Space & Future
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...
Consciousness may exist beyond humans, animals, and even Earth
Could consciousness exist in alien life forms that look nothing like us? Could it even appear in machines?
According to a new paper by philosophers...
Cosmic “galaxy-killing wind” may explain why some galaxies died so young
Astronomers have discovered a powerful “galaxy-killing wind” in the early universe that may help solve one of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy: why...
JWST finds exoplanets choked by diesel smog
It’s 2134, and humanity has finally embraced green technologies while ridding the Earth of harmful fossil-burning technologies, most notably gasoline, wood, coal, and oil.
As...
The Universe is Still Running Away From Us
Here's one of the most unsettling facts in all of science. The universe is not just expanding, it’s expanding faster and faster.
Every galaxy is...
Scientists use light echoes to hunt dark matter around giant black holes
Dark matter remains one of the biggest mysteries in science.
Scientists cannot see it directly, yet they believe it makes up most of the matter...
Mysterious “little red dot” may be a giant black hole wrapped in gas
Astronomers using NASA's powerful James Webb Space Telescope may have solved one of the biggest mysteries of the early universe.
A strange object known as...
Astronomers discover massive star-making fuel supply in one of the universe’s earliest galaxies
Astronomers have discovered a huge reservoir of cold gas in one of the earliest known galaxies, providing new clues about how some galaxies grew...
Deep Space
The early solar system had a gap where the asteroid belt is today
Wind the cosmic clock back a few billion years and our Solar System looked much different than it does today.
About 4.5 billion years ago,...
Is the universe a fractal?
We find examples of fractals everywhere in nature.
Tree branches, snowflakes, river deltas, cloud formations, and more.
So it’s natural to ask the ultimate question: is...
The universe is smoother than the standard model of cosmology suggests. So is the...
Given how unfathomably large the universe is, it is perhaps understandable that we haven't yet cracked all its secrets.
But there are actually some pretty...
Scientists find possible habitats for life beneath Mars’ icy surface
A new study suggests that beneath Mars’ icy surface, there might be hidden pools of meltwater capable of supporting life.
This discovery could point to...
Saturn’s ocean moon Enceladus is able to support life
My research team is working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells there.
Saturn has 146 confirmed moons – more than any other planet in the...