Surprising frozen plains in Pluto’s heart

The latest data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reveals a vast, craterless plain apparently no more than 100 million years old.

Jurassic saw fastest mammal evolution

A new study suggests that mammal 'experimentation' with different body-plans and tooth types peaked in the mid-Jurassic period, 200-145 million years ago

Stratosphere pushes Santa Ana wind wildfires

A study says that the Santa Ana winds have an accomplice when it comes to California wildfires - extremely dry air pulled down from the stratosphere.

New Horizons spacecraft sweeps past Pluto

New Horizons is alive and well and beyond the Pluto system. On Wednesday, scientists began releasing close-up images of geology on this distant ice world.

Charon’s surface youthful and varied

Pluto’s largest moon Charon has cliffs, troughs and a dark marking at its north pole, nicknamed 'Mordor' by New Horizons scientists.

Astronomers find Jupiter and sun twins

The most accurate analog ever found for our sun and and its largest planet, Jupiter. Could there be another Earth in this system, too?

We’re not heading into mini ice age

Any drop in solar activity will be dwarfed by the impact of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, says Jim Wild of Lancaster University.

Wonderful image! Saturn and moon Titan

Titan may be a large moon - its name even implies it - but it's still dwarfed by its parent planet, Saturn. Beautiful image from the Cassini spacecraft.

Dark matter bridge in cosmic neighborhood

Astronomers see a bridge of dark matter stretching from our Local Group to the Virgo galaxy cluster. It's bound on each side by vast bubbles devoid of galaxies.

Tracking station in Australia to receive first Pluto images

New Horizons' data will take 4.5 hours to reach Earth. The radio signals will be weak, practically whispers. Afterwards, New Horizons data is expected to take up to a year to transmit fully back to Earth.