Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Young scientist crosses fingers for Mars rover
Ryan Anderson’s graduate work helped researchers select Curiosity’s landing site in Gale Crater.
- Astronomy
Curiosity to look for habitable environs
Set to land on Mars August 5, NASA mission will search for signs that the planet could support life, now or long ago.
- Planetary Science
Curiosity readies for dramatic entrance
NASA’s new Mars rover aims to alight on the Red Planet like a pop star being lowered onto stage.
- Humans
Blog: Remembering Sally Ride
Astronomy writer Nadia Drake looks back on the astronaut’s reach.
- Space
Crowd sourcing comes to astronomy
Researchers comb the Internet for snapshots of a comet and use the collected images to calculate its orbit.
- Space
Black hole theory deepens lithium crisis
A new proposal suggests a potential new source of the element as astrophysicists try to explain why it’s in such short supply.
- Cosmology
Inflation on Trial
Generally regarded as one of the most successful theories about the early universe, inflationary cosmology is not exactly under attack. But a few scientists are questioning whether it deserves its reputation as completely untouchable.
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- Space
Moon patterns explained
Electric fields enveloping magnetic bubbles may form mysterious lunar swirls.
- Space
Dark matter filament illuminated
Astronomers visualize a connection in a shadowy cosmic network that is thought to pervade the universe.
- Physics
Essay: Nature’s secrets foretold
Higgs discovery celebrates math's power to make predictions about the real world.
- Space
Early stars created a sight yet unseen
Radio telescopes, operating in the future at a different frequency, might be able to discern the stellar signature, researchers suggest.
