Space & Future
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...
This is how supermassive black holes feed themselves
How supermassive black holes (SMBH) in the center of galaxies accrete material, how they feedback into the surrounding region, and how they regulate these...
Dinosaur-killing asteroid may have created an underground oasis for life
The asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago is often remembered as one of the most destructive events in Earth's...
Deep Space
Dark matter could make planets spin faster
Dark matter is a confounding concept that teeters on the leading edges of cosmology and physics.
We don't know what it is or how exactly...
In a photo of a black hole, a possible key to mysteries
Billions of people worldwide marveled at the first image ever captured of a black hole.
The photo of the glowing, blurry doughnut, taken by the...
Jets from supermassive black holes create new stars along their trajectory
Since the 1970s, astronomers have observed that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) reside at the centers of most massive galaxies.
In some cases, these black holes...
Scientists detect record-breaking gamma rays from the heart of the Milky Way
High in the mountains of Mexico, an international team of researchers has made an exciting discovery at the center of our galaxy.
Using the High-Altitude...
How the habitability of exoplanets is influenced by their rocks
The conditions on Earth are ideal for life.
Most places on our planet are neither too hot nor too cold and offer liquid water.
These and...