Space
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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AstronomyOtherworldly triple play
Astronomers have discovered the first known system of three superEarths beyond the solar system.
By Ron Cowen -
AstronomyAccidental astrophysicists
MATH TREK: The mathematicians thought they'd just extended a fundamental result in algebra, but it turns out that they'd also proven a conjecture in astrophysics.
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AstronomyNot a ripple
Another null result for gravitational waves. But findings from LIGO still reveal new information about the Crab Pulsar.
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Science & SocietyConfirmed: Big Dipper to Get Doritos
A European astronomy group beamed a video of a Doritos sacrifice to the god of salsa at a possible alien race in a star system associated with the Big Dipper.
By Janet Raloff -
HumansDoritos in Space
Today, a huge European radar-transmitter system sent an ad for a cheesy snack radiating out into space.
By Janet Raloff -
SpaceBefore the beginning
A new analysis suggests that the universe exists within a bigger space.
By Ron Cowen -
Planetary ScienceShake, shake, shake
Instrument succeeds in capturing first soil sample, allowing Mars Phoenix Lander team to begin scientific studies.
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AstronomyFrom planet to plutoid
Pluto and its dwarf planet neighbors are christened plutoids, the International Astronomical Union rules.
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SpaceSizing up black holes
ST. LOUIS—Astronomers are all wound up over a new method for sizing up supermassive black holes found at the cores of galaxies. The method allows researchers for the first time to estimate the weight of these black holes in spiral galaxies up to 8 billion light-years away, or halfway across the universe, reports Marc Seigar […]
By Ron Cowen -
SpaceOutsiders look in
Astronomers stitch together the most detailed infrared picture of the inner Milky Way.
By Ron Cowen -
SpaceDispatch from Mars, Sol 9
The Phoenix Lander's robotic arm scoops its first experimental sample, and scientists prepare to start their scientific studies on the Martian soil.