In order, they go: hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, neon, nitrogen, magnesium, silicon, iron, sulfur. Here’s how we made them. Everything found on planet Earth is composed of the same ingredients: atoms. […]
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Scientists have detected within the Venusian atmosphere a chemical known to be a byproduct of life.
No one has seen an equinox this early since the 19th century. And you’d better get used to it. This year, on March 19, 2020, the equinox will occur. For a […]
When you measure not just light, but light’s polarization, you learn so much more. It’s been over 100 years since the first solution for a black hole was discovered in General […]
We’re not made out of the densest elements, but we’re the densest planet nonetheless. Here’s why. Of all the planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids and more in the Solar System, only […]
Turns out chitin is quite useful when you need a wrench.
Known as primordial black holes, they could thoroughly change our Universe’s history. But the evidence is strongly against them.
U.S. states vary radically in terms of electricity generation. Vermont is the cleanest, while Delaware is the dirtiest.
The future of cities on the Moon, Mars and orbital habitats.
It’s one of only five spacecraft that will exit the Solar System, and the only one we have a chance to aim at another star. Of all the spacecraft ever launched, […]
As the first Friedmann equation celebrates its 99th anniversary, it remains the one equation to describe our entire universe.
But most city dwellers weren’t seeing the science — they were seeing something out of Blade Runner.
The solar system has some strange stuff in it. Learning how it ended up that way can tell us where we’re going.
The origin of the 3rd element on the periodic table was one of the great cosmic mysteries. We just solved it. How did we form the elements that pervade the Universe […]
After the 2011 Fukushima disaster, it was Germany, not Japan, that cracked down most severely on nuclear power plants.
The anthropic principle has some fascinating scientific uses. And abuses, too. For thousands of years, humans have pondered the meaning of our existence. From philosophers who debated whether their minds could […]
New study figures out how stars produce gamma ray bursts.
The rings are raining down onto the planet, and disappearing surprisingly fast. 4.5 billion years ago, our Solar System first formed. Protoplanetary disks, which all solar systems are thought to […]
A European start-up uses satellite data to pinpoint individual sources of abnormal methane concentration.
We’ve never found eight stars bound together in the same stable system. But nature might make it so. The Universe that we have is often more wondrous and bizarre than even […]
Although most of the Universe’s mass is dark matter, which gravitates just as well as normal matter, it still can’t make black holes.
The Earth is warming, and humans aren’t doing nearly enough to combat it. Could partially blocking the sunlight be the solution? It’s 2020, and not only is the Earth warmer […]
The Crab Nebula goes back to 1054, opening a window into our cosmic past. On July 4, 1054, Chinese astronomers recorded a “guest star” in the Taurus constellation. A ‘guest star’ […]
All supernovae are not created equal. After a 14 year investigation, the brightest ones have a surprising explanation. In 2006, astronomers witnessed a supernova that defied conventional explanation. Typically, supernovae […]
Once science operations begin for James Webb, we’ll never look at the Universe the same way again. Here’s what everyone should know.
If you’re wondering whether the blast wave or the radiation would kill us first, you’re asking the wrong question. As far as raw explosive power goes, no other cataclysm in […]
It’s not for climate science and condensed matter physics. It’s for advancing our understanding beyond spherical cows.
After a decade of failed attempts, scientists successfully bounced photons off of a reflector aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, some 240,000 miles from Earth.
The ESO finds another exoplanet that’s definitely not a place for us to go.
The theoretical reasons to expect it are compelling, but the technology required to detect it is unfathomable. All throughout our galaxy, millions of black holes of a variety of masses […]