A new explanation for the solar system's radioactive elements suggests Earth-like planets might be found orbiting up to 50 ...

How common are Earth-like planets in the universe? When I started working on supernova explosions, I never imagined that my ...

For centuries, the quest for new elements was a driving force in many scientific disciplines. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. For ...

Volatile mystery The rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. (Courtesy: NASA) Planetary scientists in France have reviewed and analysed recent research on the origins of “volatile” elements in ...

Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London.View full profile Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum ...

Asteroid Bennu, a dark rubble pile that crosses Earth’s orbit every few years, is turning out to be a kind of cosmic pantry stocked with the raw materials for biology. Early results from the samples ...

In two separate studies, researchers identify nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies in the volatile elements potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) in meteorites, which constrain the origins of the material that ...

A cataclysmic collision between the remnants of a pair of dead stars may have seeded our solar system with precious heavy metals including gold and uranium, according to a newly published study. If ...

Of all the planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids and more in the Solar System, only one object can be the densest. You might think, based on the fact that gravitation is a runaway process that just ...

Billions of years ago, in some forgotten corner of the Milky Way, a molecular cloud like many others collapsed to form new stars. One of them formed in relative isolation, collecting material in a ...

We are all, as Carl Sagan said, star-dust. You might think that since most stars are pretty much the same, all star-dust is equal. But we have evidence that some star-dust is more equal than others.

The solar system is 4.54 billion years old, based on rock dating. Gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) likely formed first. Ice giants (Uranus and Neptune) probably formed next. Rocky planets formed last, ...