November 12, 2013
Space Telescope Spots Unprecedented Asteroid with 6 Tails
Sunlight may have set the space rock spinning at breakup speed
Stories by Ron Cowen
Ron Cowen is a freelance science writer based in Silver Spring, Md., and author of Gravity's Century: From Einstein's Eclipse to Images of Black Holes.
September 30, 2013
Curved Spacetime Mimicked on a Chip
A photonic device is capable of simulating gravitational lensing, a phenomenon predicted by Einstein's general relativity
September 23, 2013
Universe May Be Curved, Not Flat
Anomalies in the universe's relic radiation could contradict the evidence for a level cosmos
September 6, 2013
NASA Ponders Hobbled Kepler Spacecraft's Future
The probe could keep hunting for planets or take on alternative tasks such as asteroid spotting
The SciencesAugust 8, 2013
Twisted Magnetic Fields Tie Information in a Knot
Elusive magnetic vortices called skyrmions have been made in the lab for the first time, and could be used to develop more efficient memory chips
Space & PhysicsAugust 1, 2013
Noisy Stars May Make Phantom Planets
Why hyperactive stars are planet hunters' biggest headache
May 29, 2013
Faint Portraits of First Galaxies Shed Light on Cosmic Dawn
The Hubble Space Telescope is giving astronomers a glimpse into the universe's early tumultuous era of galaxy formation
May 22, 2013
The Wheels Come Off Kepler Planet-Finding Mission
The space telescope's mission to find planets outside the solar system is probably over, due to a failed "reaction wheel"
Space & PhysicsMay 10, 2013
Earth and Moon Got Water from Common Source
The chemical fingerprints of lunar rocks suggest that Earth and the moon were born with their water already present
April 18, 2013
Planet-Seeking Spacecraft Spies Water Worlds
The Kepler spacecraft has discovered a pair of exoplanets in a star's habitable zone and close to Earth in size, bringing scientists closer to finding a true twin of our planet
The SciencesMarch 6, 2013
Physicists Twist Water into Knots
A 3-D-printed vortex-maker may improve understanding of braided fluids in nature, such as in the sun's outer atmosphere, superconductive materials, liquid crystals and quantum fields
March 1, 2013
Third 'Van Allen Radiation Belt' Makes Appearance around Earth
NASA probes observed the new belt for weeks before a solar shock wave wiped it out
January 11, 2013
Star Near Our Solar System May Be the Oldest Known
The proximity of HD 140283, at 186 light-years from our solar system, made it a target of a highly precise age measurement that put it at 13.2 billion years old
January 3, 2013
Meteorite Carries Ancient Water from Mars
Rock is among the oldest known from the Red Planet and matches findings from NASA rovers
September 11, 2012
Gas Cloud Hurtling toward Milky Way's Black Hole May Harbor Young Star
The recently spotted cloud might be a planet-forming disk of matter
July 23, 2012
New Biomarkers Honed to Help Search for Life on Earth-like Exoplanets
Despite the cancellation of the Terrestrial Planet Finder telescope, astrobiologists are modeling possible chemical biomarkers that could be used to detect indicators of life on newfound worlds
The SciencesMarch 16, 2012
Snowflake Growth Successfully Modeled from Physical Laws
Mathematicians have re-created the intricate patterns of ice formation, a breakthrough that could lead to new models of red blood cells, soap bubbles and other surfaces that evolve over time
February 27, 2012
"Time Crystals" Could Be a Legitimate Form of Perpetual Motion
Physicists explore the concept that cold states of matter can form repeated patterns in time
Space & PhysicsJanuary 12, 2012
Three Tiny Exoplanets Suggest Solar System Not So Special
Kepler telescope discovers miniature extrasolar planetary system
Space & PhysicsSeptember 6, 2011
Jumpy Stars Slow the Hunt for Other Earths
A NASA mission looks for extra time to battle stellar noise