Mars once had salt lakes similar to those on Earth
Mars once had salt lakes that are similar to those on Earth and has gone through wet and dry periods.
Read moreSolar System
Origin and chemical makeup of Saturn's Moon Titan's dunes
Astronomers exposed acetylene ice — a chemical that is used on Earth in welding torches and exists at Titan's equatorial regions — at low temperatures to proxies of high-energy galactic cosmic rays.
Read moreAncient stars shed light on Earth's similarities to other planets
Earth-like planets may be common in the universe, a new study implies. The team of astrophysicists and geochemists presents new evidence that the Earth is not unique.
Read moreSoil on moon and Mars likely to support crops
Researchers have produced crops in Mars and moon soil simulant developed by NASA. The research supports the idea that it would not only be possible to grow food on Mars and the moon to feed future settlers, but also to obtain viable seed from crops grown there.
Read moreAnalysis of Galileo's Jupiter entry probe reveals gaps in heat shield modeling
The entry probe of the Galileo mission to Jupiter entered the planet's atmosphere in 1995 in fiery fashion, generating enough heat to cause plasma reactions on its surface. The data relayed about the burning of its heat shield differed from the effects predicted in fluid dynamics models, and new work examines what might have caused such a discrepancy. Researchers now report their findings from new fluid radiative dynamics models.
Read morePressure runs high at edge of solar system
Out at the boundary of our solar system, pressure runs high. This pressure, the force plasma, magnetic fields and particles like ions, cosmic rays and electrons exert on one another when they flow and collide, was recently measured by scientists in totality for the first time — and it was found to be greater than expected.
Read moreSaturn surpasses Jupiter after the discovery of 20 new moons
Move over Jupiter; Saturn is the new moon king. A team has found 20 new moons orbiting Saturn. This brings the ringed planet's total number of moons to 82, surpassing Jupiter, which has 79.
NASA's Curiosity Rover finds an ancient oasis on Mars
If you could travel back in time 3.5 billion years, what would Mars look like? The picture is evolving among scientists working with NASA's Curiosity rover.
Can we peek at Schrodinger's cat without disturbing it?
Quantum physics is difficult and explaining it even more so. Researchers have now tried to solve one of the biggest puzzles in quantum physics: How to measure the quantum system without changing it?
Read moreMany gas giant exoplanets waiting to be discovered
There is an as-yet-unseen population of Jupiter-like planets orbiting nearby Sun-like stars, awaiting discovery by future missions like NASA's WFIRST space telescope, according to new models of gas giant planet formation.
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