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planetary science

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The Materials Scientist Who Studies the Innards of Exoplanets

By Adam Mann
June 15, 2021
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Federica Coppari uses the world’s most powerful laser to recreate the cores of distant worlds.

planetary science

Astronomers Find Secret Planet-Making Ingredient: Magnetic Fields

By Robin George Andrews
June 7, 2021
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Scientists have long struggled to understand how common planets form. A new supercomputer simulation shows that the missing ingredient may be magnetism.

planetary science

Iceland’s Eruptions Reveal the Hot History of Mars

By Robin George Andrews
April 6, 2021
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The new volcanic fissures are more otherworldly than they first appear.

A mosaic of five microscope images of igneous rocks. The rocks are dappled with blue, pink, orange and multicolor inclusions.
geology

Scientists Pin Down When Earth’s Crust Cracked, Then Came to Life

By Howard Lee
March 25, 2021
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New data indicating that Earth’s surface broke up about 3.2 billion years ago helps clarify how plate tectonics drove the evolution of complex life.

Matthew Genge in a yellow shirt and gray jacket seated at a microscope.
Q&A

What Dust From Space Tells Us About Ourselves

By Natalie Wolchover
February 4, 2021
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Micrometeorites constantly fall on every corner of Earth. Matthew Genge is using these shards of interplanetary space to understand Earth and its place in the solar system.

Blue faults of Cerberus Fossae
planetary science

Rumbles on Mars Raise Hopes of Underground Magma Flows

By Robin George Andrews
February 1, 2021
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Small and cold, Mars has long been considered a dead planet. But a series of recent discoveries has forced scientists to rethink how recently its insides stopped churning — if they ever stopped at all.

Liz MacDonald holding a banner printed with the STEVE aurora.
Q&A

The Scientist Leading the World’s Aurora Hunters

By Robin George Andrews
July 9, 2020
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Liz MacDonald realized that if she wanted to create the world’s best aurora map, she needed a secret ingredient: Twitter.

Illustration showing an austere number line on one side and various interesting objects on the the other, including a dodecahedron, an armillary sphere, flowers and plants.
Quantized Columns

The Two Forms of Mathematical Beauty

By Robbert Dijkgraaf
June 16, 2020
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Mathematicians typically appreciate either generic or exceptional beauty in their work, but one type is more useful in describing the universe.

Illustration of interstellar objects entering our solar system
Quantized Columns

The Age of Interstellar Visitors

By Michele Bannister
January 29, 2020
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As astronomers get better at finding the comets and asteroids of other stars, they’ll learn more about the universe and our place in it.


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