Space & Future
Scientists crack 1.4-billion-year-old salt crystals to reveal Earth’s ancient air
More than a billion years before dinosaurs—and long before plants and animals—Earth looked very different.
In what is now northern Ontario, a shallow, salty lake...
Webb spots the ‘smoke’ from crashing exocomets around a nearby star
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was involved in yet another first discovery recently available in pre-print form on arXiv from Cicero Lu at...
Scientists solve a big bang theory puzzle that could point to dark matter
For years, one of the most intriguing mysteries in physics has been dark matter—an invisible substance thought to make up most of the matter...
Astronomers discover the violent origin of mysterious blue cosmic explosions
For years, astronomers have been puzzled by rare and dramatic flashes of blue and ultraviolet light that suddenly appear in distant galaxies and then...
Astronomers find the first compelling evidence of monster stars in the early universe
One of the greatest mysteries the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was developed to investigate was the birth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs).
For more...
A year that mattered: Caltech’s scientific journey in 2025
Caltech is a place unlike any other, an Institute that is truly "small but mighty."
Its small size and the expertise of its community enable...
The Milky Way had a wild past, and Webb is finally revealing it
How did the Milky Way become the calm, spiral galaxy we see today?
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) suggest that our...
Gaia space telescope spots possible planets forming around baby stars
How do planets like Earth and Jupiter come into existence?
Astronomers are beginning to answer that question thanks to new observations from the European Space...
NASA’s Perseverance Rover is ready for many more miles—and new discoveries on Mars
After nearly five years on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is proving it was built to last.
Since landing in February 2021, the six-wheeled robot has...
Astronomers witness a violent space collision around a nearby star
Astronomers have captured something extraordinary: the aftermath of a violent collision between large space rocks in another planetary system.
Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, scientists...
This shape-shifting wheel could help robots explore the moon’s hidden caves
Exploring the Moon’s surface is challenging enough, but reaching what lies beneath it is even harder.
Deep pits and long lava tubes on the Moon...
Why Saturn’s moon Titan might be less oceanic—and more complex—than thought
For years, scientists believed that Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, hid a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its thick, icy shell.
This idea made Titan...
Deep Space
Scientists explore a massive star’s dying breaths
Betelgeuse has been the center of significant media attention lately.
The red supergiant is nearing the end of its life, and when a star over...
Our solar system’s oldest molecular fluids could hold the key to early life
The oldest molecular fluids in the solar system could have supported the rapid formation and evolution of the building blocks of life, says a...
Scientists find an unusual star that hints at a new way stars can die
Scientists have found a star unlike any other one recorded—which may change our picture of how stars die.
This unusual star, 13,000 light-years away, has...
China’s Chang’e-8 mission will try to make bricks on the moon
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has put out a call for international and industry partners to contribute science payloads to its Chang’e-8 lunar...
How we get planets from clumping dust
Our gleaming Earth, brimming with liquid water and swarming with life, began as all rocky planets do: dust.
Somehow, mere dust can become a life-bearing...