Digging Up the Early Universe
Cosmologists are uncovering relics from the dawn of time, letting them look back almost all the way to the Big Bang.
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New Evidence Supports Impact Theory of Moon’s Creation
It’s long been theorized that the moon was created when a Mars-sized proto-planet slammed into the Earth. Unfortunately, though, the chemistry of the two bodies has stubbornly failed to bear this out. Now, though, two very different models of such a collision have been developed, both explaining satisfactorily – but incompatibly – how the Earth-moon…
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New Type of Cosmic Ray Discovered
Using the European X-ray astronomy satellite XMM-Newton, researchers have discovered a new source of cosmic rays. In the vicinity of the remarkable Arches cluster, near the center of the Milky Way, these particles are accelerated in the shock wave generated by tens of thousands of young stars moving at a speed of around 700,000 km/h….
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Giant Strand of Elusive Dark Matter Seen in 3D
Astronomers have taken their first 3D look at a gigantic filament of dark matter, an invisible cosmic structure that can only be detected by its gravitational effects it has on its surroundings. The universe is thought to be structured like a tangled web, with long strings of mostly dark matter intersecting at giant galaxy clusters….
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New Planet Is Closest Yet: Earth-Size Lava World a Space “Landmark”
Alpha Centauri—the star system closest to our sun and the inspiration for legions of science fiction writers—harbors at least one planet and probably more, astronomers announced. The planet orbits very close to Alpha Centauri B—the smaller of two paired stars—and likely has a lava-like consistency to show for it, scientists said. As such, the new…
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Tiniest Alien Solar System Discovered: 5 Packed Planets
The most crowded alien planetary system found yet possesses five worlds all orbiting a star at least 12 times closer than Earth does the sun, researchers say. KOI-500 is a super-compact planetary system, the most tightly packed one seen yet, hosting at least five planets ranging from 1.3 to 2.6 times the size of Earth….
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Apollo Rocks Analysis: Solar Wind Made Moon Water
Analyzing grains of soil collected from three Apollo lunar missions, geochemists have figured out that the hydrogen in trace amounts of water on the moon’s surface probably came from solar wind, the outflow of positively-charged hydrogen from the sun. For decades, scientists didn’t find much hydrogen in the lunar samples that had been returned to…
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Scientists Observe Quantum Effects in Cold Chemistry
At very low temperatures, close to absolute zero, chemical reactions may proceed at a much higher rate than classical chemistry says they should—because in this extreme chill, quantum effects enter the picture. A Weizmann Institute team has now confirmed this experimentally; their results would not only provide insight into processes in the intriguing quantum world…
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Black-Hole Laser Edges Closer to Testing Hawking
In a laboratory in Scotland, a revolutionary kind of laser is taking shape – the first one to be made out of an artificial black hole. Once complete, the device could help confirm mounting evidence that real black holes, despite their name, emit light. A black-hole laser could also find practical uses in devices that…
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Freshest Mars Rock Contains Evidence for Water
A meteorite that fell in Morocco last year might contain the freshest evidence for water on Mars, according to a study published in Science. The meteorite, named Tissint after the town nearest its landing site, was identified as a Mars rock in January. Now, Hasnaa Chennaoui Aoudjehane and her colleagues report that Tissint contains evidence…