Whoops! NASA burned best evidence for life on Mars 40 years ago
10 July 2018
The Viking Mars landers famously failed to find any evidence of life, but now it seems a rogue chemical reaction masked the signature of organic molecules
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Premium
Falling mini-moons may have created Earth’s first continents
15 May 2018
The early Earth was likely orbited by lots of small moons, which rained down onto the surface and could have built up ancient continents
Mercury's long-lost cousin found in distant planetary system
27 March 2018
An exoplanet discovered 340 million light years away may shed some light on how Mercury got to be such a weird world – a tiny planet made mostly of an iron core
Mercury's long-lost cousin found in distant planetary system
26 March 2018
An exoplanet discovered 340 million light years away may shed some light on how Mercury got to be such a weird world – a tiny planet made mostly of an iron core
The moon may have formed in a vaporised, doughnut-shaped Earth
28 February 2018
Early Earth may have been smashed into a vapour by a Mars-sized object. Our moon may have formed at the edges of the leftover doughnut-shaped cloud of debris
There could be entire stars and planets made out of dark matter
5 February 2018
Mystery dark matter may not just form halos around galaxies. It could clump together like ordinary matter to make dark planets or stars
Hidden exoplanets could be revealed by echoing light
11 January 2018
Reflected light from a star’s flares may help us find otherwise invisible worlds. These exoplanets could be hit by powerful blasts, but may still host life
Earth was smashed by a rock the size of Mars to make the moon
21 December 2017
4.5 billion years ago, a rock called Theia crashed into Earth and formed the moon. Now we know that it was probably only about a tenth the mass of our planet
Mars overdue a planet-wide dust storm that could harm the rovers
13 December 2017
Mars could have a mega dust storm in 2018. Now we know how the Red Planet's massive storms can cascade into a catastrophe for rovers or future settlers
Lightning leaves clouds of radiation and antimatter in its wake
22 November 2017
A lightning storm can trigger an atmospheric nuclear reaction that leads to the production of antimatter and radiation, which may pose health risks
