Charles Q. Choi is a contributing writer for Space.com and Live Science. He covers all things human origins and astronomy as well as physics, animals and general science topics. Charles has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida. Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica. Visit him at http://www.sciwriter.us
Latest articles by Charles Q. Choi

By Charles Q. Choi Published

By Charles Q. Choi Published
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.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
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.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
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.

By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Astronomers have identified a half dozen exoplanets that may be made of an exotic form of matter unknown on Earth.

By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Mercury may still rumble with earthquakes, or "mercuryquakes," according to evidence found in cliffs on the planet's surface.

By Charles Q. Choi, Ailsa Harvey last updated
Reference Learn how stars form, how stars and constellations are named, what happens when stars like our sun evolve, and ultimately, die.

By Charles Q. Choi last updated
When the biggest stars in the universe die, they may form exotic states of matter generally not seen in the universe since fractions of a second after the Big Bang.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
The find could boost the search for alien life.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
Earth is constantly showered by space rocks, but how many of these actually land on Earth's surface?

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

By Charles Q. Choi Published
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.

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

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

By Charles Q. Choi Published
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.

By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Earth's magnetic field, which protects the planet from harmful blasts of solar radiation, is much older than scientists had previously thought, researchers say.

By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Reversal happened in less than a thousand years.

By Charles Q. Choi last updated
The Higgs boson, the so-called 'God particle,' could have destroyed the universe shortly after the Big Bang, but the force of gravity saved the cosmos, scientists say.

By Charles Q. Choi Published

By Charles Q. Choi Published
Liquid water once shaped the rock inside a meteorite from Mars, but likely did not support any microbial life, a new study finds.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
New meteorite research suggests that cosmic impacts might have helped deliver vital ingredients of life to ancient Earth.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
The most distant single star seen yet dates back to less than 1 billion years after the universe's birth in the Big Bang, and may shed light on the earliest stars in the cosmos, a new study finds.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
Two giant bubbles of gamma rays and X-rays that erupted from the center of the Milky Way may stem from a supermassive black hole's feeding frenzy at the heart of the galaxy, a new study finds.

By Charles Q. Choi Published
Miniature spaceships the size of cellphones could fly across the solar system using sails propelled by lasers, reaching distant destinations on very reasonable timescales.
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