science stories

Astronomers just found a planet 13 times bigger than Jupiter

Matthew Jackson
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 - 11:24am
Jupiter is a big planet. We live on a big planet, but Jupiter has 121.9 times the surface area of Earth. Jupiter is so big, in fact, that it's actually 2.5 times more massive than the rest of the planets in our solar system combined. Imagine that, now multiply it 13 times, and you've got a new planet that makes Jupiter look small.

Why does Earth's orbit tilt? Scientists finally think they know

Matthew Jackson
Friday, November 16, 2012 - 10:44am
It's an enduring puzzle that's had astronomers and astrophysicists scratching their heads for years: Why does the Earth tilt? Our planet orbits with at slight (7-degree) angle relative to the Sun, and we've never been able to figure out why, but now one scientist thinks he's got our planet's crooked spin solved.

Scientists may have found 'orphan' planet NOT orbiting a star

Matthew Jackson
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - 11:09am
Though they vary widely in other characteristics, we usually think of planets as having one unifying quality: they're all orbiting a star, right? Well ... apparently not. It seems there could be quite a few "orphan" worlds just floating out in space, and scientists think they just found one really close to Earth.

Scientists reveal how jet-sized flying dinosaurs got airborne

Matthew Jackson
Friday, November 9, 2012 - 11:32am
It was the biggest living thing to ever take to the skies, a dinosaur the size of an F-16 fighter with a 34-foot wingspan and a weight of 155 pounds. Despite its size, it managed to get off the ground without the aid of mountains or cliffs, but how? Scientists now think they know, and the answer, like the dino, is a bit jet-like.

MIT student says we could save the Earth from asteroids with WHAT?

Matthew Jackson
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - 12:43pm
An asteroid's hurling toward the planet. So what do we do? Do we fire nuclear missiles at it? Do we send a team up on a special space shuttle to drill down into it? Or do we do something you'd probably never see in a movie? According to a new theory by an MIT grad student, our best hope to save Earth from a deadly asteroid could be ... paint?

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