Wednesday, 8 February, 2012

In astronomy, it helps to get above it all. Three cool orbiting telescopes are collecting visible, infrared and X-ray light. We ogle their greatest hits.

Before planets, there was dust. But gravity doesn’t affect dust. So how did the planets form before solar wind blew all the dust away? Experiment shows that dust in planetary nebulas was coated with sticky ice.

Neutrinos are everywhere, but catching these tiny particles is one of the toughest tasks in physics. A giant neutrino experiment is starting up in Illinois. Want to go visit?

Cassini finds lightning strikes on Saturn, haze on moon Titan, dust between the rings, and new rotation rate.

New view of crystals that form into planets in protoplanetary disks. Which came first, the planet or the crystals?

Infrared survey of Milky Way shows massive star formation. How could a supernova cause stars to start?

History shows societies collapse without soil. What can the world cando to keep our dirt clean?

As weapons proliferate, we wonder: exactly how do you make a nuke? How many nations have this ability? How can we track proliferators?

This Why File surveys the latest in forensic anthropology, with a visit to the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, AKA The Body Farm.

Why don’t the rings of Saturn just disappear over millions of years. It’s the recycling, that’s why!