Space & Future
Astronomers watch a giant star quietly collapse into a black hole
Astronomers have captured one of the clearest views ever of a massive star dying—not in a dramatic supernova explosion, but by quietly collapsing into...
Astronomers discover “inside-out” planet system that defies cosmic rules
Astronomers have discovered a surprising planetary system that does not follow the usual rules of how planets form.
The finding, led by researchers from the...
How big can a planet get? Scientists have new answers
When it comes to planets, bigger is not always easier to understand. The largest planets in the universe are gas giants—massive worlds made mostly...
Can life begin on a moon without a sun
Free-Floating Planets, or as they are more commonly known, Rogue Planets, wander interstellar space completely alone. Saying there might be a lot of them...
Scientists capture a stunning “cosmic egg” as a dying star
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new image of the Egg Nebula, a rare and short-lived object formed as a star nears...
How a single Martian storm triggered massive water loss
Mars’ water disappeared somewhere, but scientists have been disagreeing for years about where exactly it went.
Data from rovers like Perseverance and Curiosity, along with...
Why so few planets can support life
Life needs more than water and the right temperature to exist.
New research suggests that only a small number of planets ever get the chemical...
Dead stars may be hiding the missing mass of galaxy clusters
Galaxy clusters, the largest structures held together by gravity in the universe, may be far heavier than scientists once believed.
New research suggests that much...
A giant star is changing before our eyes and astronomers are watching in real...
For decades, astronomers have been watching WOH G64, an enormous heavyweight star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy visible with the naked eye...
Are there hidden dimensions to the universe
This is Part 1 of a series on large extra dimensions.
I always say that one of the things that separates real science from pseudoscience...
Astronomers discover a hidden factory of organic molecules in a dust-shrouded galaxy
rich mix of organic molecules deep inside a nearby galaxy, offering a new glimpse into how the basic ingredients of chemistry may form in...
A strange Martian dust storm offers new clues to how Mars lost its water
Mars today is a cold, dry desert, but its surface tells a very different story.
Ancient river channels, lake basins, and minerals formed in water...
Deep Space
This planet survived a death sentence
Our sun, like every other star, has a lifespan.
It will spend billions of years glowing brightly before finally running out of fuel and transforming...
Did asteroids invent gum billions of years ago?
What is “gum”? Most people have probably never considered this question, and might answer something like a chewy material you can put in your...
Dark oxygen could change our understanding of habitability
The discovery of dark oxygen at an abyssal plain on the ocean floor generated a lot of interest. Could this oxygen source support life...
Roaming black hole devours star in deep space: A rare cosmic event
In a scene straight out of science fiction, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have spotted a massive black hole snacking on a star,...
Venus might have had plate tectonics just like Earth
Even though Venus is very similar to Earth in many ways, it’s a hell-world with a runaway greenhouse effect.
It was assumed this was because...