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"You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it."

From hellishly hot planets to water worlds, some distant planets are like nothing in our Solar System.

Released in 1972, "Ways of Seeing" has proven to be as worthy of study as the artistic traditions it investigates.

Our Sun will continue to grow, becoming a red giant and then a planetary nebula. Here's how large it will get.

Invisible cloaks. Ghost imaging. Scientists are manipulating light in ways that were once only science fiction.

Get ready for the most peculiar road trip that will help you understand the vastness and emptiness of the solar system — and Sweden.

A new model of the Antikythera mechanism reveals a "creation of genius."

Pluto failed to meet the definition of a planet, but some astronomers think there might be a legitimate Planet 9 out there.

Find a clear western horizon after sunset, and this ‘triple treat’ of a dance can be yours. Every once in a while, the night sky provides a spectacular feast for our […]

The past ~4 billion years have been an incredibly successful, unbroken run for life on Earth. The future won't be nearly so bright.

Some astrobiologists believe life is rare, while others believe it is common in the Universe. How can we find out which view is correct?

In terms of the planets we've discovered, super-Earths are by far the most common. What does that mean for the Universe?

Betelgeuse, the tenth brightest star in the night sky, mysteriously dimmed last year. Now researchers know why.

The mediocrity principle is often used to make claims about the abundance of life across the universe, but these claims are likely unfounded.

At its biggest for the next 15 years, it’s still much smaller than the Moon. On October 6, 2020, Mars makes its closest approach to Earth until 2035. Earth orbits in […]

Shortly after planet Earth formed, life took a permanent hold on our surface. But just how common is such an outcome?

Leading a scientific revolution is easy: you just have to succeed where the current theory fails while equaling its successes. Good luck!

Want some crazy space phenomena? You don't have to leave the neighborhood for it.

Pseudoscience is science’s shadow.

Although we still don't know the question, we know that the answer to life, the Universe, and everything is 42. Here are 5 possibilities.

A recent study illuminated surprising differences in how men and women seek help when struggling with relationships.

Many planets will eventually be devoured by their parent star. For the first time, we caught a star in the act, eating its innermost planet!

In 1990, we only knew of the ones in our Solar System. Today, we know of thousands, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Einstein's "happiest thought" led to General Relativity's formulation. Would a different profound insight have led us forever astray?

Compared to Earth, Mars is small, cold, dry, and lifeless. But 3.4 billion years ago, a killer asteroid caused a Martian megatsunami.

What do we mean by a black hole's size? A photon sphere? The minimal stable orbit? The event horizon? The singularity? Which one is right?

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

How can you "touch the Sun" if you've always been inside the solar corona, yet will never reach the Sun's photosphere?

When one group says “A” and another group says “B,” consider that everyone might be wrong. One of the biggest enemies of scientific truth is the setup of a false dichotomy. […]

The Universe begins with negligible amounts of angular momentum, which is always conserved. So why do planets, stars, and galaxies all spin?