Space & Future
How cloud-dwelling microbes could help us find life on other worlds
Clouds may seem like a barrier when looking for life on distant planets, but new research shows they could actually be the key.
Scientists at...
The impossible black holes that shouldn’t exist
In 2023, gravitational wave detectors picked up the signature of a collision 7 billion light years away.
Two black holes had merged in an explosion...
Rare meteor strike on Mars triggers dust avalanches and new streaks
A rare meteoroid impact on Mars has given scientists a glimpse into how the planet’s dusty surface is constantly reshaped.
When a space rock struck...
The mystery of the colliding black holes solved
In 2023, astronomers detected one of the most extraordinary cosmic events ever seen — a collision between two enormous black holes, located about seven...
Is the universe slowing down? New evidence challenges what we know about dark energy
For more than 25 years, scientists have believed that the universe is expanding faster and faster, pushed apart by a mysterious force called dark...
Tiny dwarf galaxies help solve a 40-year dark matter debate
For decades, scientists have puzzled over why galaxies spin faster than expected.
The stars in their outer regions move so quickly that, by the laws...
Space snacks with legs: How insects might feed astronauts on Mars
Before humans ever ventured into space, insects were already making the trip — and thriving.
Lightweight, adaptable, and packed with nutrients, insects are now being...
Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus may hide a long-lived ocean that could support life
Scientists have discovered that Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is warmer than they thought — and that its hidden ocean may have remained liquid for...
Many “mini-Neptunes” once thought to be lava worlds may have solid surfaces
Astronomers have long puzzled over a strange and abundant type of planet found across the galaxy—known as “mini-Neptunes.”
These worlds are smaller than Neptune but...
Astronomers observe a black hole in another galaxy tearing a star apart
During the 1950s, the study of the cosmos was revolutionized with the introduction of radio astronomy.
In the ensuing decades, astronomers detected numerous bright radio...
Aging stars may be swallowing their closest planets, study finds
New research suggests that aging stars may be destroying the giant planets orbiting nearest to them—a dramatic process that could foreshadow the distant future...
Giant stars may have forged the universe’s oldest star clusters, study finds
Astronomers have long puzzled over how the oldest and most mysterious star clusters in the universe—known as globular clusters—came to be.
Now, an international research...
Deep Space
Moonquakes tumble boulders, build lunar scarps
The Apollo Moon buggies weren’t the only things rolling over the Moon’s surface in the early 1970s.
New research has found that a strong moonquake...
Are UFOs spawning a new religious movement?
A congressional hearing this month calling for greater government transparency on UFOs is one of the latest events spurring public interest in aliens.
But beyond...
Scientists discover a “window” to the early solar system
The dwarf planet Vesta is helping scientists better understand the earliest era in the formation of our solar system.
Two recent papers involving scientists from...
Scientists find strange black superionic ice that could exist inside other planets
Scientists used diamonds and a beam of brilliant X-rays to recreate the conditions deep inside planets, and found a new phase of water called...
Magnetic fusion plasma engines could carry us across the solar system and into interstellar...
Missions to the Moon, missions to Mars, robotic explorers to the outer Solar System, a mission to the nearest star, and maybe even a...