Experimental Martian dirt: $20 a kilogram, plus shipping

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A team of astrophysicists has developed a scientifically based, standardized method for creating Martian and asteroid soil known as simulants.
via Science Daily
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Did key building blocks for life come from deep space?

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All living beings need cells and energy to replicate. Without these fundamental building blocks, living organisms could not exist. Little was known about a key element in the building blocks, phosphates, until now. Researchers have now provide compelling new evidence that this component for life was generated in outer space and delivered to Earth in its first one billion years by meteorites or comets.
via Science Daily
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Where are they? Cosmologists search Andromeda for signs of alien life

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'Are we alone in the universe?' The question has fascinated, tantalized and even disconcerted humans for as long as we can remember.
via Science Daily
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Software finds the best way to stick a Mars landing

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Researchers have developed a software tool for computer-aided discovery that could help mission planners make these decisions. It automatically produces maps of favorable landing sites, using the available data on Mars' geology and terrain, as well as a list of scientific priorities and engineering constraints that a user can specify.
via Science Daily
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By Jove! Methane's effects on sunlight vary by region

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Solar energy absorption by methane is 10 times stronger over desert regions such as the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula than elsewhere on Earth, and nearly three times more powerful in the presence of clouds. Researchers came to this conclusion after evaluating observations of Jupiter and Saturn's moon Titan.
via Science Daily
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How Earth sheds heat into space

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New insights into the role of water vapor may help researchers predict how the planet will respond to warming.
via Science Daily
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How a tiny Curiosity motor identified a massive Martian dust storm

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When dust filled the Martian atmosphere during the recent planet-wide dust storm, observations were plentiful -- even from unlikely instruments.
via Science Daily
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Powerful jet discovered coming from 'wrong' kind of star

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Discovery of a jet of material launched by a highly magnetic neutron star forces rethinking a longstanding theory about the origin of such jets.
via Science Daily
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Hyper Suprime-Cam survey maps dark matter in the universe

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Today, astronomers have released the deepest wide field map of the three-dimensional distribution of matter in the universe ever made and increased the precision of constraints for dark energy with the Hyper Suprime-Cam survey (HSC).
via Science Daily
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Impact of WWII bombing raids felt at edge of space

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Bombing raids by Allied forces during the WWII not only caused devastation on the ground but also sent shockwaves through Earth's atmosphere which were detected at the edge of space. Researchers have revealed the shockwaves produced by huge bombs dropped by Allied planes on European cities were big enough to weaken the electrified upper atmosphere -- the ionosphere -- above the UK, 1,000 km away.
via Science Daily
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No longer whistling in the dark: Scientists uncover source of perplexing waves

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Using data from a NASA four-satellite mission that is studying reconnection, scientists have developed a method for identifying the source of waves that help satellites determine their location in space.
via Science Daily
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Astronomers use Earth's natural history as guide to spot vegetation on new worlds

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By looking at Earth's full natural history and evolution, astronomers may have found a template for vegetation fingerprints -- borrowing from epochs of changing flora -- to determine the age of habitable exoplanets.
via Science Daily
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Martian moon may have come from impact on home planet

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Phobos, the larger of Mars' two tiny satellites, is the darkest moon in the solar system. This dark aspect inspired the hypothesis that the close-orbiting moon may be a captured asteroid, but its orbital dynamics seemed to disagree. A new study suggests Phobos' composition may be more like the volcanic crust of the Red Planet than it appears, consistent with an origin for the moon in an ancient, violent impact on Mars.
via Science Daily
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Ancient Mars had right conditions for underground life, new research suggests

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A new study shows that the breakdown of water molecules trapped in ancient Martian rocks likely produced enough chemical energy to sustain microorganisms for hundreds of millions of years beneath the Red Planet's surface.
via Science Daily
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Astrophysicists measure precise rotation pattern of sun-like stars for the first time

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Scientists have measured the differential rotation on Sun-like stars for the first time, and their findings challenge current science on how stars rotate.
via Science Daily
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Matter falling into a black hole at 30 percent of the speed of light

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Astronomers report the first detection of matter falling into a black hole at 30% of the speed of light, located in the center of the billion-light year distant galaxy PG211+143. The team used data from the European Space Agency's X-ray observatory XMM-Newton to observe the black hole.
via Science Daily
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Gaia hints at our Galaxy’s turbulent life

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Our Milky Way galaxy is still enduring the effects of a near collision that set millions of stars moving like ripples on a pond, the Gaia star mapping mission has shown.
via Science Daily
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Looking back in time to watch for a different kind of black hole

