Wednesday, 23 May, 2012

What can we learn from whacking comets, up close and personal? What do comets tell us about the early solar system? And what is the role of comets in history?

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?

How do volcanoes work (p. 2)? How do we predict them (p. 3)? How do they change the landscape (p. 4)? How does life return after the eruption (p. 6)?

Amateur astronomers watch variable stars, asteroids, comets — helping create a better picture of the universe.

Evidence from ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica show how fast the climate has changed in the past. In this era of global warming, you can’t count on a slow, gradual, predictable warming.

Astronomers have just seen galaxies from the first billion years of the universe. They are also racing to understand dark energy, the force that’s spreading the universe apart.

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

To battle the bulging waistline, the feds have devised 12 food pyramids to help choose a lifestyle that balances nutrition and excercise. Is this mound helpful?

Lunar eclipses are fleeting events, but their history goes deep. And what’s what with that reddish hue?