Charles Q. Choi

The January 2022 eruption of a Tonga undersea volcano was powerful enough to generate plasma bubbles that disrupted radio communications in outer space.

A warp in the fabric of space and time that acted like a giant magnifying glass may help solve a celestial mystery about the rate of the universe's expansion.

The action 12,000 light-years away may presage what happens to Earth about 5 billion years from now.

Medieval tomes that recorded how the moon changed color during lunar eclipses could help reveal vital clues about the volcanic eruptions that may have triggered the Little Ice Age in Europe.

The robots currently exploring Mars may not be capable of detecting potential traces of life on the Red Planet, a new study finds.

A proposed NASA mission to Uranus would shed light on the mysterious ice giant as well as a type of exoplanet that's among the most common in the universe, researchers say.

An enhanced in-space diet augmented with fruits, vegetables and fish could help boost astronaut health and performance, a new study finds.

Space probes that fly close to the sun may help reveal the nature of dark matter, which makes up about five-sixths of all matter in the universe but remains a mystery.

Researchers may be able to explain the origin of these enigmatic worlds and also that of other rocky planets and moons, including Earth and its siblings.

Microbes carried by laser-propelled sails could serve as interstellar probes that can build communications stations to phone home from Alpha Centauri.

Over the past year, astronomers have gleaned new insights into black holes across the universe. Here is a list of 15 times black holes surprised us in 2022.

Even though winds on Mars are weak, they could be sufficient to provide power for future exploration and colonization of the Red Planet, a new study finds.

A plume of searing hot rock as wide as the continental U.S. is rising up from near the core of Mars and might help explain recent volcanism and earthquakes seen at the Red Planet, scientists say.

A Martian megatsunami may have raced across the Red Planet after a cosmic impact similar to the one that likely ended Earth's age of dinosaurs, a new study finds.

The find could boost the search for alien life.

Earth is constantly showered by space rocks, but how many of these actually land on Earth's surface?

Cosmic impacts can make planets and moons more porous than previously thought, potentially boosting their ability to host life, a new study finds.

The soil and water of Mars are normally too harsh for crops, but research led by a then-high schooler finds that alfalfa plants and photosynthetic bacteria might help make conditions fit for farming.

A new model exploring the dwarf planet Ceres suggests radioactivity deep in the small world may have created criss-crossed geology at its surface.

A meteorite on Earth holds new evidence that asteroids do indeed mysteriously spit out pebbles, a new study finds.

Scientists have found the Martian birthplace of a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite, potentially shedding light on the origins of Mars and other rocky worlds.