Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Solar wind pushes atmospheric breathing
New analyses of satellite data show that cycles of expansion and contraction are tied to changes in the solar wind.
- Space
Dark energy constantly with us
New X-ray and visible-light observations of the growth of galaxy groups and clusters are offering confirming evidence for the existence of dark energy and suggest that it may resemble the cosmological constant.
- Tech
Holiday Gifts: Blog Sites
Sample other blogs and let us know of notables that we missed that are also worth sharing.
- Space
Astronomers zero in on Milky Way’s black hole
Astronomers report a new value for the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center.
- Space
Reading ripples in the cosmic microwave background
Researchers analyzing the wiggles imprinted on the cosmic microwave background, the radiation leftover from the Big Bang, have now demonstrated that those wiggles can be used to find the fingerprints of dark energy.
- Space
New window on the high-energy universe
New telescope finds that the high-energy share of gamma-ray bursts arrive at Earth significantly later than the low-energy portion.
- Space
First detection of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet
Moving one step closer to finding the fingerprints of life in a habitable planet beyond the solar system, astronomers have for the first time detected carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet.
- Space
Meteorites could have thickened primordial soup
New experiments show that extraterrestrial impacts that occurred early in our planet's history could have created the raw materials for life.
- Astronomy
Stargazing Basics: Getting Started in Recreational Astronomy by Paul E. Kinzer
Cambridge Univ., 2008, 147 p., $19.99.
- Earth
The Hunt for Habitable Planets
Here and now, a new suite of small telescopes are poised to look for Earthlike planets beyond the solar system.
- Space
First LHC proton collisions postponed further
The world’s most powerful atom smasher won’t reopen for business until the end of June at the earliest, rather than in April as scientists had previously estimated.
- Space
Martian stairs suggest predictable ancient climate
Tilt in Mars' axis could have created stair-stepped rock formations long ago.
