Science: An attempt to break up the boundaries between four different NASA science divisions was the aim recently of a unique four-day meeting in Boulder, Colorado. Although similarities between research carried out on Earth and observations of planetary systems light years away may be difficult to spot, the laws of physics are universal. One session looked at the connections between terrestrial tropical wind models and observations of winds on an exoplanet. Others discussed connections between methane on Jupiter’s moon Titan and water on Earth. Organizers now hope that NASA will create a fund to support such cross-fertilization research.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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