Space & Future
Dead stars may be eating far more than we ever imagined
White dwarfs are often called "dead stars," but new research suggests these ancient stellar remains are far from inactive.
Instead, they may still be pulling...
Australian Salt Lakes May Hold The Secret to Mars’ Watery Past
Could some of the best clues about ancient Mars be hiding in the remote landscapes of Western Australia?
A new study suggests that unusual salt...
Scientists solve a long-standing nuclear mystery that could explain how stars create heavy elements
Scientists have solved a decades-old mystery about the way some atomic nuclei release energy, a discovery that could improve our understanding of how stars...
Scientists develop a new way to search for hidden particles by ‘listening’ to the...
Scientists have created a new mathematical method that could help reveal hidden particles that have so far escaped detection.
Inspired by the way a skilled...
Venus May Still Be Geologically Active, New Study Suggests
For many years, scientists believed that Venus was a quiet, geologically inactive world where major surface changes stopped long ago.
New research now challenges that...
Could We Send a Spacecraft to a Black Hole?
Black holes represent some of the most extreme environments in the universe.
They’re the sources of the strongest consistent gravitational fields, which allows us to...
Rare moon rocks from the far side reveal a new chapter in the solar...
Ancient rocks collected from the far side of the moon are giving scientists a fresh look at the violent history of our solar system.
The...
We may have been searching the wrong radio channel for alien signals
For more than 60 years, scientists have searched the skies for signs of intelligent life beyond Earth.
Much of that search has focused on listening...
Did the dinosaur-killing asteroid really shape tuna evolution?
For years, many scientists believed that the asteroid impact that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago also helped shape the evolution...
Mars Has Its Own Tiny Aurora Engine—And It Works Surprisingly Like Earth’s
Mars may not have a strong global magnetic field like Earth, but scientists have discovered that it still creates glowing auroras using a surprisingly...
Europa’s Hidden Ocean May Be Harder To Reach Than We Expected
Europa, one of Jupiter's largest moons, has fascinated scientists for decades because it may hide a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its thick...
Are we missing alien lighthouses
Searching for extraterrestrial intelligence has so far meant primarily focusing on one particular type of signal - and that signal has normally been based...
Deep Space
Souped up Hall thrusters might get people to Mars
Running more propellant through a Hall thruster might power a crewed mission to Mars, experiments suggest.
It was believed that Hall thrusters, an efficient kind...
A rare object found deep in the Kuiper Belt
Despite the powerful telescopes that modern astronomers have to work with, the distant reaches of the Solar System are still mysterious.
Not much sunlight pierces...
Why Earth didn’t grow to super-Earth in early solar system
Before the solar system had planets, the sun had rings — bands of dust and gas similar to Saturn’s rings — that likely played...
Scientists design novel fire extinguisher in space
Scientists have designed a new fire extinguisher used in space in a new study.
The new fire extinguisher is named Vacuum Extinguish Method (VEM)
The research...
Black holes created in mergers carry information about their ancestors, shows study
Astronomers have made an exciting discovery: black holes created from the collision of other black holes carry important information about their "parent" black holes.
This...