Aerospace

Why asbestos is still being found in some cosmetics

Asbestos, a notorious carcinogen, was in widespread use throughout the 20th century—from building materials to brake pads and even fake snow on film sets...

New study suggests black holes get their “hair” from their mothers

Despite decades of study, black holes are still one of the most puzzling objects in the Universe. As we know from Einstein’s Theory of General...

Here’s what we know about Earth’s temporary mini-moon

For a little over a month now, the Earth has been joined by a new ‘mini-moon.’ The object is an asteroid that has been temporarily...

The first close-up picture of star outside the Milky Way

Like a performer preparing for their big finale, a distant star is shedding its outer layers and preparing to explode as a supernova. Astronomers have...

Scientists uncover star pairs linking stellar life and death

Astronomers at the University of Toronto (U of T) have made an exciting discovery: the first pairs of “living” stars and “dead” remnants in...

Here’s how to weigh gigantic filaments of dark matter

How do you weigh one of the largest objects in the entire universe? Very carefully, according to new research. The cosmic web is the largest...

What a misplaced meteorite told us about Mars

11 million years ago, Mars was a frigid, dry, dead world, just like it is now. Something slammed into the unfortunate planet, sending debris...

Sun-like stars around black holes: What gives?

Buried in the treasure trove of the Gaia catalog were two strange black hole systems. These were black holes orbiting sun-like stars, a situation that...

Uranus is getting colder and now we know why

Uranus is an oddball among the Solar System’s planets. While most planets’ axis of rotation is perpendicular to their orbital plane, Uranus has an extreme...

Scientists explore ‘dark big bang’ as the birthplace of dark matter

A groundbreaking study by researchers at Colgate University sheds light on a new theory about the mysterious origins of dark matter. Assistant Professor of Physics...