Space
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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SpaceChanging one of nature’s constants
A controversial new study suggests that an immutable value that governs the strength of the electromagnetic force varies along different directions.
By Ron Cowen -
SpaceStill no Earths, but getting closer
Two newly discovered planetary systems shed light on the likelihood of producing terrestrial planets.
By Ron Cowen -
SpaceSolar system older than estimated
A meteorite’s age has pushed back the estimated time of the solar system’s formation by almost 2 million years.
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SpaceMoon shrinks
New pictures expand evidence of the moon’s shrinkage over the past billion years.
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Planetary ScienceWorldwide slowdown in plant carbon uptake
A decade of droughts has stifled the increasing growth of terrestrial vegetation.
By Sid Perkins -
SpaceMining for Missing Matter
In underground lairs, physicists look for the dark stuff.
By Ron Cowen -
AstronomyCelestial wish list
A panel of astronomers ranks proposed astrophysics projects for the coming decade.
By Ron Cowen -
SpaceTwinkle, twinkle, little dot
A faint object was once thought to be the first extrasolar planet to be photographed. Then it wasn’t. But now it may go down in the history books after all.
By Ron Cowen -
TechThe people’s pulsar
Thousands of volunteers help discover a neutron star by donating the processing power in their idle home computers.
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SpaceAll wet, or high and dry?
The moon’s interior contains far less water than Earth’s, new studies of rocks collected by Apollo astronauts suggest.
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SpaceDark matter eldorado
Astronomers have discovered that a nearby galaxy has the highest density of dark matter of any galaxy known.
By Ron Cowen