What is the best radiation shielding for the surface of Mars
The planet Mars is calling to us.
At least, that is the impression one gets when examining all the planned and proposed missions to the...
The early solar system was total mayhem
There’s no question that young solar systems are chaotic places.
Cascading collisions defined our young Solar System as rocks, boulders, and planetesimals repeatedly collided.
A new...
Scientists make new findings about the life’s origin on Earth and maybe Mars
Scientists at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution announced that ribonucleic acid (RNA), an analog of DNA that was likely the first genetic material...
The stars in other galaxies are generally heavier than the Milky Way’s stars
How many of what kinds of stars live in other galaxies?
It seems like a simple question, but it’s notoriously hard to pin down, because...
Dark stars: the first stars in the universe could have been powered by annihilating...
Dark matter doesn’t really do much of anything in the present-day universe.
But in the early days of the cosmos there may have been pockets...
Astronomers find 116,000 new variable stars
Ohio State University astronomers have identified about 116,000 new variable stars, according to a new paper.
These heavenly bodies were found by The All-Sky Automated...
Scientists discover an unusual neutron star in stellar graveyard
Astronomers have discovered a new kind of neutron star in an unusual Galactic 'graveyard'. Unlike any of its stellar neighbors, the star pulses.
Scientists have...
A new kind of solar sail could let us explore difficult places to reach...
Solar sailing technology has been a dream of many for decades.
The simple elegance of sailing on the light waves of the sun does have...
Asteroids reveal our solar system’s chaotic infancy
The early solar system was more chaotic than previously thought, according to a new, more precise reconstruction of the early history of several asteroids.
Before...
Why did Mars dry out? New study points to unusual answers
Mars once ran red with rivers.
The telltale tracks of past rivers, streams and lakes are visible today all over the planet.
But about three billion...