Lasers squeezed iron to mimic the conditions of exoplanet cores

In the first experiment to measure what exoplanets might be like on the inside, scientists hit iron with 176 lasers at once.

Paleontology

Readers debate dinosaur designation and more

Readers had questions about the dino family tree and Venus' habitability.

Planetary Science

Water may have killed Mars’ magnetic field

Extra hydrogen near the Red Planet’s iron core could have shut down convection.

Planetary Science

This spinning moon shows where debris from giant impacts fell

A new map shows that light-colored lunar plains point back to huge impact basins, raising questions about the age and history of the moon.

Planetary Science

Venus may be home to a new kind of tectonics

Venus’ surface seems to be divided into jostling blocks of crust, defying conventional wisdom about how the surfaces of rocky planets work.

Anthropology

Readers ponder children’s pretend play, planetary dust storms and more

Readers had questions about children’s fantasy play, lasers creating 3-D images and dust storms on Mars.

Planetary Science

5 things we’ve learned about Saturn since Cassini died

The Cassini spacecraft plunged to its death into Saturn six months ago, but the discoveries keep coming.

Planetary Science

Some TRAPPIST-1 planets may be water worlds

Two of TRAPPIST-1’s planets are half water and ice, which could hamper the search for life.

Artificial Intelligence

AI bests humans at mapping the moon

AI does a more thorough job of counting craters than humans.

Planetary Science

Dwarf planet Ceres may store underground brine that still gushes up today

Waterlogged minerals and changing ice add to evidence that Ceres is geologically active.