Low-frequency infragravity waves shape shorelines, but exactly how they contribute is mysterious. A technique from Bayesian probability theory might change that.
Matthew R. Francis
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Of Cosmic Rains and Delayed Trains
Scientific detective work corrected the date of an early disruption in telegraph service, solidifying the links between solar weather and technological disturbances.
Posted inNews
Oddball Moon Might Be a Neptune Original After All
Infrared observations of Nereid hint that it might have formed in orbit around Neptune, unlike most of the planet’s other satellites.
Posted inNews
A Unique African Volcano Could Solve a Mystery on Mercury
New data from Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania suggest that carbon-rich volcanic activity could be responsible for the mysterious “hollows” observed on the surface of Mercury.
Posted inNews
The Forensics of a Skyscraper-Sized Tsunami
A landslide in Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska created the second-largest tsunami on record. A new analysis links this abrupt event to the retreat of a glacier and, ultimately, to climate change.
Posted inNews
Moon Mission Data Reveal Unexpected Cosmic Ray “Shadow”
A particle detector on the Chang’e-4 lunar lander showed a surprising zone of reduced radiation stretching out from Earth at a strange angle, with potential implications for future astronauts.
Posted inNews
Asteroid Hosts All Ingredients for DNA and RNA
Samples collected from asteroid Ryugu contain the four genetic “letters” of DNA, reinforcing the hypothesis that the chemical origins of life were present when the solar system began.
Posted inNews
Titanic Shake-Up Could Explain Saturn’s Young Rings and Strange Moons
A new model shows how the migration of Titan could have destroyed another moon, creating Saturn’s rings and the moon Hyperion. And, the model suggests, this all happened in the past billion years.
Posted inNews
Rare Hot Jupiters Could Reveal How All Giant Planets Form
A new analysis shows that the way massive planets migrate after their formation helps determine whether they have companion planets. The process hints at planetary formation in general.
Posted inNews
Primordial Impact May Explain Why the Moon Is Asymmetrical
Analysis of surface samples from the Chang’e-6 mission suggests that an asteroid may have vaporized parts of the lunar mantle, suppressing volcanic activity on the farside of the Moon.