Space
- Planetary Science
Comet 67P, Rosetta spacecraft cozy up to the sun
Comet 67P is shooting off brilliant jets of gas and dust as it swings in close to the sun, giving scientists clues to the space rocks chemical composition.
- Neuroscience
Shifting views of brain cells, and other fresh perspectives
The details emerging from the latest work on glial cells are sure to yield more insights as scientists continue their struggle to understand the mind.
By Eva Emerson - Astronomy
Lucy’s new neighbor, downloading New Horizon’s data and more reader feedback
Readers discuss why Pluto's data will take so long to get to Earth, the role the cerebellum plays in creative thinking and more.
- Planetary Science
New exoplanet: Big Earth or small Neptune?
NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered a “cousin” of Earth 1,400 light-years away. But even though the new planet bears many similarities to Earth, experts say much about it remains a mystery.
By Andrew Grant - Astronomy
24-eyed telescope takes full-sky movies every night
The Evryscope, a 24-telescope array in northern Chile, will nearly continuously watch for changes in the southern sky.
- Astronomy
Young black holes evade detection
Supermassive black holes should be growing in the first billion or so years after the Big Bang, but astronomers can’t find them.
- Astronomy
Faint red stars can build water worlds drip by drip
Rocky planets around faint red stars have a hard time getting water, but they’re still probably the most common habitable locales in the Milky Way, new computer simulations suggest.
- Planetary Science
Quest to trace origin of Earth’s water is ‘a complete mess’
Understanding the origin of Earth’s water is hard enough, and it’s made harder by not knowing where all that water is hiding.
- Planetary Science
Mini moons may zip around Earth
Mini moons may buzz around Earth, and they make great targets for space missions.
- Astronomy
Cosmic threads may hide some of universe’s missing matter
Half the normal matter in the universe might be hiding in cosmic threads strung between clusters of galaxies.
- Planetary Science
Map of Ceres’ surface shows surprises
Clusters of craters on Ceres and smooth landscapes hint at an unusual past for the dwarf planet.
- Planetary Science
New results from Philae lander offer first close-up of a comet
Philae’s bouncy journey across comet 67P allowed it to check out two very different sites before taking a detailed look at both the inside and outside of the comet.