Space & Physics
Plumes Spotted on Europa Suggest Easy Access to Water
Water vapor erupting from this Jovian moon could offer new pathways for exploring its subsurface ocean
Stories by Lee Billings
Space & Physics
The Year in Planetary Science
Take a light-speed trip through the solar system to catch up on 2016’s biggest stories from our celestial neighborhood. Produced with support from Explore Scientific
Space & Physics
Trump’s First 100 Days: Space
The new administration will likely shift NASA resources away from Earth exploration and into deep space. But many questions remain about how the agency will be led and funded
Space & Physics
Under Trump, NASA May Turn a Blind Eye to Climate Change
The President-elect’s space policy platform calls for disruptive reorganizations and possible budget cuts to Earth-observing satellite programs
Space & Physics
Pluto's Icy Heart May Hide an Ocean
New studies suggest the dwarf planet’s spin is tilted askew, perhaps by the presence of a subsurface sea
Space & Physics
New Images Reveal Fate of Lost Mars Lander
European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli spacecraft crashed and possibly exploded
Space & Physics
European Spacecraft May Be Lost on Mars
The Schiaparelli lander’s failure to phone home has scientists fearing the worst
Space & Physics
European Spacecraft Attempts Mars Landing
With the Schiaparelli lander, Europe hopes to join the U.S. and Russia in successfully touching down on the Red Planet
Space & Physics
Project Blue Sets Sights on "Pale Blue Dots" around Alpha Centauri
A privately funded small space telescope could soon seek Earth-like planets around the sun’s nearest neighboring stars
Will Elon Musk Scuttle the Search for Life on Mars?
If there is life on the Red Planet—even just alien microbes clinging to existence in isolated refuges—any biological contamination we import from Earth could cause an ecological and scientific catastrophe...
Space & Physics
In the Dark about Dark Matter
Recent disappointments have physicists looking beyond WIMPs for dark matter particles
Space & Physics
Physics Nobel Awarded for Breakthroughs in Exotic States of Matter
David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz share the 2016 Nobel Prize for work explaining the topological underpinnings of superconductivity and other strange phenomena
Space & Physics
Watch the Action as Rosetta Crashes into a Comet
Follow the pioneering spacecraft’s final descent to the bizarre surface of the distant space traveler
Space & Physics
How to See Proxima b
Astronomers are racing to get the first historic image of another possibly Earth-like planet. Here’s how they’ll do it
Space & Physics
Water Bears' Super Survival Skills Give Up Secrets
A protein from microscopic creatures called tardigrades keeps their DNA protected—and could someday shield humans from radiation.
Space & Physics
Astronomers Spy Shadowy Plumes around Europa
If confirmed, the icy Jovian moon’s eruptions could offer new pathways for exploring its subsurface ocean
Space & Physics
The Book That Predicted Proxima b [Excerpt]
A science fiction novel published in 2013 pegged some of the most salient details for our nearest neighboring exoplanet
Space & Physics
Physics Confronts Its Heart of Darkness
Cracks are showing in the dominant explanation for dark matter. Is there anything more plausible to replace it?
Have We Detected an Alien Signal? It's Highly Doubtful
A blip of energy picked up by a Russian radio telescope might have been nothing more than a satellite passing overhead—or even a software glitch
Space & Physics
The Earth Next Door
Astronomers find an exoplanet that could be habitable—and it’s as close to us as it could possibly be
