Charles Q. Choi
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
Mars' buried polar 'lakes' may just be frozen clay
By Charles Q. Choi published
Bright reflections that radar detected beneath the south pole of Mars may not be underground lakes as previously thought but deposits of clay instead, a new study finds.
Astronomers catch fizzled-out gamma-ray burst from supernova
By Charles Q. Choi published
A fizzled example of a gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion known in the universe, suggests these outbursts can be surprisingly brief, researchers say.
Water vapor detected on huge Jupiter moon Ganymede for 1st time
By Charles Q. Choi published
In the wisp-thin sky of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest satellite in the solar system, astronomers have for the first time detected evidence of water vapor, a new study finds.
Strange chemical on Venus may come from volcanoes, not life
By Charles Q. Choi published
A mysterious whiff of an unstable chemical in the skies of Venus may not be a sign of life but the result of explosive volcanic eruptions, a new study finds.
Mystery of Jupiter's powerful X-ray auroras finally solved
By Charles Q. Choi published
Mysterious flares of X-rays from Jupiter's auroras suggest that the giant planet's "northern lights" may possess unexpected similarities with those of Earth, a new study finds.
Star cluster overrun with black holes may dissolve into space, study finds
By Charles Q. Choi published
A cluster composed of thousands of stars may dissolve to become a mob of dozens of black holes in a billion years.
Smallest, densest white dwarf ever discovered packs the sun's mass into a moon-size stellar corpse
By Charles Q. Choi published
Astronomers may have discovered the smallest and heaviest white dwarf star ever seen, a smoldering ember about the size of our moon but 450,000 times more massive than Earth, a new study finds.
Elusive new type of supernova, long sought by scientists, actually exists
By Charles Q. Choi published
Astronomers may have finally discovered convincing evidence of an elusive kind of supernova, called the electron-capture supernova, that may explain the Crab Nebula.
Astronomers discover largest known spinning structures in the universe
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Tendrils of galaxies up to hundreds of millions of light-years long may be the largest spinning objects in the universe, a new study finds.
Aliens could have spotted Earth cross the sun from more than 1,700 star systems
By Charles Q. Choi published
E.T. could also potentially have detected life on Earth, scientists say.
Boulders on asteroid Ryugu are surprisingly fluffy, Japan's Hayabusa2 probe finds
By Charles Q. Choi published
Boulders on asteroids can be three-quarters hollow or more, a discovery that could help yield insights on the way in which Earth and other planets formed, a new study finds.
Metals found in the atmospheres of comets in and beyond our solar system surprise scientists
By Charles Q. Choi published
Metal atoms have surprisingly been discovered in the frigid atmosphere of the first known interstellar comet to visit our solar system, a new study finds.
Mars may still be volcanically active, study finds
By Charles Q. Choi published
Evidence of what may be the youngest eruption seen yet on Mars suggests the Red Planet may still be volcanically active, raising the possibility it was recently habitable.
Alien hunters should search for artifacts on the moon, study suggests
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
The famous equation used to search for alien civilizations has now inspired a new formula to hunt for alien artifacts within our solar system.
The water on Mars didn't run dry all at once, study finds
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Mars did not dry up all at once, but fluctuated between dry spells and wetter times, a new study finds.
Interstellar interloper 2I/Borisov may be the most pristine comet ever observed
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
The first known interstellar comet to visit our solar system may be the most pristine ever found, never passing near a star until visiting our own, researchers say.
Tiny Electric Thrusters from Phase Four, Accion Could Go Interplanetary
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Electric thrusters for spacecraft are increasingly shrinking, and could prove key for new interplanetary missions, experts say.
Interstellar object 'Oumuamua is a pancake-shaped chunk of a Pluto-like planet
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
'Oumuamua, the first known visitor from interstellar space, was likely a pancake-shaped chip off a Pluto-like world.
Mars may hide oceans of water beneath its crust, study finds
By Charles Q. Choi published
Oceans' worth of water may remain buried in the crust of Mars, and not lost to space as previously long thought, a new study finds.
Mercury may not have shrunk nearly as much as scientists think
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Mercury may not have shrunk nearly as much as scientists previously thought, potentially solving the mystery posed by the planet's continuing quakes.
Were the Mars moons Phobos and Deimos born from another shattered moon?
By Charles Q. Choi published
The Mars moons Phobos and Deimos have been born from the remains of a larger moon that shattered.
'Ghostly' neutrino from star-shredding black hole reveals cosmic particle accelerator of epic proportions
By Charles Q. Choi published
A ghostly particle that smashed into Antarctica in 2019 has been traced back to a black hole tearing apart a star while acting like a giant cosmic particle accelerator, a new study finds.
Scientists revisit the 1st black hole they ever discovered and realize it's bigger than they thought
By Charles Q. Choi published
New evidence suggests the first known black hole is bigger than previously thought, which may force scientists to reconsider their understanding of how giant stars give rise to black holes.
Surprisingly mature galaxy in the infant universe suggests galaxies form faster than we thought
By Charles Q. Choi published
A distant galaxy in the newborn universe essentially resembles a grown adult when it should just look like a small child, suggesting galaxies may evolve more rapidly than we thought.