Scientific American
‘Space Advertising’ Could Outshine the Stars—Unless It’s Banned First
Astronomers are racing to protect the dark skies as private companies seek to place large advertisements in Earth orbit. March 2025
Scientists Discover Earth Life Inside an Asteroid Sample
Material from asteroid Ryugu riddled with earthly microbes provides a cautionary tale for scientists seeking signs of alien life. December 2024
Scientists Race to Map Dangerous Ultrasmall Space Junk
An ambitious U.S. government program is working to detect and track millions of tiny space junk pieces—down to the size of a sand grain—throughout low-Earth orbit and beyond. July 2024
Behold, the Mind-Blowing Bubbles of Betelgeuse
Giant bubbles erupting across this red supergiant star’s surface could solve a lingering astrophysical mystery. July 2024
Low Oxygen May Smother Life’s Prospects on Europa, Jupiter’s Ocean Moon
The subsurface ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa may have far less oxygen—and less potential for life—than previously believed, according to data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. March 2024
Giant Ultrafaint Galaxy Could Offer Dark Matter Clues
A ghostly giant galaxy called Nube may become a testbed for esoteric theories of dark matter. January 2024
Many-Mirrored Galaxies Deepen Dark Matter Mystery
A surprisingly complex galaxy cluster suggests that in the search for dark matter, nothing is as simple as it seems. October 2023
Science
Claim of alien life on distant world meets swift scientific pushback
A few weeks after astronomers claimed they found the “strongest evidence yet” for alien life on a distant planet, independent follow-up analyses are casting serious doubt on the result. May 2025
Space.com
How astronomers raced to track the smallest asteroid ever seen
Behind the scenes of how years of planning combined with some good luck allowed astronomers to observe a tiny space rock that was discovered just three hours before it struck Earth. December 2024
Astronomers prepare for once-in-a-lifetime event: A ‘new star’ in the night sky
How astronomers plan to observe a once-in-a-lifetime reignition of T Coronae Borealis. September 2024
What it takes to keep NASA’s flagship Chandra observatory flying for a quarter century
A look at decades of work by engineers, technicians, analysts and designers who have kept NASA’s flagship Chandra X-ray Observatory powerful enough that it can read a stop sign from 12 miles away. July 2024
It’s International Asteroid Day, and astronomers have much to celebrate
Astronomers and space lovers reflect on the prospect of a planet-destroying space rock striking Earth and what scientists are doing to mitigate that risk. June 2024
Volcanoes on Venus might be erupting right now
Scientists have found signs of fresh lava flowing on Venus while scouring decades-old data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft. May 2024. Republished by Scientific American
Should we seal DNA samples of Earth’s endangered species in a moon crater?
As warming sea temperatures and pollution continue to degrade the world’s coral reefs at an unprecedented rate, scientists are investigating the feasibility of preserving them — in outer space. May 2024.
Rare exoplanet system six planets with mathematically perfect orbits
Six “sub-Neptune” worlds locked in a delicate dance around a nearby star offer fresh insights for the orbital evolution of planetary systems. November 2023. Republished by Scientific American
Astronomy Magazine
A ‘shocking’ number of meteorites — and their secrets — are sinking into Antarctic ice due to global warming
Astronomers may be losing five times as many meteorites every year as they are finding. May 2024
What time is it on the Moon? We might soon know
It’s a simple question with a complicated answer that NASA is working to answer. April 2024
India prepares to launch its first crewed mission in 2021
The crew will travel to low Earth orbit for a week using homegrown technology — a first for India. Prior tests include a humanoid robot, three astronauts, and six scientific experiments. March 2020. Republished by Discover Magazine
TRAPPIST-1 system might just have a shot at life
Simulations of the TRAPPIST-1 system show that its outermost planets may be able to retain their atmospheres for billions of years — a key requirement for habitability. July 2018. Republished by Discover Magazine
Live Science
Large patch of the Atlantic Ocean near the equator has been cooling at record speeds
Scientists are trying to decipher what drove the dramatic cooling of the tropical Atlantic, but so far few clues have emerged. August 2024
Infamous ‘Wow! signal’ that hinted at aliens may actually be an exceptionally rare cosmic event
The source of a supposed alien broadcast that made researchers go “Wow!” may instead have been the result of a remarkably rare cosmic event. September 2024
Packs of dog-shaped robots could one day roam the moon — if they can find their footing on Earth first
“A dog is a man’s best friend,” the old saying goes. Can the same soon be said of robot dogs? April 2024
‘Everything has changed since Apollo’: Why landing on the moon is still incredibly difficult in 2024
More than 50 years after the Apollo era, major governments and well-funded private companies still struggle with lunar landing missions. What gives? March 2024
Payload
Trump’s Bid to Buy Greenland Highlights Arctic’s Role in Space Security
Donald Trump’s long-shot mission to take over Greenland—driven in part by a desire to bolster US space capabilities and curtail the ambitions of Russia and China—is spotlighting the Arctic’s inconspicuous role in space security. January 2025
Space-Related Traffic Could Choke Port Canaveral
The rise of reusable rockets launching from the world’s busiest spaceport has led to an inconspicuous side effect on Earth: a traffic jam at Port Canaveral. February 2025
History
How Old Is the Moon?
Despite its timeless appearance, the moon has not always been in Earth’s orbit, and scientists continue to investigate its true age. January 2025
SpaceRef
Pittsburgh – How a Steel City is Transforming Into a Space City
Pittsburgh has long been known as the Steel City after the industry that built it. Over 40 years after the steel hub collapsed, a new one is taking root: space. November 2023
NU Sci Magazine
Stargazing will be redefined for future generations
My generation may be the last to be able to gaze upon a star-studded sky. August 2021
The phantom planet: How one of the first directly imaged exoplanets turned out to be dust
How astronomers figured out an exoplanet in our cosmic backyard was actually a dispersing cloud of dust that had been reflecting its star’s light such that it produced the illusion of an exoplanet. January 2021
The Scope
iVoted initiative aims to increase voter turnout with music
Since 2018, the non-partisan initiative has given anyone who sends a selfie outside a polling location or holding a blank, unmarked mail-in ballot free attendance to an online music festival with up to 600 performers. October 2020
COVID-19 pandemic exposes Boston green space disparity issues
Physical activity and exposure to nature boost immunity and improves people’s mental health. But quality green space is scarce for many Boston residents. September 2020
Storybench
How Kirell Benzi’s data art balances creativity and scientific accuracy
A Q&A with Benzi, a self-taught artist whose art is not only aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but it’s also rooted in data visualization principles and often embedded with a message. February 2022
How the Allen Coral Atlas is mapping and monitoring coral reefs worldwide
A Q&A with Gregory Asner, the director of Arizona State University’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, who co-founded the first global map of coral reefs habitats worldwide. The idea is to then use these maps to help make decisions regarding reef restoration or protection in light of limited funding. October 2020
How Circle of Blue investigated freshwater issues in Texas
A Q&A with Carl Ganter, the co-founder and director of Circle of Blue, which is a non-profit agency covering freshwater issues in Texas in order to assist with timely decisions regarding the state’s water management. August 2020
How NASA’s Earth Matters blog sparks conversations with satellite images
A Q&A with Michael Carlowicz, NASA Earth Observatory’s managing editor, about the inspiration behind Earth Matters blog, how the images are chosen and the role of data visualization in this process. August 2020
The Boston Globe
Elegies for those lost to coronavirus
Contributed to the Globe’s effort to capture the spirit of the mostly elderly people who died—often alone and without family and friends by their side—from the coronavirus. February 2021. Featured by Northeastern News.
Sharmila Kuthunur 