Stories by Clara Moskowitz

A dragonfly breaking out of its larval skin

The program will not repeat past mistakes, officials vow, and will launch as planned in 2018
 

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spotted a surprising amount of methane erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, suggesting it harbors more methane than we thought. Clara Moskowitz reports

Black holes break theories. These sites of extremely large masses in extremely small spaces invoke both of the behemoths of modern physics—general relativity (which rules over large masses) and quantum mechanics (which reigns in small spaces).

Wednesday is the 50th anniversary of the world’s first spacewalk, by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. Since then, astronauts have accomplished many milestones beyond the confines of a spacecraft

Reader-submitted photos of pi pies, pizzas and parties to commemorate the Pi Day of the Century

Send us pix of your pies, pizzas and parties in honor of math (and circular baked goods)

When the upgraded Large Hadron Collider restarts it will be capable of energies never before achieved, potentially unveiling novel particles and opening a window on the inner workings of the universe
 

Physicist Marcia Barbosa will present a free live Webcast on the scientific mysteries of H20
 

After four years, what have we learned about the innermost planet?

A new theory suggests the Higgs field varied in the early universe, offering matter a chance to split off from antimatter

A dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way may consist of more dark matter than regular matter.* Clara Moskowitz reports

Two new “baryons” made of three quarks each are an exotic twist on normal protons and neutrons
 

Astronomers have discovered variable stars that periodically dim and brighten at frequencies close to the famed golden mean

Cosmologist Kendrick Smith will present a free live Webcast on the quest to understand the origin of the universe
 

The oldest group of terrestrial worlds now known formed some 11.2 billion years ago, more than six billion years before our sun and planets. Clara Moskowitz reports

 

In his new book Bell, who has sent probes to explore distant planets, tells how two craft carrying messages for extraterrestrials have journeyed farther from Earth than any other

Milestone Prizes give five teams a boost to launch a commercial lunar lander by the end of 2016
 

Prolific comet hunter Terry Lovejoy shares his secrets

President Obama made a rare shout-out to space in Tuesday's State of the Union Address, referencing NASA's recent Orion capsule launch and addressing astronaut Scott Kelly in the audience at the Capitol.

I remember battling sleepiness as I slouched in a large lecture hall, squinting to make out the writing on the blackboard during my freshman introductory physics course in college.

Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy’s latest comet find is naked-eye visible in the southeast sky until January 24. Clara Moskowitz reports    

 

Amir Aczel explored jungles and ancient temples to trace the history of the number zero

Seven-month long neutrino experiment finds no signs of the rumored sterile neutrino