Space
Asteroids Get a Surface Makeover When They Pass Near Earth
Earth's gravitational pull shakes up weathered surfaces on asteroids that venture into the planet's surprisingly large sphere of influence
Stories by John Matson
The Sciences
What's the real story with Newton and the apple? See for yourself
Among the countless achievements of Isaac Newton, any number of which would have made him a houseold name on their own, his articulation of the force of gravity in the late 17th century surely ranks near the top...
Sustainability
Paleontologist Peter Ward's "Medea hypothesis": Life is out to get you
What if the only thing life has to fear is life itself?
At a lecture Monday evening at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, paleontologist Peter D.
Space
Just a Phase: Enceladus's Mysterious Behavior May Be Transient
A new model for the inner workings of the Saturnian moon proposes that it only acts out every billion years or so, and we just happen to be around to see it
The Sciences
Record 232-digit number from cryptography challenge factored
A team of researchers has successfully factored a 232-digit number into its two composite prime-number factors, but too late to claim a $50,000 prize once attached to the achievement.
Space
What Keeps Time Moving Forward? Blame It on the Big Bang
A timely Q&A with physicist Sean Carroll about how our one-way trip from past to future is entangled with entropy and the origin of the universe
Space
Follow-Up Observations Highlight Uncertainties in Exoplanet Research
Some proposed exoplanets have proved to be more massive objects such as brown dwarfs or stars, and some may prove not to exist at all
Space
Kepler Spacecraft Spots 5 New Exoplanets
NASA hopes that Kepler will eventually turn up habitable, Earth-like worlds
The Sciences
Molecular Wheels Need Hubs to Form
Chemists catch nanometer-scale structures self-assembling around transient templates
Space
Russian space chief makes vague threat to vaguely threatening asteroid
Anatoly Perminov, the head of Russia's space agency, said today that Russia will consider deflecting the near-Earth asteroid Apophis from its present path, according to news reports.
The Sciences
Polynomial Plot: Simple Math Expressions Yield Intricate Visual Patterns [Slide Show]
Plotting the roots of run-of-the-mill polynomials yields dazzling results
The Sciences
Accept no imitations: Chemist protests appearance of fake snowflakes
'Tis the season for snowstorms and for the holiday-themed artwork that references them. Snowflakes abound these days, even in places not buried in last weekend's East Coast blizzard—in advertisements, on Christmas cards, on paper cutouts made by schoolchildren...
Space
Mars Moil: One Mission Revived as Others Fight for Life or Await Possible Resurrection
On the frontier of planetary exploration, nothing is easy
The Sciences
Dark Matter Researchers Still in the Dark as Underground Search Returns Uncertain Results
Detectors buried deep within a mine registered two potential signals of dark matter, but either or both could have been background noise
Space
Worlds Away: Astronomers Begin to Uncover Nearby "Super-Earths"
A trio of studies presents evidence for the more elusive small planets orbiting nearby stars
The Sciences
Crowd Forcing: Random Movement of Bacteria Drives Gears
In the swimming motions of aerobic bacteria against asymmetric gears, apparent randomness can yield directed motion
Space
WISE, NASA's infrared surveyor, launches successfully
After a series of delays, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) began its mission Monday morning, rocketing toward orbit at 9:09 A.M. (Eastern Standard Time).
The Sciences
Subsurface Gas Deposit Could Deflate Theory of How Earth's Atmosphere Formed
Krypton trapped in Earth's mantle appears not to have been captured from the sun, as some models would predict
The Sciences
Large Hadron Collider eclipses record for high-energy collisions
So far, 2009 has been a much kinder year to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) than 2008 was. The gargantuan particle accelerator, sidelined for more than a year after a breakdown halted its initial run shortly after start-up in September 2008, has been steadily clearing performance benchmarks since resuming operations on November 20 of this year...
Space
WISE Satellite Set to Map the Infrared Universe
NASA's latest space surveyor should be able to peer at distant galaxies and uncover dim objects right in our own celestial backyard
