http://discovermagazine.com Science, Technology, and The Future http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/50 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/50 A new computer model could predict "space weather" before it affects earth. Adam Hadhazy http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/50/key_image Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/02 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/02 After the end of the disastrous space shuttle program, it's not at all clear where the space agency is going—or if it has enough money, skills, or buy-in to get there. Fred Guterl http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/02/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:50:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:50:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/05 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/05 Hot on the trail of the first galaxies in the universe Fred Guterl; photograph by Spencer Lowell http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/05/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:35:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:35:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/08 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/08 Newly discovered planets are becoming ever smaller, lighter, and more familiar to us earthlings. Michael D. Lemonick http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/08/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:20:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:20:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/16 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/16 Bombing our closest neighbor pays off with a trove of information. Jennifer Barone http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/16/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:30:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/21 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/21 Could underground life be emitting methane clouds during warm periods? Heather Mayer http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/21/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:55:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:55:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/28 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/28 Messenger shows how the surface was formed and how the surface forms the atmosphere. Michael D. Lemonick http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/28/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:30:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/04-are-black-holes-architects-of-universe http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/04-are-black-holes-architects-of-universe Long known for their obliterating power, black holes may also have been a creative force: New evidence suggests that they gave order to the chaotic mess produced by the Big Bang. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/04-are-black-holes-architects-of-universe/key_image Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:25:00 -0600 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:25:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/11-the-moon-makes-a-splash http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/11-the-moon-makes-a-splash Thanks to new-and-improved imaging, the Earth's nearest neighbor is looking a lot more interesting. Jennifer Barone http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/11-the-moon-makes-a-splash/key_image Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:10:00 -0600 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:10:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/056 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/056 “For so long, it was cloud-free. Then, all of a sudden, they dramatically appeared.” Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/056/key_image Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:10:00 -0600 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:10:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/29-discover-interview-miles-wire-reams-paper-giant-discovery http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/29-discover-interview-miles-wire-reams-paper-giant-discovery <p>In her calm, deliberate way, astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell has always been in the business of changing worlds. Over a storied four-decade career, she has helped expand our understanding of the universe, caused people to rethink how Nobel Prizes are awarded, and used her stature to fight sexism in the world of science.</p> <p>Burnell made her first scientific mark in 1968 as Jocelyn Bell, an unknown, 23-year-old doctoral student from Northern Ireland. After months of using the new radio telescope at the University of Cambridge, she came upon inexplicable, metronomically regular radio blips from isolated spots in the sky. Bell and her Ph.D. supervisor, Antony Hewish, concluded that the blips came from hitherto unknown objects, massive yet remarkably small. Because of their pulsed signals, these objects were dubbed pulsars. Soon after, pulsars were identified as rapidly spinning neutron stars, the remnants of supernova explosions; they weigh as much as the sun but are just a dozen miles wide. The discovery was so significant that the Nobel Committee recognized it with a share of the 1974 prize in physics—an honor that was presented to Hewish but not to the young woman who had made the initial observation, Jocelyn Bell. The snub made international news.</p> <p>Time magazine hyped it as “A Nobel Scandal?” But Burnell was philosophical. “I believe it would demean Nobel Prizes if they were awarded to research students, except in very exceptional cases,” she later said, “and I do not believe this is one of them.... I am not myself upset about it—after all, I am in good company, am I not?”</p> Douglas Colligan http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/29-discover-interview-miles-wire-reams-paper-giant-discovery/key_image Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:00:00 -0600 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:00:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/059 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/059 Earth's placement on one of the outer arms of the galaxy gives us a view of what's happening in the center. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/059/key_image Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:20:00 -0600 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:20:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/062 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/062 Telescopes spotted it, computers traced it, onlookers watched it, and students picked up the pieces. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/062/key_image Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:45:00 -0600 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:45:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/063 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/063 If fluid water does persist on Mars, life could be hanging on in thin layers of salty water just beneath the surface. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/063/key_image Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:30:00 -0600 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/067 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/067 Ammonia spotted in the jets could act as antifreeze in under-ice oceans. Megan Talkington http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/067/key_image Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:35:00 -0600 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:35:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/069 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/069 Big money awaits innovators who can build rockets, sequence genomes, predict people's movie preferences, harvest energy from the tides, or explore the Moon. Darlene Cavalier http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/069/key_image Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:40:00 -0600 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:40:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/077 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/077 Early organisms apparently survived the Late Heavy Bombardment—which may have made our planet a much comfier place to live. Michael D. Lemonick http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/077/key_image Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:45:00 -0600 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:45:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/079 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/079 No atoms could escape the void within the cloud: “It’s like trying to swim upstream in a river whose current is faster than you.” Marcia Bartusiak http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/079/key_image Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:55:00 -0600 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:55:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/084 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/084 A comet or asteroid had slams into Jupiter with the force of 2 billion tons of TNT, blowing a giant hole in the clouds over the gas giant. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/084/key_image Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:50:00 -0600 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:50:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/100 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/100 The Hubble Space Telescope's new equipment, including the Wide Field Camera 3, provide even better images of the heavens. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/100/key_image Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:45:00 -0600 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:45:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/01-gimme-that-old-time-science-diy-gruesome-spelled-funny http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/01-gimme-that-old-time-science-diy-gruesome-spelled-funny As Britain's Royal Society celebrates 350 years of scientific inquiry, DISCOVER brings you choice tidbits from the society's historic publications that show how fumbling and delightful that inquiry can be. Andrew Moseman http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/01-gimme-that-old-time-science-diy-gruesome-spelled-funny/key_image Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:40:00 -0600 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:40:00 -0600 Web Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/30-fish-eye-view-of-the-cosmos http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/30-fish-eye-view-of-the-cosmos Two new projects aim to soak in—and analyze—the entire visible sky. Andrew Moseman http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/30-fish-eye-view-of-the-cosmos/key_image Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:50:00 -0600 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:50:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/16-search-aliens-gets-harder-but-more-encouraging http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/16-search-aliens-gets-harder-but-more-encouraging Saturn's surprising moons have broadened scientists' ideas about where extraterrestrial life might be found. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/16-search-aliens-gets-harder-but-more-encouraging/key_image Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:15:00 -0600 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:15:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/10-a-yardstick-for-the-universe http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/10-a-yardstick-for-the-universe A decade ago scientists discovered that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, not slowing down as they had long assumed. Understanding why, and determining the ultimate fate of the cosmos, depends on making more accurate measurements of distance across vast expanses of space. Drawing on new observations, astronomers have just formulated the best estimate to date of exactly how quickly the universe is growing. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/10-a-yardstick-for-the-universe/key_image Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:30:00 -0600 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/04-will-our-universe-collide-with-neighboring-one http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/04-will-our-universe-collide-with-neighboring-one Relaxing on an idyllic beach on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean, Anthony Aguirre vividly describes the worst natural disaster he can imagine. It is, in fact, probably the worst natural disaster that anyone could imagine. An asteroid impact would be small potatoes compared with this kind of event: a catastrophic encounter with an entire other universe. As an alien cosmos came crashing into ours, its outer boundary would look like a wall racing forward at nearly the speed of light; behind that wall would lie a set of physical laws totally different from ours that would wreck everything they touched in our universe. “If we could see things in ultraslow motion, we’d see a big mirror in the sky rushing toward us because light would be reflected by the wall,” says Aguirre, a youthful physicist at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “After that we wouldn’t see anything—because we’d all be dead.” Zeeya Merali http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/04-will-our-universe-collide-with-neighboring-one/key_image Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:45:00 -0600 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:45:00 -0600 Print Article