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There’s a quantum limit to how precisely anything can be measured. By squeezing light, LIGO has now surpassed all previous limitations.

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

The Sombrero is the closest bright, massive, edge-on galaxy to us. JWST’s new image, taken with MIRI, finally shows what’s under its hat.

Because of dark energy, distant objects speed away from us faster and faster as time goes on. How long before every galaxy is out of reach?

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

The fabric of spacetime is four-dimensional, with three for space and only one for time. But wow, time sure is different from space!

In logic, ‘reductio ad absurdum’ shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.

From the explosions themselves to their unique and vibrant colors, the fireworks displays we adore require quantum physics.

In a distant galaxy, a cosmic dance between two supermassive black holes emits periodic flashes of light.

How the simple act of watching twilight can radically transform our perception of the world and our role within it.

Earth is actively broadcasting and actively searching for intelligent civilizations. But could our technology even detect ourselves?

Nothing can escape from a black hole. So where do Hawking radiation, relativistic jets, and X-ray emissions around black holes come from?

Figuring out the answer involved a prism, a pail of water, and a 50 year effort by the most famous father-son astronomer duo ever.

Traveling back in time is a staple of science fiction movies. But according to Einstein, it’s a physical possibility that’s truly allowed.

Interferometry gave us a black hole’s event horizon, but that was in the radio. What can we accomplish with a new optical interferometer?

The first-of-its-kind approval could change how we think about gene-edited foods.

Is the Universe finite or infinite? Does it go on forever or loop back on itself? Here’s what would happen if you traveled forever.

The last infant stars are finishing their formation inside these pillars of gas. The evaporation of those columns is almost complete.

A recent measurement has simultaneously settled an ongoing scientific debate while puzzling scientists.

The “little red dots” were touted as being too massive, too early, for cosmology to explain. With new knowledge, everything adds up.

The Bullet Cluster has, for nearly 20 years, been hailed as an empirical “proof” of dark matter. Can their detractors explain it away?

For some reason, when we talk about the age of stars, galaxies, and the Universe, we use “years” to measure time. Can we do better?

DESI has allowed astronomers to create an unprecedented 3D map of the Universe representing 20% of the entire sky.

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

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

Although many of Einstein’s papers revolutionized physics, there’s one Einsteinian advance, generally, that towers over all the rest.

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

The most common visual depictions of the history of the Universe show the Big Bang as a growing tube with an “ignition” point. Why is that?

In the 20th century, many options abounded as to our cosmic origins. Today, only the Big Bang survives, thanks to this critical evidence.

For thousands of years, humanity had no idea how far away the stars were. In the 1600s, Newton, Huygens, and Hooke all claimed to get there.