Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Juno is closing in on Jupiter
After 5 years of travel, Juno will soon reach Jupiter and begin its up close investigations of the giant planet.
- Planetary Science
The 43-year history of journeys to Jupiter, in one graph
With the arrival of Juno, nine spacecraft will have flown past or orbited Jupiter over the last 43 years.
- Astronomy
Molecular handedness found in space
Propylene oxide in an interstellar cloud sets up a testing ground for understanding why life chooses one type of mirror-image molecule over another.
- Physics
Second gravitational wave signal detected
LIGO has spotted a second set of ripples in the fabric of spacetime.
- Astronomy
Limestone world gobbled by planet-eating white dwarf
Debris from a shredded planet points to a world that was once covered in calcium carbonate.
- Planetary Science
Long-lost ‘extinct’ meteorite found
A newly discovered meteorite, nicknamed Öst 65, may have originated from the same collision that formed L chondrites, one of the most abundant groups of meteorites on Earth.
- Astronomy
Space-based probe passes tests for gravitational wave detection
The LISA Pathfinder mission has demonstrated that future observatories in space could detect gravitational waves.
- Astronomy
Space-based probe passes tests for gravitational wave detection
The LISA Pathfinder mission has demonstrated that future observatories in space could detect gravitational waves.
- Planetary Science
Jupiter’s stormy weather no tempest in teapot
New radio observations reveal how ammonia moves about beneath Jupiter’s clouds and provide a sneak peek at what NASA’s Juno mission will learn later this year.
- Astronomy
Young exoplanet found nestled close to its star
Scientists have found one of the youngest exoplanets ever, snuggled up close to its star.
- Earth
Plate tectonics just a stage in Earth’s life cycle
Plate tectonics is just a phase in a planet’s lifetime between conditions that are too hot or too cold for the planet-churning mechanism, new simulations suggest.
- Planetary Science
Comet 67P carries two ingredients for life: glycine, phosphorus
Two ingredients essential for all life, phosphorus and the amino acid glycine, have been found floating around a comet.
