Violent Asteroid Impacts Shaped Protoplanet Vesta’s Odd Interior
Computer models reveal a pair of 32-kilometer-long asteroids caused Vesta's crust to melt and then re-form, making it thicker than can be explained by typical rock layering
Hungry Black Hole Spawns Bizarre 4-Armed Galaxy
Beneath its pretty pink exterior, Messier 106 harbors a monster black hole that gobbles up matter at the galaxy’s center
Closest "Alien Earth" May Be 13 Light-Years Away
Astronomers estimate 4.5 billion Earth-like planets are spread throughout the Galaxy
Large Hadron Collider Is Set to Halt for Upgrades
Maintenance, improvement work and data analysis will keep scientists busy as the European collider's planned closure begins
Solar System’s Moons May Have Emerged from Long-Gone Rings
The solar system's moons may have emerged from long-gone planetary baubles
What the Oldest Meteorites Say about the Early Solar System
Microscopic analyses of chondrites, the oldest rocks in the solar system, are filling in details of what our neighborhood in space was like shortly before the planets formed
Why Hasn't the Whole Universe Collapsed into an Enormous Black Hole? [Video]
Scientific American contributing editor George Musser answers viewer questions submitted to YouTube's Spacelab Channel
Decelerating American Physics: Panel Advises Shutdown of Last U.S. Collider
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is first in line for possible budget cutbacks
A Revolution in Astronomy
Science has progressed from wild speculation about Earth's planetary neighbors—including how they formed and whether they are inhabited—to a better understanding of our celestial neighborhood
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
Scientists Extend Einstein’s Relativity to the Universe’s First Moments
New calculations extend Einstein's general theory of relativity into the universe's first few moments
Black Hole Firewalls Confound Theoretical Physicists
If a new hypothesis about black hole firewalls proves correct, at least one of three cherished notions in theoretical physics must be wrong.