Headline Universe

Welcome to our Headline Universe section! Although Windows to the Universe isn't a news website, we do try to keep the site up to date with as much information as possible about the Earth and space sciences. We have organized news in a number of different categories - by subject (Earth News, Solar System News, Universe News, and Space Mission News) as well as news that is Hot Off the Press! Through our collaboration with the National Science Foundation, through which we keep you up to date on NSF-funded research highlights, we also have an abundance of News Releases from the NSF (in addition to podcasts, videos, and interactives) that we have collected here for you as well as integrating them in the categories mentioned above. Finally, we have a link to our older news pieces, going back to 1995, in our Archive section.
Astronomers have discovered a <a href="/our_solar_system/dwarf_planets/planet_definition.html&edu=elem">planet</a> about 40 light-years from <a href="/earth/earth.html&edu=elem">Earth</a> that contains <a href="/earth/Water/overview.html&edu=elem">water</a>. They describe this planet as a "super-Earth" planet because it is between one and ten times the mass of the Earth. Although too hot to sustain <a href="/earth/Life/life.html&edu=elem">life</a>, it is much smaller, cooler, and more Earthlike than any other planet that has been discovered outside our <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html&edu=elem">solar system</a>. Find out more <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/WaterPlanet_16Dec09.html&edu=elem">here</a>.<p><small><em>Image Courtesy of David Aguilar, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA</em></small></p>A new study shows that <a href="/earth/Water/overview.html&edu=elem">water</a> might have been present very early in the <a href="/earth/past/geologic_time.html&edu=elem">formation</a> of <a href="/earth/earth.html&edu=elem">Earth</a>. Before this new information, scientists thought water came to Earth from <a href="/comets/comets.html&edu=elem">comets</a>. Find out more <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/SilverEarth_13may10.html&edu=elem">here</a>.<p><small><em> Image Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey</em></small></p>Anthony Wesley is an amateur astronomer in Australia. On the night of July 19, 2009, Wesley noticed a dark spot on <a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&edu=elem">Jupiter</a> that hadn't been there before. He had discovered the remains of a huge impact on Jupiter! Find out more <a href="/jupiter/jupiter_impact_july_2009.html&edu=elem">here</a>.<p><small><em> Images courtesy of NASA, ESA, and H. Hammel (Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.), and the Jupiter Impact Team.</em></small></p>Ann Budd of the University of Iowa and John Pandolfi of the University of Queensland, Australia, two scientists who have been studying corals reefs, say that it's important to not only protect endangered <a href="/earth/climate/coral_change.html&edu=elem">corals</a> in areas that have the largest variety of species, but also the corals in the edges of the reefs. Find our more about their research <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/CoralReef_17June10.html&edu=elem">here</a>.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of NOAA</em></small></p>Scientists are currently tracking the effects of the <a href="/teacher_resources/main/teach_oil_spill.html&edu=elem">recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill</a> on the wetlands of the Louisiana coast. Robert Twilley and Guerry Holm of Louisiana State University (LSU) want to know more about the role the Mississippi River will play in keeping it from contaminating the coast and wetlands in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. Find out more about their research <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/OilSpill_17June10.html&edu=elem">here</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of USGS</em></small></p>Daniel Wolf Savin, a senior research scientist at Columbia University's Astrophysics Laboratory, has published a paper on the research he and his colleagues have done on how stars began. They learned that hydrogen and helium produced all other <a href="/physical_science/element.html&edu=elem">elements</a> in the <a href="/the_universe/the_universe.html&edu=elem">universe</a>. Find out more about their research <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/stars_01july10.html&edu=elem">here</a>.<p><small><em> Image Courtesy of Daniel Wolf Savin, Columbia University</em></small></p>

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Hot off the Press!

Read about science happenings and discoveries that have occurred in the last couple months. ...Read more

Earth News

The Earth is a complex and dynamic system. Explore Earth news by date or topic. ...Read more

Solar System News

Be inspired by exciting science happening throughout our solar system. ...Read more

Universe News

This area sheds light on the amazing and mysterious objects in our universe through current news articles. ...Read more

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Find out more about current manned and unmanned space missions. ...Read more

NSF News Releases

Find out about science funded by the National Science Foundation. ...Read more

News Archive (3/95-12/00)

Access science news pieces that were written from 1995-2000 ...Read more

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Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Asperity
xAsperity : An asperity is an area on a fault that is stuck.

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Research Highlights

Oldest Earth Mantle Reservoir Discovered

The Earth's mantle is a rocky, solid shell that is between the Earth's crust and the outer core. The mantle is made up of many different reservoirs that have different chemical compositions. Scientists...Read more

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