Space & Future
Tiny galaxies around the Milky Way may reveal what the infant universe was really...
Astronomers are turning to some of the smallest galaxies in the universe to answer one of the biggest questions in science: what was the...
Scientists discover a new way to spot alien life by looking for hidden patterns
For many years, scientists searching for life beyond Earth have focused on one main question: what kinds of molecules should they look for on...
Ancient galactic crash may have reshaped the Milky Way 11 billion years ago
The Milky Way may have gone through a violent cosmic collision billions of years ago that dramatically changed the structure of our galaxy, according...
Scientists discover exploding star material hidden in Antarctic Ice
Scientists studying ancient Antarctic ice have discovered new evidence that Earth is currently traveling through a cloud of material left behind by long-dead stars.
An...
Scientists discover strange “toothpaste-like” space effect deep in Mars’s atmosphere
Scientists studying Mars have discovered a surprising atmospheric phenomenon that was previously only known to exist around Earth.
The discovery could change how researchers understand...
Iron and ice: Earth’s passage through the interstellar cloud
Iron-60 is a radioactive isotope of iron that's found in Antarctic ice and in deep-sea crusts.
It's only source is nucleosynthesis in the cataclysmic explosive...
Jupiter’s moon Ganymede may still be building its heart of metal
Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is already famous for being the largest moon in the solar system. At more than 3,200 miles wide, it is even...
Scientists find a new way to listen to the “ringing” of black holes
When two black holes crash into each other, the event is one of the most violent and powerful collisions in the universe.
The two objects...
Astrophysicists use ‘space archaeology’ to trace the history of a spiral galaxy
Billions of years ago, a young spiral galaxy began to grow in a crowded part of the universe.
It pulled in gas and small companion...
Scientists solve a cosmic mystery hidden inside the Perseus galaxy cluster
An international team of scientists has uncovered new clues about how stars lived and died billions of years ago by studying one of the...
Scientists may have detected signs of dark matter in black hole collisions
Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in modern science.
Astronomers believe it makes up most of the matter in the universe, yet nobody...
Ancient Martian mega-flood carved a valley as long as Italy
A massive valley on Mars may hold some of the strongest evidence yet that enormous floods once rushed across the red planet billions of...
Deep Space
Mars could become a base for asteroid exploration and mining
Mining the asteroids for resources like iron, precious metals, water, or other valuable species may someday become profitable.
Mining will probably starting with Near Earth...
How your flight home could be broadcasting Earth’s location to aliens
Every time you take off from Heathrow, land at JFK, or pass through any major airport, you might be inadvertently announcing humanity's existence to...
Scientists solve 16-year-old cosmic mystery
In 2004, scientists with NASA's space-based Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spotted an object unlike any they'd seen before in our Milky Way galaxy: a...
The most metal-free star ever observed is found in our own backyard
The Big Bang essentially created two elements: hydrogen and helium.
It also produced tiny traces of lithium and a few other light isotopes, but in...
Scientists find source of highest-energy cosmic rays in the galaxy
A long-time question in astrophysics appears to finally be answered, thanks to a collection of large, high-tech water tanks on a mountainside in Mexico.
The...