Space & PhysicsSeptember 1, 2010
Lunar Pencil Lead: Graphite Found in Moon Rock Collected During Apollo 17
Impact-delivered graphite discovered in Apollo moon rock
Stories by John Matson
John Matson is a former reporter and editor for Scientific American who has written extensively about astronomy and physics.
TechnologySeptember 1, 2010
Origami Sheets That Fold Themselves
Space & PhysicsAugust 30, 2010
Which Ray?: Conflicting Data on High-Energy Cosmic Rays Leave Their Source--or Sources--Unresolved
A new study proposes that ultrahigh-energy particles from space may have violent local origins, but not all observations are in agreement
Space & PhysicsAugust 27, 2010
A Little Flight Music: NASA Contest for Wake-Up Songs Prompts Astronauts to Recall Tuneful Highlights
From daily wake-up songs to portable music players, music is a big part of life in orbit
Space & PhysicsAugust 25, 2010
Distant astrophysical beacons reveal masses of the solar system's planets
Space & PhysicsAugust 24, 2010
One Big Family: Exoplanet System Hosts at Least 5, and Possibly 7, New Worlds
A planetary system 125 light-years away could represent the largest collection of known worlds outside the solar system
Space & PhysicsAugust 23, 2010
Meteorite nugget pushes back age of the solar system by nearly 2 million years
Space & PhysicsAugust 20, 2010
Slow and Steady: Astronomy Advisory Report Charts a Long Road for Exoplanet Science
The influential decadal survey champions the pursuit of potentially habitable worlds but offers few details for the near future
The SciencesAugust 20, 2010
Four winners of the 2010 Fields Medal announced
Space & PhysicsAugust 19, 2010
Newfound lunar landforms point to moon's recent shrinkage
The SciencesAugust 18, 2010
Double Shake: Multiple, Nearly Simultaneous Earthquakes Triggered Deadly 2009 Tsunami
The South Pacific disaster stemmed from an unusually tight sequence of massive earthquakes
Space & PhysicsAugust 13, 2010
Influential astronomy priority list favors multipurpose telescopes
Space & PhysicsAugust 12, 2010
Volunteers' Idle Computer Time Turns Up a Celestial Oddball
Einstein@Home, a distributed computing project searching primarily for gravitational waves, has found its first pulsar
Space & PhysicsAugust 12, 2010
Will the Perseid Meteor Shower Ever Run Dry?
Earth's annual passage through the debris stream left by Comet Swift-Tuttle is not likely to make a dent in the meteor shower's intensity anytime soon
The SciencesAugust 12, 2010
Tricky Mantle: Intact Pocket of Ancient Earth May Have Escaped Mixing for 4.5 Billion Years
Primordial lavas from the Arctic may represent the oldest reservoir of terrestrial mantle--perhaps dating to shortly after Earth's formation
Space & PhysicsAugust 11, 2010
Flash Dance: Saturnian Auroras Ebb and Flow in Sync with the Planet's Radio Pulses
Two geomagnetic phenomena of the giant planet appear to pulsate in unison
Space & PhysicsAugust 10, 2010
Former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe reported to have survived Alaska plane crash
The SciencesAugust 9, 2010
Supersaturation leads to melting in silicon, even as its temperature falls
Space & PhysicsAugust 5, 2010
Dry Again: New Analysis of Apollo Moon Rocks Points to a Largely Waterless Lunar Interior
The chlorine content of specimens returned from the moon indicates that the lunar interior never harbored much water, in disagreement with some recent studies
Space & PhysicsAugust 2, 2010
NASA plans quick fix for broken space station cooling unit
Space & PhysicsAugust 1, 2010
An Extra Quiet Sun
A long and pronounced solar minimum befuddles astronomers
Space & PhysicsAugust 1, 2010
NASA's Plan to Use Commercial Rockets Lifts Off
Space & PhysicsJuly 13, 2010
Perturbing Discovery: Does an Exoplanet's Orbital Oddity Reveal a Neighboring World?
Subtle changes in the observed orbit of a massive planet 700 light-years away may point to the gravitational influence of another object
The SciencesJuly 8, 2010
Predicting small-scale turbulent flows could lead to more efficient airliners and ships