Space
- Planetary Science
Asteroid impact did not form the moon’s largest plain
The moon's vast flatland — called Oceanus Procellarum — may have been formed through tectonic-like activity billions of years ago, scientists say.
- Planetary Science
Daily winds shift sands of Martian dune field
Martian winds may stir the Red Planet's sands more often than scientists thought.
- Chemistry
Interstellar chemical resembles building blocks of life
A molecule detected in the space between stars resembles amino acids, suggesting those building blocks of life share a similar origin.
- Astronomy
Water found on Neptune-sized world
Just four times as wide as Earth, HAT-P-11b is the smallest exoplanet known to store water in its atmosphere.
- Cosmology
Gravitational wave discovery gives way to Milky Way dust
New polarization maps from the Planck satellite suggest that the BICEP2 announcement this year of primordial gravitational waves might be due entirely to dust in our galaxy.
- Planetary Science
MAVEN spacecraft set to explore Martian atmosphere
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft entered into orbit around the Red Planet on September 21.
- Planetary Science
Feedback
Readers discuss sources of stress in everyday life and tell us what they think about NASA's plan to nab an asteroid.
- Astronomy
Enormous black hole resides at core of tiny galaxy
A small galaxy stores 15 percent of its mass in a black hole, suggesting compact galaxies might be shreds of once larger galaxies.
- Astronomy
Tweak to dark matter may explain Milky Way mystery
Dark matter weakly interacting with light in the early universe might have prevented satellite galaxies from forming around Milky Way, astronomers propose.
- Planetary Science
Spot on comet chosen for Rosetta mission lander
Philae, the Rosetta mission lander, will attempt to land on a spot called site J on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
- Planetary Science
Moon’s farside hints at violent volcanic explosions
The spread of the element thorium in the moon's Compton-Belkovich region suggests that silica volcanoes there once had violent explosions.
- Astronomy
Mystery of missing lithium extends beyond Milky Way
Stars in cluster Messier 54, part of a nearby dwarf galaxy, have just as little lithium as stars in the Milky Way, suggesting that the mystery of the missing element is universal.
