John Matson is a former reporter and editor for Scientific American who has written extensively about astronomy and physics.
Water Ice Found on the Surface of an Asteroid for the First Time
The asteroid 24 Themis has organic material and a layer of frost, bolstering theories that asteroids could have seeded Earth with both water and the precursors to life
Are Current Fishing Regulations Misguided?
Selectively harvesting fish by species, size, gender or other traits can knock an ecosystem out of balance, according to a new analysis
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory producing sun science that doubles as eye candy
How Much Volcanic Ash Is Too Much for a Jet Engine?
The danger posed to airplanes by volcanic clouds is not well understood, so officials are trying to limit exposure as much as possible
A warming world could trigger earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes
Space shuttle Discovery glides to Earth after one-day delay
Where Will the Next Volcanic Disruption Hit?
The eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano has largely shut down air travel in Europe, but it is just an extreme version of a relatively common occurrence
What's the (dark) matter? Physicist Peter Fisher says we may not know for 10 years
Obama's Goals for Space Exploration Include a Manned Mission to Mars Orbit in the 2030s
In a speech from Florida's Space Coast, the president argued the case for his proposed NASA budget and outlined his vision for human spaceflight
Quantum Effects Exploited to Generate Random Numbers
Measuring the internal states of entangled ions yields binary digits that demonstrably stem from the indeterminacy of quantum mechanics, but the process is laborious
Technological Advances Bring Exoplanets into Clearer View
Techniques now coming of age allow astronomers to more easily photograph distant planets rather than inferring their presence indirectly
More evidence suggests Venus has recent volcanic activity
Moonset: NASA Top Brass Outline Agency's Plans under Obama's Controversial Budget
The president's budget request for fiscal year 2011, not yet approved by Congress, would bring sweeping changes to the space agency
Cool brown dwarf may be a newfound neighbor of the sun
Newfound asteroid will pass by Earth at lunar distance Thursday
Space shuttle Discovery set for Monday launch to the space station
Unfree Spirit: NASA's Mars Rover Appears Stuck for Good
The U.K. finally gets its own space agency
Object Lesson: Pluto's Smallest Neighbors Prove Tough to Find
Efforts to identify faint objects in the solar system's Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto come up largely empty
A star buzzing through the outer solar system? Bring it on
LHC surpasses its own record as the world's most powerful particle accelerator
Room for Debate: Where, If Anywhere, Is NASA Headed?
Without a firm destination, will NASA's ambitions for a return to manned spaceflight beyond Earth orbit founder? Or, will scrapping the Constellation Program give the U.S. more options for human exploration of the moon, Mars and the asteroids?
A look inside RHIC, Brookhaven's little big bang machine
A Warm Jupiter: A Newfound Exoplanet Bears a Resemblance to the Solar System's Own Worlds
The COROT satellite has found a Jupiter-size world in a relatively temperate Mercury-like orbit