NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission will carry the world's 1st deep-space biology experiment By Stefanie Waldek published 16 August 22 Scientists will study the effects of radiation on yeast in preparation for long-duration crewed missions to deep space.
Asteroid Ryugu contains dust older than the solar system By Tereza Pultarova published 16 August 22 Ancient grains of dust that are older than the solar system itself have been found in samples from asteroid Ryugu brought to Earth by the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft nearly two years ago.
Supermassive black hole pair nearest Earth is locked in a violent cosmic dance By Robert Lea published 16 August 22 A powerful and spectacular cosmic dance that began a billion years ago will lead to a collision and merger between two galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their hearts.
Meteorites that reach the Earth fall from asteroid butts By Stefanie Waldek published 16 August 22 Scientists studied the trajectory and debris field of asteroid 2008 TC3 to determine which specific parts of the space rock made it down to the Earth's surface.
China's X-ray observatory detects strongest magnetic field ever recorded By Andrew Jones published 16 August 22 A Chinese X-ray telescope has detected the strongest-ever magnetic field recorded by making observations of a rapidly-spinning neutron star, or magnetar.
'Cannibal' solar flares may bring auroras as far south as New York By Tereza Pultarova published 16 August 22 The sun has spat out two clouds of plasma in the past two days, which might trigger beautiful aurora displays observable as far south as New York later this week.
Pictures from space! Our image of the day By Space.com Staff published 16 August 22 NASA's Space Launch System rocket captured inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of its roll out to the launch pad.
Black hole 'superradiance' phenomenon may aid quest for dark matter By Paul Sutter published 16 August 22 Scientists think that when dark photons collect around black holes, they can get trapped and boosted to high energies, where they might transform into other particles (or even just normal photons).
Giant meteorite strikes in Earth's distant history may have helped form continents By Robert Lea published 16 August 22 Earth is the only planet we know possesses continents, a scientific mystery, but new research indicates the continents may have been created by meteorite impacts in Earth's distant history.
Underwater snow on Earth could offer insight into Europa's icy crust By Andrew Jones published 15 August 22 Studying unusual processes of how ice accumulates below ice shelves here on Earth could hold lessons for the exploration and habitability of Jupiter's moon Europa.
NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission will carry 2 water-seeking cubesats By Stefanie Waldek published 15 August 22 The Lunar IceCube and Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) missions will search the moon for water using two different techniques.
Unusual 'revived' pulsars could be the ultimate gravitational wave detector By Paul Sutter published 15 August 22 Astronomers hope to use pulsars scattered around the galaxy as a giant gravitational wave detector. But why do we need them, and how do they work?
Extreme physics of 'supercritical' matter may be surprisingly simple By Stephanie Pappas published 15 August 22 At 'supercriticality,' the difference between the liquid and gas phases of a material seems to disappear. New research finds that this weird tipping point may be simpler than scientists thought.
Giant voids of nothingness may be flinging the universe apart By Paul Sutter published 15 August 22 Dark energy could be caused by pressure from giant voids of nothingness that may be flinging the universe apart.
The 6th mass extinction hasn't begun yet, study claims, but Earth is barreling toward it By Martin McGuigan published 15 August 22 Earth has experienced five mass extinction events over its 4.5 billion-year history. A sixth mass extinction is underway as a result of human-driven climate change.
Hubble Space Telescope paints stellar outflows in new portrait of the Orion Nebula By Jeff Spry published 15 August 22 Hubble Space Telescope delivers a stunning new image of stellar gas and dust in the Orion Nebula
A mystery of sulfur clouds of Venus may be solved by new computer model By Andrew Jones published 14 August 22 Scientists using new computational methods have come up with a new insight into the potential workings of the complex atmosphere of Venus.
A new Australian supercomputer has already delivered a stunning supernova remnant pic By Wasim Raja, Pascal Jahan Elahi published 14 August 22 Within 24 hours of accessing the first stage of Australia’s newest supercomputing system, researchers have processed a series of radio telescope observations, including a highly detailed image of a supernova remnant.
Massive expanse of towering hydrothermal vents discovered deep in the Pacific By Nicoletta Lanese published 14 August 22 Scientists found a huge field of hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise.
Flying saucer-shaped cloud floats above Hawaiian telescopes (photo) By Elizabeth Howell published 14 August 22 A mountaintop observatory experienced a 'close encounter' in the shape of a cloud that some people associate with UFOs. The real-life explanation is far less alien.