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The article discusses radiative-forcing atmospheric constituents and mathematical simulations that account for greenhouse gases that heat the atmosphere and aerosols that cool it. Climate scientist Drew Shindell of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and his team are noted for modifying the NASA climate model to account for aerosols. Their report appears in the October 30, 2009 issue of "Science." INSET: Back Story.

The article discusses data that shows the loss of India's groundwater as a result of increased irrigation of crops. Satellite data from the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration's (NASA) Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) revealed that the pace at which water from India's aquifers is being extracted is faster than the aquifer's ability to replenish itself. Also discusses are factors contributing to the increased demand for groundwater, such as population growth.

The article focuses on the camera-and-telescope combination used by solar physicists of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to discover that magnetic heating played a role in heating the sun's corona aside from the energy caused by wave heating. It says that the telescope could spot features in the solar atmosphere that were only 150 kilometers across, a six-fold improvement over other instruments orbiting the Earth.

The article discusses data from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Solar Dynamics Observatory about how the sun's shape is more spherical and steadier than previously believed. It is shown that the sun's midsection is slimmer and that the star's overall shape does not change much during the 11-year sunspot cycle. A study led by Jeffrey Kuhn and published online on the web site of "Science" on August 16, 2012 is also referenced.

The article reports on the discovery by scientists of three planets circling a star dubbed Kepler-30 using data gathered by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Kepler spacecraft. One planet orbits the star every 29 days while the other two orbit the star every 60 days and 143 days respectively. Analysis revealed a huge, dark starspot on Kepler-30. The planes of those orbits are found to be closely aligned with the rotational plane of the parent star.

The article reports new findings of carbon monoxide gasses emitted from the atmosphere of the planet Pluto as it completed its 248-years orbit around the sun. It cites other gasses previously discovered from telescopic observations including nitrogen and methane. Astrobiologist Janes Greaves also reports that its atmosphere has grown from 135 kilometers to 3,000 kilometers since it was first discovered 80 years ago to May 2010. It states that more can be learned as the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's New Horizon mission nears Pluto.

This article discusses the availability of data from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration allowing researchers to measure the size, shape and trajectory of solar flares. This data is gathered with two satellites that are synchronized so as to provide coordinated data similar to the process of binocular vision. The use of this data to analyze coronal mass ejections is described.

The article compares small iron oxide nodules recently found on Mars by NASA's Opportunity rover to similar spherules within certain sandstones of the Southwest. Early this year, scientists announced the discovery of tiny, spherical grains of hematite, a type of iron oxide, in some Martian sediments. Those spherules were dubbed blueberries because their distribution within the sediments reminded one of the scientists of blueberries in a muffin. The same type of iron oxide concretions form within some Utah sandstones, says Marjorie A. Chan, a geologist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The Utah nodules probably formed when a stream of groundwater rich in dissolved minerals, including iron, encountered chemical conditions that caused the iron to precipitate. Detailed analyses of the sediments encasing the Martian blueberries would probably be even more revealing, but Opportunity isn't equipped for such investigations. Therefore, according to David Catling of the University of Washington in Seattle, Opportunity's landing site would be a good candidate for a future mission that can return samples to Earth.