Nancy Atkinson

Read the latest articles by Nancy Atkinson at Seeker

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Space & Innovation

First Man, the highly anticipated new biopic about Neil Armstrong, stunningly portrays the person who first set foot upon the moon in all his many juxtapositions and contrasts.

Neil Armstrong Biopic Offers Stunning Look at ‘First Man' to Walk the Moon

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute


Finding life on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa might not be as difficult as previously thought.

Finding Life on Jupiter’s Moon Europa May Be as Easy as Scratching the Surface

ASTRON

A crucial part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity is based on a principle called the universality of free fall, which means that all falling objects accelerate identically, regardless of their mass or composition.

Unique Triple Star System Tests Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA announced on Thursday two discoveries which further the prospects that scientists might one day find evidence of life on Mars.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Detects Methane and Organic Material on Mars

HubbleESA

Since helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, exoplanet hunters had thought that the element should be easily found in the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars.

Astronomers Discover ‘Cosmic Treasure’ Around Exoplanet WASP-107b

Left: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Right: NASA

A unique form of water ice that is both solid and liquid at the same time might be found inside Uranus and Neptune, according to a recent set of experiments that mimicked the conditions inside the icy giants.

Experiments Confirm the Interiors of Uranus and Neptune Are Made of Superionic Ice

ESO/UltraVISTA team.

Astronomy

Astronomers have looked back in time to create one of the largest 3D models of the early universe.

A New 3D Map of the Early Universe Reveals 4,000 Infant Galaxies

Nature and Hailey, et. al.

Astrophysics

Astronomers have long predicted that thousands of smaller stellar-mass black holes should exist in the area surrounding the big supermassive black holes at the center of large galaxies.

Hundreds — Perhaps Thousands — of Black Holes Occupy the Center of the Milky Way

NASA, ESA, and P. Kelly (University of Minnesota)

Gravitational lensing has become a remarkably handy tool, as astronomers are refining and enhancing the ways they can use what has been called “nature’s telescope” to find objects in the cosmos.

Hubble Telescope Captures Image of the Farthest Star Ever Seen

Vitalij Cerepok/EyeEm via Getty Images

Earth & Conservation

Most of our planet’s water has been present since very early on, even before a giant impact from a Mars-sized object that created the moon.

Earth Likely Had Water Prior to Moon-Forming Collision

P. van Dokkum; R. Abraham; STScI, Space Telescope Science Institute

Astronomers have found a perplexing galaxy that appears to be nearly devoid of dark matter.

This ‘See-Through Galaxy’ Far, Far Away Contains Virtually No Dark Matter

Millennium Simulation, Berkeley Lab

A group of researchers say they may be able to look directly for dark matter in brand new way.

Nancy Atkinson’s Recent Articles

Neil Armstrong Biopic Offers Stunning Look at ‘First Man' to Walk the Moon

Starring Ryan Gosling, ‘First Man’ recreates the trials and triumphs of the Apollo 11 hero and NASA icon in vivid detail.

Finding Life on Jupiter’s Moon Europa May Be as Easy as Scratching the Surface

Possible traces of life may lie just centimeters below the moon’s icy surface.

Unique Triple Star System Tests Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

A pulsar orbited by a white dwarf star, which are both orbited by another white dwarf, provide confirmation of the principle of universality of free fall.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Detects Methane and Organic Material on Mars

The twin findings further prospects for one day discovering evidence of life on the Red Planet.

Astronomers Discover ‘Cosmic Treasure’ Around Exoplanet WASP-107b

Helium is abundant throughout the universe, but detection of the element in exoplanet atmospheres has eluded astronomers — until now.

Experiments Confirm the Interiors of Uranus and Neptune Are Made of Superionic Ice

Both a solid and a liquid, superionic ice forms under temperature and pressure extremes that are not found naturally on Earth.

A New 3D Map of the Early Universe Reveals 4,000 Infant Galaxies

Astronomers from Lancaster University have modeled conditions during the earliest moments of the cosmos.

Hundreds — Perhaps Thousands — of Black Holes Occupy the Center of the Milky Way

Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory suggests clusters of stellar-mass black holes surround Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

Hubble Telescope Captures Image of the Farthest Star Ever Seen

An improved gravitational lensing technique provides a glimpse of Icarus, a star located about 9 billion light-years from Earth.

Earth Likely Had Water Prior to Moon-Forming Collision

Analysis of moon rocks collected during the Apollo missions and volcanic rocks from Earth’s oceans reveals water was present before an impact with a Mars-sized object created the moon.

This ‘See-Through Galaxy’ Far, Far Away Contains Virtually No Dark Matter

A new galaxy called NGC1052-DF2, or DF2 for short, challenges prevailing theories of galaxy formation.

This New Detector Technology Aims to ‘Scintillate’ Elusive Dark Matter Particles

Dark matter is thought to account for 25 percent of the mass of the universe, but it has never been observed. Berkeley Lab researchers hope to change that with a new approach.