Space & Future

Scientists may have solved the mystery behind the universe’s gravitational waves

Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder think they may have cracked a mystery that has puzzled astronomers since the first detection of the...

Your dog’s dinner could be warming the planet more than your own

Many dog owners carefully think about what they eat for the sake of the planet—but new research suggests they may want to pay just...

How ‘red geyser’ galaxies stay silent for billions of years

Some of the universe’s largest galaxies have gone strangely quiet. They stopped forming new stars billions of years ago and have remained dormant ever since—even...

Dark stars could be the missing link in the universe’s earliest mysteries

A new study suggests that a strange and long-theorized type of object called a dark star could help explain several major mysteries uncovered by...

Thin ice may have kept ancient Martian lakes alive for decades

For years, scientists have faced a puzzling contradiction about Mars. On one hand, the planet is covered with ancient lake beds, shorelines, and sediment layers...

A new study finds a subtle dance between dark matter and neutrinos

Time again for a tale of things dark and mysterious. A tale of dark matter. It's a well-told tale, but this time it involves...

This system reveals how super-Earths are born

One of the best things about being able to see thousands of exoplanetary systems is that we’re able to track them in different stages...

Hidden plasma rings around red dwarfs may shape the fate of their planets

When astronomers think about whether distant planets could support life, they often focus on the planets themselves. But a growing body of research shows that...

How ancient Mars may have kept its lakes liquid

For years, scientists have puzzled over a contradiction on Mars. The planet’s surface is covered with features that look unmistakably like ancient lake beds—shorelines, layered...

Scientists track a powerful solar region for a record 94 days

In 2024, the Sun put on one of its most dramatic shows in decades. A single highly active region on its surface unleashed the strongest...

Young galaxies grow up fast, study finds

Astronomers have captured the most detailed look yet at faraway galaxies at the peak of their youth, an active time when the adolescent galaxies...

Astronomers see a supernova from 10 billion years ago using nature’s own telescope

Astronomers have discovered something truly remarkable: the first-ever gravitationally lensed superluminous supernova that can be seen as multiple, clearly separated images. The distant explosion, named...

Deep Space

GJ 367b is another dead world orbiting a red dwarf

It’s not looking good for red dwarf habitability, and that’s nothing new. Astronomers studied the atmosphere of the often-mentioned exoplanet GJ 367b and found, well,...

Chinese astronauts may build a base inside a lunar lava tube

Caves were some of humanity’s first shelters. Who knows what our distant ancestors were thinking as they sought refuge there, huddling and cooking meat over...

Astronomers capture the “eye of Sauron” in deep space

like the fiery “Eye of Sauron” from The Lord of the Rings. But this isn’t fantasy—it’s a cosmic jet powered by a supermassive black hole,...

A super-earth to test the limits of habitability

Every exoplanet discovery is an opportunity to refine models of planet formation, solar system architecture, habitable zones, and habitability itself. Each new planet injects more...

Eight years later, this supernova is still revealing secrets about the lives of stars

Astronomers have uncovered new clues about a mysterious stellar explosion that was discovered eight years ago, but is continuing to evolve even as scientists...