Scientists have unravelled a fascinating new insight into how the landscape of the dwarf-planet Pluto has formed. A team of international researchers, including Dr Adrien Morison from the University of Exeter, has shown how vast ice forms have been shaped in one of the planet’s largest craters, Sputnik Planita.

Perhaps the most striking feature on Pluto’s surface, Sputnik Planitia is an impact crater, consisting of a bright plain, slightly larger than France, and filled with nitrogen ice.

For the new study, researchers have used sophisticated modelling techniques to show that t...

Breakthrough infections greatly enhance immune response to variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a newly published study from Oregon Health & Science University.

The laboratory results, published online ahead of print today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), reveal that a breakthrough infection generates a robust immune response against the delta variant. Authors say the findings suggest the immune response is likely to be highly effective against other variants as the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate.

T...

Scientists have developed an all-season smart-roof coating that keeps homes warm during the winter and cool during the summer—without consuming natural gas or electricity. Research findings reported in the Dec...

Krypton from the Earth’s mantle, collected from geologic hot spots in Iceland and the Galapagos Islands, reveals a clearer picture of how our planet formed, according to new research from the University of California, Davis.

The different isotopes of krypton are chemical fingerprints for scientists sleuthing out the ingredients that made the Earth, such as solar wind particles and meteorites from the inner and outer solar system...