Scientists trekked across Icelandic lava flows that served as stand-ins for Venus’s volcanic landscapes, testing tools and methods the upcoming VERITAS mission will use when it reaches the planet.
Space & Planets
Posted inEditors' Highlights
ALMA’s New View of the Solar System
High-resolution radio observations link the chemistry of local moons and comets to the birth environments of distant exoplanets.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Successful Liquid Lake Conditions in a Cold Martian Paleoclimate
Simulations from a new lake model explain how liquid water could have been maintained over Mars in a cold climate, thus resolving a critical scientific gap in our understanding of Mars’ early history.
Posted inNews
A “Lava World” Unexpectedly Hosts an Atmosphere
TOI-561 b, an exoplanet roughly 275 light-years away, seems to have a thick atmosphere despite being wildly irradiated by its host star.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Science Escapes Largest Cuts in Latest Budget Bills
Today, top appropriators in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives released a three-bill appropriations package for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) that largely rejects drastic cuts to federal science budgets that President Trump proposed last year.
Posted inNews
Sunspot Drawings Illuminate 400 Years of Solar Activity
A new computational framework is helping scientists sift through centuries of scientific illustration of the Sun’s spotty surface.
Posted inNews
Could Future Mars Habitats Be Made of Ice?
Models suggest that clear ice, sourced and distilled on Mars, could offer a feasible alternative for building stable off-world structures.
Posted inNews
Astronauts Could Live in Structures Made from Moon Rocks
Scientists are testing “mooncrete,” a concrete analogue made from lunar regolith, as a potential material to build structures on the Moon.
Posted inScience Updates
Shining a Light on the People Behind Solar Science
A new database provides a comprehensive who’s who of scientists in solar and heliospheric physics research, offering a valuable resource for that community and a model for other fields to follow.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Is Convection Wobbling Venus?
Venus’s rotation axis is not where it should be – but atmospheric torques, not mantle convection, are likely responsible.