Space & Future
Mysterious cosmic rays are challenging what scientists thought they knew about the universe
Millions of years ago, a massive star exploded somewhere far away in our galaxy.
During this violent event, called a supernova, the dying star blasted...
The universe’s famous ‘pink planet’ has salty clouds in its sky
Astronomers have discovered an unexpected surprise on the famous “Pink Planet,” a strange world known as GJ504b.
Using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST),...
New Mars rock discovery could reveal secrets of the red planet’s ancient past
Scientists have discovered a completely new type of rock from Mars and, for the first time, identified the mineral garnet in a Martian sample.
The...
More than 30 giant dust devils spotted twisting through ancient Martian canyons
The European Space Agency (ESA) has captured remarkable new images of dozens of giant dust devils swirling across an ancient canyon system on Mars.
The...
Ancient black holes may be triggering exploding stars across the universe, study finds
Scientists are exploring a fascinating idea: some of the brilliant stellar explosions seen across the universe may have been triggered by tiny black holes...
Lava planet has hydrogen-rich, active atmosphere
It’s 2158, and you’re chugging away on your PhD in Planetary Volcanology from the University of Utopia Planitia on Mars. Graduate students still get...
Astronomers detect the fuel for star formation in some of the universe’s earliest galaxies
Astronomers have made a major breakthrough by directly detecting the gas that fueled star formation in some of the universe’s earliest galaxies.
The discovery offers...
Ancient stellar debris is still falling on Earth after 100 million years, study finds
Tiny traces of material from a giant cosmic explosion are still falling to Earth more than 100 million years after the event occurred, according...
Astronomers discover Sun-like star that likely swallowed one of its planets
A team of astronomers has found strong evidence that a star similar to our sun may have eaten one of its own planets.
The star,...
A star’s death throes involves a lot of kicking
When stars like our Sun age, they puff up into red giants.
Their bubbling outer mass gradually escapes into space, and their remaining cores contract...
The best place to look for alien megastructures might be moon dust
Our search for technosignatures - clear signs of advanced civilizations beyond Earth - takes many forms.
Many are driven by the famous Drake equation, which...
A tiny lab-made universe may help solve the mystery of time
Time seems like one of the most basic parts of everyday life. We use clocks to measure it, plan our days around it, and...
Deep Space
Neutron star mergers are a primary source of heavy metals, shows study
Researchers at MIT and the University of New Hampshire embarked on a novel scientific endeavor to quantify and analyze sources of heavy metals in...
Astronomers discover unusual monster galaxy in the very early universe
Research team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has found an unusual monster galaxy that existed about 12 billion years ago,...
Astronomers discover a ‘dead’ galaxy that was choked by its own black hole
Astronomers have discovered one of the oldest “dead” galaxies ever seen—and its story is not one of sudden destruction, but of slow starvation.
Using the...
Scientists pinpoint origins of mysterious fast radio bursts
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief but powerful flashes of radio waves that last only a thousandth of a second.
These explosions can emit as...
Scientists inch closer than ever to signal from cosmic dark age
Around 12 billion years ago, the universe emerged from a great cosmic dark age as the first stars and galaxies lit up.
With a new...