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We can reasonably say that we understand the history of the Universe within one-trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. That's not good enough.

A Fermilab study confirms decades-old measurements regarding the size and structure of protons.

All matter particles can act as waves, and massless light waves show particle-like behavior. Can gravitational waves also be particle-like?

In 1054, a core-collapse supernova occurred 6500 light-years away. In 2023, JWST imaged the remnant, and might solve a massive mystery.

With no other galaxies in its vicinity for ~100 million light-years in all directions, it's as isolated and lonely as a galaxy can be.

Today, our observable Universe extends for 46 billion light-years in all directions. But early on in our history, things were much smaller.

Gamma-ray bursts are so powerful they could vaporize the Earth from 200 light-years away. Recreating them in the lab is not easy.

Black holes aren't just the densest masses in the Universe, but they also spin the fastest of all massive objects. Here's why it must be so.

Our greatest tool for exploring the world inside atoms and molecules, and specifically electron transitions, just won 2023's Nobel Prize.

Some 55 million light-years away lies the giant galaxy Messier 87. Its supermassive black hole, inside and out, looks better than ever.

Scientists may have detected the somewhat smelly chemical dimethyl sulfide on a planet 120 light-years from Earth.

Newton thought that gravitation would happen instantly, propagating at infinite speeds. Einstein showed otherwise; gravity isn't instant.

Some say that the Sun is a green-yellow color, but our human eyes see it as white, or yellow-to-red during sunset. What color is it really?

The visible Universe extends 46.1 billion light-years from us, while we've probed scales down to as small as ~10^-19 meters.

A researcher explains a little-known niche within modern physics: animal collective behavior.

The best evidence for dark matter is astrophysical and indirect. Do new lensing observations point to ultra-light, wave-like dark matter?

What do ghosts and anomalous galaxy rotation rates have in common? Some sci-fi enthusiasts believe the answer involves "parallel universes."

With almost every shovel of sand shifted in Egypt, another artifact comes to light.

Explanations for the cosmic speed limit often conflate mass with inertia.

If light can't be bent by electric or magnetic fields (and it can't), then how do the Zeeman and Stark effects split atomic energy levels?

Most of us only ever see a fraction of a full rainbow: an arc. But optically, a full rainbow makes a complete circle. Physics explains why.

For many years, cosmologists have claimed the Universe is 13.8 billion years old. A new paper says no, it's 26.7 billion. How do we decide?

What do the dark recesses of the early Universe and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have in common? More than you could have ever hoped for.

Everything we observe beyond our Local Group is speeding away from us, omnidirectionally. If the Universe is expanding, where is the center?

A more distant galaxy liked the lens so much that it went and put a ring on it. Here's the science behind this remarkable cosmic object.

The intensely white coloration of the shrimp is a remarkable feat of bioengineering.

Some authors never saw their books score widespread acclaim—or even get published at all.

Here on Earth, the Sun is our primary source of light, heat, and energy. But it also poses a grave threat to human civilization.

Research sheds light on social behavior of these mysterious predators.

A spherical structure nearly one billion light-years wide has been spotted in the nearby Universe, dating all the way back to the Big Bang.