Space & Future
A Blazar 1.5 Billion Light-Years Away Is Challenging What Astronomers Thought They Knew
About 1.5 billion light-years from Earth, a galaxy called PKS 2155-304 is giving astronomers more questions than answers.
After studying nearly two decades of observations,...
Astronomers Release the Largest 2D Map of the Universe Ever Made
Astronomers have released the largest two-dimensional color map of the universe ever created, containing an extraordinary 5.6 trillion pixels and nearly 4 billion stars,...
Rare Mars Meteorite Fills a 2-Billion-Year Gap in the Red Planet’s History
A rare meteorite from Mars is giving scientists a new look at a mysterious period in the Red Planet’s history.
Researchers at Boston College have...
Super-Earths May Be Surprisingly Solid Deep Inside, Scientists Find
Massive rocky planets known as super-Earths may be much more solid deep inside than scientists previously understood, according to new research into how minerals...
Uranus’s Magnetic Shield “Breathes” as the Planet Spins
Uranus is one of the strangest planets in our solar system, and new research shows that its unusual orientation causes the planet’s magnetic environment...
Trillion-Mile Gas Stream May Explain a Bizarre Triple-Star System
Astronomers have discovered an enormous stream of gas flowing toward a young system of three stars, potentially explaining why its planet-forming disks are strangely...
20 Years of Watching a Blazar Reveals Something Stranger Than Expected
After nearly two decades of observations, astronomers have discovered that a distant blazar behaves in ways that leading theories struggle to explain.
Instead of solving...
Mysterious Magnetic Star May Have Revealed a 90-Year-Old Quantum Secret
Scientists may have found the strongest evidence yet for one of the strangest predictions in quantum physics—a theory first proposed nearly 90 years ago.
By...
A Simple Heat Treatment Could Make 3D-Printed Metal Parts Tougher for Rockets and Electric...
Scientists have found a way to improve the performance of 3D-printed aluminum bronze, a metal that could be useful for cooling powerful electronic components...
Mysterious ‘Little Red Dots’ May Be Giant Stars That Gave Birth to the Universe’s...
One of the biggest mysteries revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope may finally have a promising explanation.
Astronomers believe that the strange objects known...
Pluto’s Frozen Heart May Still Be Alive with Flowing Liquid Nitrogen
Pluto may be far colder than any place on Earth, but scientists have discovered evidence that something surprising may still be moving beneath its...
Astronomers Witness a Giant Star’s Final Moments from The Very First Flash of Its...
Astronomers have captured one of the rarest events in the universe—the very first moments of a massive star exploding.
The discovery has given scientists an...
Deep Space
Scientists record last moments of a star devoured by supermassive black hole
A rare blast of light, emitted by a star as it is sucked in by a supermassive black hole, has been spotted by scientists...
Scientists find three infant stars at the center of our galaxy
What was previously identified as a gas and dust cloud at the center of our galaxy actually consists of three very young stars.
That is...
Beyond Earth: A new strategy to probe life’s potential on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
Does life exist beyond Earth?
One of the most compelling places to consider this possibility is Enceladus, a moon of Saturn with a liquid water...
Scientists reveal the secrets of lithium-rich stars
Lithium is an ancient element that is almost as old as the universe itself.
As one of the building blocks of our present-day universe though,...
A trip to the sun could reveal “ultralight” dark matter if it exists
Sending an atomic clock onboard a spacecraft to fly close to the sun might be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter,...