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A simulation has suggested what astronomers should look for if they search the skies for a direct collapse black hole in its early stages.
via Science Daily
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Wave-particle interactions allow collision-free energy transfer in space plasma

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A team finds evidence of collisionless energy transfer occurring in the plasma of Earth's magnetosphere.
via Science Daily
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NASA's TESS shares first science image in hunt to find new worlds

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NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which began science operations in July, has released its first full frame image using all four of its cameras.
via Science Daily
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Ice volcano activity on dwarf planet Ceres

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Ice volcanoes on the dwarf planet Ceres generate enough material to fill one movie theater each year, new calculations show.
via Science Daily
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Never-before-seen features found around a neutron star

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An unusual infrared light emission from a nearby neutron star detected by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope could indicate new features never before seen.
via Science Daily
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'Optical rocket' created with intense laser light

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An experiment has demonstrated how the application of intense light boosts electrons to their highest attainable speeds.
via Science Daily
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BUFFALO charges towards the earliest galaxies

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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has started a new mission to shed light on the evolution of the earliest galaxies in the Universe. The BUFFALO survey will observe six massive galaxy clusters and their surroundings. The first observations show the galaxy cluster Abell 370 and a host of magnified, gravitationally lensed galaxies around it.
via Science Daily
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VLBA measures asteroid's characteristics

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Astronomers took advantage of a celestial alignment to make a novel and creative radio observation yielding information about the size, shape, and orbit of an asteroid.
via Science Daily
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Stunning details of spiral galaxy NGC 3981

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FORS2, an instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope, has observed the spiral galaxy NGC 3981 in all its glory. The image was captured as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems Programme, which makes use of the rare occasions when observing conditions are not suitable for gathering scientific data.
via Science Daily
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Evidence of early planetary shake-up

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Scientists have studied an unusual pair of asteroids and discovered that their existence points to an early planetary rearrangement in our solar system.
via Science Daily
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Legacy of NASA's Dawn, near the end of its mission

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NASA's Dawn mission is drawing to a close after 11 years of breaking new ground in planetary science, gathering breathtaking imagery, and performing unprecedented feats of spacecraft engineering.
via Science Daily
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Curiosity rover surveys a mystery under dusty Martian skies

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NASA's Curiosity rover recently surveyed its surroundings on Mars, producing a 360-degree panorama of its current location on Vera Rubin Ridge.
via Science Daily
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Pluto should be reclassified as a planet, experts say

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The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid, according to new research.
via Science Daily
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New exoplanet found very close to its star

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Using data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, an international team has discovered a new exoplanet twice the size of Earth. It orbits its star every six days and is thus very close to it, about 10 times closer than Mercury is to the Sun.
via Science Daily
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Mysterious 'lunar swirls' point to moon's volcanic, magnetic past

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The mystery behind lunar swirls, one of the solar system's most beautiful optical anomalies, may finally be solved. The solution hints at the dynamism of the moon's ancient past as a place with volcanic activity and an internally generated magnetic field. It also challenges our picture of the moon's existing geology.
via Science Daily
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Saturn's famous hexagon may tower above the clouds

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The long-lived international Cassini mission has revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn's northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn's clouds.
via Science Daily
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Radio observations confirm superfast jet of material from neutron star merger

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The supersharp radio 'vision' of a continent-wide collection of radio telescopes has answered an outstanding question about the aftermath of a merger of two neutron stars.
via Science Daily
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Telescope maps cosmic rays in Large and Small Magellanic Clouds

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A radio telescope in outback Western Australia has been used to observe radiation from cosmic rays in two neighbouring galaxies, showing areas of star formation and echoes of past supernovae.
via Science Daily
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Boosting gravitational wave detectors with quantum tricks

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A group of scientists will soon start developing a new line of technical equipment in order to dramatically improve gravitational wave detectors. If the scientists are able to improve the gravitational wave detectors as much as they 'realistically expect can be done,' the detectors will be able to monitor and carry out measurements in an eight times bigger volume of space than what is currently possible.
via Science Daily
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Satellites more at risk from fast solar wind than a major space storm

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Satellites are more likely to be at risk from high-speed solar wind than a major geomagnetic storm according to a new study.
via Science Daily
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Veiled supernovae provide clue to stellar evolution

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At the end of its life, a red supergiant star explodes in a hydrogen-rich supernova. By comparing observation results to simulation models, an international research team found that in many cases this explosion takes place inside a thick cloud of circumstellar matter shrouding the star. This result completely changes our understanding of the last stage of stellar evolution.
via Science Daily
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