Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Cosmology
New sky map charts previously unknown gamma-ray sources
A new map of the sky from the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory charts the cosmic origins of high-energy photons.
- Planetary Science
How alien can a planet be and still support life?
Geoscientists imagine the unearthly mechanisms that could keep alien planets habitable.
- Astronomy
New telescopes will search for signs of life on distant planets
Researchers are coming up with creative ways to pick up biosignatures in far-away planetary atmospheres.
- Space
Will we know extraterrestrial life when we see it?
Desert varnish and certain minerals hint that life — here and elsewhere — may defy current criteria.
- Astronomy
Kepler telescope readies for new mission after communications scare
The Kepler space telescope has recovered from going into emergency mode and is now ready for its next planet-hunting mission.
- Astronomy
Key sugar needed for life could have formed in space
Sugar that forms backbone of cell machinery can form on icy grains blasted by ultraviolet light from young stars.
- Astronomy
Possible source of high-energy neutrino reported
Scientists may have found the cosmic birthplace of an ultra-high energy neutrino: a blazar 9 billion light years away.
- Astronomy
There’s far more to the galaxy than meets the eye
A new map of the galaxy as seen in submillimeter light reveals intricate details from nearby nebulas to the far-flung galactic center.
- Physics
Faint gravitational waves could soon be on LIGO’s radar
In a few years, LIGO could detect hints of faint gravitational waves from black holes too far away to be seen directly.
- Astronomy
Odd white dwarf found with mostly oxygen atmosphere
A white dwarf that has been stripped of its hydrogen and helium provides a rare peek inside the core of a dead massive star.
- Astronomy
This eclipse goes on and on
The longest known stellar eclipse hides a nearby star for nearly 3.5 years behind a thick clump of orbiting dust once every 69 years.
- Astronomy
Earth’s hurricanes have nothing on this quasar
In a remote galaxy, a cosmic hurricane around a supermassive black hole is driving winds at nearly 20 percent of the speed of light.
