Space & Future
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...
Why most exoplanets are magma worlds
In astronomy, there is a concept called “degeneracy”.
It has nothing to do with delinquent people, but instead is used to describe data that could...
The first alien civilization we encounter will be extremely loud
For decades, science fiction writers have tried their best to prepare us for eventual contact with aliens. Their efforts are dominated by several recurrent...
Scientists find a crack in a 50-year-old law of the universe
Astronomers may have uncovered evidence that challenges one of the longest-standing ideas about quasars, the brilliant beacons powered by supermassive black holes.
A new international...
Webb finds signs of a thick atmosphere on an ultra-hot super-Earth
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found the strongest evidence yet that a rocky planet outside our solar system can hold on...
Scientists challenge the idea that every galaxy has a black hole
A new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory suggests that many small galaxies may not contain supermassive black holes at their centers after all.
This...
Scientists discover a hidden black hole monster from the early universe
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a surprising cosmic impostor lurking in the early universe.
The object, a distant galaxy nicknamed...
A real-life Tatooine: Astronomers spot a rare planet orbiting two suns up close
Astronomers have captured a rare and cinematic sight: a distant planet orbiting not one, but two suns, much like the fictional world of Tatooine...
Scientists draw the first detailed map of the Sun’s “point of no return”
Astronomers have created the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the Sun’s atmosphere, revealing a dynamic and changing boundary where solar...
Earth may be slowly feeding the moon with water and nitrogen, study finds
The Moon is often seen as a dry, lifeless world covered in dust.
But new research suggests its surface may hold more useful material than...
Scientists capture a rare cosmic dance caused by a rapidly rotating black hole
Astronomers have made an extraordinary discovery that brings one of Einstein’s lesser-known predictions to life.
For the first time, scientists have observed a swirling distortion...
Deep Space
NASA’s Juno spacecraft discovers giant waves at Jupiter’s edge
NASA's Juno spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Jupiter, has made an exciting discovery.
Scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas...
A new map shows where Mars is hiding all its ice
Water will be one of the most important resources for human explorers on Mars. They’ll need it for drinking, propellant, breathing, and more.
It makes...
MIT scientists uncover the richest chemical cloud in the galaxy
Astronomers from MIT have uncovered an astonishingly rich mix of molecules in a region of space known as the Taurus Molecular Cloud-1 (TMC-1).
This dark,...
Scientists find why Jupiter’s storms behave so strangely
At the south pole of Jupiter lurks a striking sight—even for a gas giant planet covered in colorful bands that sports a red spot...
What happens to the climate when Earth passes through interstellar clouds
Noctilucent clouds were once thought to be a fairly modern phenomenon.
A team of researcher have recently calculated that Earth and the entire Solar System...