All Stories by Lisa Grossman
- Space
JWST spots the first known ‘steam world’
Astronomers have found a world shrouded in an atmosphere of water vapor, orbiting a star 100 light-years away.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s Europa mission is a homecoming for one planetary astronomer
Over her long career, Bonnie Buratti has seen the search for life in the solar system go from a joke to a flagship mission.
- Astronomy
Runaway stars could influence the cosmos far past their home galaxies
Dozens of stars fleeing a neighbor of the Milky Way suggest these escapees could have an outsized influence on their cosmic surroundings.
- Planetary Science
Europa Clipper has launched to solve an alien mystery
Launched October 14, the spacecraft will repeatedly buzz Europa in search of water, energy and organic compounds.
- Artificial Intelligence
The discovery of tools key to machine learning wins the 2024 physics Nobel
John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used tools from physics to develop data analysis methods that underlie machine learning.
- Space
50 years ago, satellites threatened astronomers’ view of the cosmos
As satellite launches ramp up and the spacecraft clog the skies, astronomers fear for their data.
- Astronomy
Betelgeuse has a tiny companion star hidden in plain sight
Betelgeuse has a sequel — in the form of a companion star that's about the same mass as the sun, orbiting it about once every 2,100 days.
- Space
Meet Porphyrion, the largest pair of black hole jets ever seen
The two plasma fountains, spanning 23 million light-years, could shape cosmic structures far beyond their home galaxy.
- Space
How a dying star is similar to a lava lamp
In a first, astronomers captured how convective forces power the quick bubbling movement of gas cells on the surface of a distant, massive star.
- Planetary Science
Scientists find a long-sought electric field in Earth’s atmosphere
The Earth’s ambipolar electric field is weak but strong enough to control the shape and evolution of the upper atmosphere.
- Health & Medicine
What is ‘Stage 0’ breast cancer and how is it treated?
Actress Danielle Fishel's diagnosis has raised awareness of a condition that affects about 50,000 U.S. women annually.
- Space
The historic ‘Wow!’ signal may finally have a source. Sorry, it’s not aliens
One of the best possible signs of extraterrestrial communication may have an astrophysical explanation — albeit a weird one.
