MESSENGER observations show a 50% rise in atmospheric sodium-group ions during periods of high solar wind activity.
salts & sodium
Lipids from Europa’s Ocean Could Be Detectable on the Surface
A super salty spring in the Canadian Arctic provides insights key to detecting life on a distant ocean world.
Road Salts Linked to High Sodium Levels in Tap Water
Use of deicing agents may sometimes raise sodium levels in drinking water beyond healthy limits for people on salt-restricted diets.
Lake Michigan’s Salinity Is on the Rise
Road salt is primarily to blame for the shift, though the water remains within safe levels for now.
Atmospheric Turbulence May Promote Cloud Droplet Formation
Turbulence causes local variations in relative humidity, which can push particles past a critical saturation threshold for droplet nucleation.
An Exoplanet with Evolving Clouds of Salts
Clouds form and dissipate on a gas giant orbiting a Sun-like star.
Mmm, Salt—Europa’s Hidden Ocean May Contain the Table Variety
Hubble Space Telescope observations suggest that sodium chloride exists in young, geologically active regions on Europa, likely fed by upwelling from the moon’s subsurface ocean.
Chemical Patterns May Predict Stars That Host Giant Planets
Stars with giant planets tend to have a few key elements in abundance. A new algorithm used these patterns to predict hundreds of stars that will likely have exoplanets if we go looking for them.
Local Heat Source Needed to Form Liquid Water Lake on Mars
Thermal modeling suggests that active magmatism in the past few hundred thousand years could account for the presence of a large lake previously hypothesized beneath the Red Planet’s southern ice cap.
A Rock Guide to Fireworks
Before a firework was red, it was a strontium salt waiting for its moment.