Mystery Moon (and Meteorites, and Stars)
July 17, 2013
One would think astronomers would not be stumped in 2013 by common objects like the moon, meteors and stars. But they are. It's driving them mad.
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Extrasolar Planets: Bigger and More Mortal
June 10, 2013
Many of the stars and planets found by the Kepler spacecraft are not earthlike. Also, astronomers have seen planets destroyed by their stars.
Public Invited to Participate in Astrobiology's Future
May 24, 2013
NASA's Astrobiology Program is charting a new roadmap for future projects, and the public is allowed to voice its opinions.
Fresh Impacts Viewed on Mars, Moon
May 21, 2013
New impacts observed on the moon and Mars allow space scientists to learn about crater formation in near real time. What conclusions can be drawn?
Moon Water and Magnetism Mystifies Astronomers
May 12, 2013
Two mysteries from the moon are forcing revisions to textbooks. One concerns water in moon minerals. The other concerns the moon's magnetic field.
Trouble for Mars Lifers
May 8, 2013
Evidence disputes Mars water, let alone life. It's looking like a toxic place. Besides, where would the water come from?
Cosmologists Use Natural Selection to Explain Fine-Tuning of the Universe
May 7, 2013
In a mathematical tour de farce, two Oxford evolutionists have applied Darwinian natural selection to the multiverse to try to explain why it looks designed.
Saturn's Rings Impacted by Meteoroids
April 30, 2013
Cassini has observed clouds of dust from meteoroids hitting the rings. The data will "impact" theories of the rings' origin and age.
Major Cosmic Questions Remain Unanswered
April 28, 2013
Some basic ideas about physics and astronomy remain so mysterious, and their explanations so flexible, they may lead some to question whether they should be called "hard sciences."
Latest Attempt to Explain Homochirality Underscores the Problem
April 23, 2013
Finding that some stars emit circularly polarized light will not help explain why life uses only left-handed amino acids.
SETI, Said He, Isn't Ready, Said She
April 22, 2013
The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence is like a detective story without a body. All those new planets, but no signal—at least not one that most scientists will accept.
What's New in the Primordial Soup?
April 19, 2013
The bubbling froth percolates with ideas about how life "emerged," each new notion trying to outdo the last in vacuity.
Titan's Methane Still Puzzles Scientists
April 16, 2013
The methane in Titan's atmosphere should be long gone, and may be disappearing soon, planetologists say.
Using Finagle's Rules in Cosmology
April 10, 2013
Fudging and finagling often underlie the confident-sounding claims of cosmologists.
Bimbo Eruptions in the Solar System
April 6, 2013
Planetary origin theories come across as popular and charismatic, till some little moon pops off and says, "Yoo-hoo! Remember me?"