Space
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Before the Mississippi, minerals show ancient rivers flowed west
Michigan zircons uncover the path of an ancient river system across North America.
- Space
Jupiter takes yet another hit
For the third time in 16 years, astronomers have documented a collision between Jupiter and a nearby body.
- Earth
Hazy antidote to a faint young sun
A new theory suggests atmospheric answer to the continuing paradox of why early Earth wasn’t icy.
- Planetary Science
Jupiter’s crash of ’09
The body that crashed into Jupiter last summer was likely an asteroid, and such impacts might occur as frequently as every 10 to 15 years, new studies suggest.
- Space
Neutrino quick-change artist caught in the act
A transformation from one ‘flavor’ to another confirms the elusive elementary particles have mass and suggests a need for new physics.
- Space
Big baby stars found in Milky Way pockets
Astronomers have uncovered stellar nurseries that could help map the galaxy’s trademark spiral arms.
- Astronomy
Black hole shoved aside, along with ‘central’ dogma
A new study has shoved aside the idea that supermassive black holes always reside smack-dab at the centers of their host galaxies.
- Space
New action film set in solar system’s center
For the first time, solar astronomers have tracked a comet on a collision course with the sun.
- Space
Snapshots from a world off-kilter
Astronomers at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Miami presented images of exoplanets in high-angle orbits.
- Space
Probing the heart and soul of star formation
An infrared spacecraft has captured a penetrating view of two dusty nebulae about 6,000 light-years from Earth.
- Space
Herschel telescope unveils icy debris ringing sunlike stars
New infrared images may reveal analogues of the solar system’s Kuiper belt.
- Space
Matter beats out antimatter in experimental echo of creation
A larger-than-expected imbalance could presage major physics breakthroughs.
