Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Hop, skip and a jump
Less gravity on Mars means wind-driven grains of sand travel up to 10 times faster than those blowing along Earth’s surface, new analyses suggest.
- Space
Searching for superEarths
Astronomers are exploring a new family of planets beyond the solar system.
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- Space
Black hole once glowed brightly
More than 26,000 years ago, the Milky Way's central black hole suddenly but fleetingly increases its X-ray output.
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- Planetary Science
BOOK LIST | Titan Unveiled
Astronomer Lorenz and science writer Mitton provide the details of what we know so far about Saturn’s moon. TITAN UNVEILED Princeton University Press, 2008, 243 p., $29.95
- Astronomy
Pioneer 10’s puzzling motion: a lot of hot air
The slow-down of the Pioneer spacecrafts may be caused in part by the way they radiate heat, new data shows.
- Astronomy
BOOK LIST | Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them
Pickover, who has authored 40 books on many aspects of science and mathematics, discusses how the works of great minds from Archimedes to Stephen Hawking have changed humankind’s understanding of the universe. BIG IDEAS, AND BIG THINKERS, IN COSMOLOGY Oxford University Press, 2008, 514 p., $27.95.
- Astronomy
Solving a cosmic ray conundrum
Astronomers say they have solved a puzzle about the most energetic particles that smash into Earth.
- Planetary Science
Caught in the Act? Images may reveal planetary birth
Astronomers, for the first time, have imaged dusty clumps surrounding young stars that could be planets in the making.
- Planetary Science
Gassy Geysers: Cassini surveys Saturn’s moon
NASA's Cassini spacecraft had a close encounter with the giant vapor plume gushing from Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus.
- Planetary Science
Titan may harbor underground ocean
Observations by the Cassini spacecraft hint that Saturn's smog-shrouded moon Titan may harbor a global ocean of water and ammonia 100 kilometers below its surface.
