Space & Future
Astronomers discover powerful “cosmic laser” shining from halfway across the universe
Astronomers using a powerful radio telescope in South Africa have discovered an extraordinary cosmic signal coming from more than 8 billion light-years away.
The signal...
Astronomers discover alcohol-rich interstellar comet passing through our solar system
Astronomers studying a rare interstellar comet have discovered something surprising: it contains unusually large amounts of methanol, a type of alcohol.
The discovery offers a...
Why are some stars always visible while others come and go with the seasons
As a space scientist, every time I go outside with my family, I tell my children to look up at the sky.
The front door...
Can life grow on the moon or Mars? New experiments offer surprising clues
As scientists plan future missions to the Moon and Mars, one major question remains: could humans grow food or even support life on these...
What’s inside a neutron star? New study points to answers in gravitational waves
Neutron stars are among the most mysterious objects in the universe.
Formed when massive stars collapse after exploding as supernovae, these incredibly dense objects pack...
Scientists decode ancient magnetic signals in asteroid Ryugu samples
Scientists studying tiny samples from the asteroid Ryugu have uncovered new clues about the magnetic environment that existed when the solar system first formed.
The...
How old is the universe? The oldest stars in the Milky Way may hold...
How old is the universe?
Scientists have long tried to answer this question, but different measurement methods have produced conflicting results.
Now, researchers from the University...
The coldest ‘stars’ in the galaxy might actually be alien megastructures
Ever since physicist Freeman Dyson first proposed the concept in 1960, the "Dyson sphere" has been the holy grail of techno-signature hunters.
A highly advanced...
Scientists spot unexpected cold region inside Jupiter’s northern lights
Jupiter’s northern lights are the most powerful in the solar system, but new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed surprising...
Mars Express reveals a landscape filled with ancient craters on the red planet
A new image captured by the Mars Express orbiter offers a striking view of one of the most heavily cratered regions on Mars.
The image...
Scientists discover super-tough microbe that could survive a journey from Mars to Earth
Life on Earth may not be as isolated as we once thought. New research from Johns Hopkins University suggests that tiny life forms could...
Red dwarf stars might starve alien plants of the quality light they need to...
Red dwarfs make up the vast majority of stars in the galaxy.
Such ubiquity means they host the majority of rocky exoplanets we’ve found so...
Deep Space
Scientists reveal the origin of unusually heavy neutron star binaries
A new study reveals how the explosion of a stripped massive star in a supernova can lead to the formation of a heavy neutron...
Scientists uncover the origins of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole
Astronomers have long been puzzled by the origins of supermassive black holes—enormous objects found at the center of most galaxies, including our own Milky...
Lasers could send missions to Mars in only 45 days
NASA and China plan to mount crewed missions to Mars in the next decade.
While this represents a tremendous leap in terms of space exploration,...
‘Invisible’ asteroids near Venus could pose a future threat to Earth
Scientists have identified a hidden population of asteroids that could pose a serious threat to Earth, even though we can’t see them with current...
Ultramassive black holes: how does the universe produce objects so massive?
Black holes are the most massive objects that we know of in the Universe.
Not stellar mass black holes, not supermassive black holes (SMBHs,) but...