The aptly named ‘Fireworks galaxy’ just had its tenth supernova in the past century, setting a record. Learn how to see it! “When a massive star explodes at the end of […]
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Totality is a time to look at the eclipsed Sun, enjoy, and marvel at it. But for photographers, there’s even more in store. “Having totality means being capable of following ‘what […]
You might think that it should be all black, but then how would we see it? “It is conceptually interesting, if not astrophysically very important, to calculate the precise apparent shape […]
The truth might not be ‘out there’ at all. There may never have been another intelligent, technologically advanced alien species in the entire history of the Universe. When you take into […]
It isn’t just for merging neutron stars, anymore. Over the past three years, there’s arguably been no greater scientific discovery than the direct detection of gravitational waves. The two LIGO […]
Five independent images point to an incredible, single story, but the mystery of how it was created still remains. “The origin and evolution of life are connected in the most intimate […]
Even with the greatest telescopes imaginable, there are billions of light years with nothing recognizable by today’s standards. “Despite its name, the big bang theory is not really a theory […]
Researchers are beginning to understand the relationship between black holes and galaxies.
The most elusive naked-eye planet is downright impossible to view for billions of us on Earth. “I long ago abandoned the notion of a life without storms, or a world without […]
Astronomers have gotten good at dating stars. But this one has them stumped.
Something’s got to be wrong. But is it what we think about the star, the Universe, or something else? “The older you get, the more you realize that the way […]
If nothing can escape from beneath the event horizon, where do these phenomena come from? The most important feature of a black hole is that it has an event horizon: a […]
Northwestern University researchers discover the unexpected origins of half the atoms in our bodies.
NASA scientists are sifting through some of the last transmissions from Cassini. And what they’re finding are kittens. You read that right.
It isn’t flat, and these simple observations that you can make from the ground can demonstrate it to anyone. From any one location on the surface of the Earth, it’s impossible […]
Last week, Cassini plunged into Saturn’s atmosphere. Here are the top 6 things we learned from it while it was alive. “Being a scientist and staring immensity and eternity in the […]
Just because it isn’t Thanksgiving anymore doesn’t mean we don’t have an entire Universe to be thankful for. Every day, we have a choice whether we take our lives, our existence, […]
Is our existence base reality—or are we pawns in a matrix? Cognitive scientist Joscha Bach explains how we might be able to tell.
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Think the periodic table is complicated? Now learn how each element in it was created. “It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign of order […]
Are we about to make a breakthrough to go beyond black holes? Here’s what it means if we do! “It’s becoming clear that in a sense the cosmos provides the only […]
This research may help us develop diamonds for products and better understand nuclear fusion.
We may use superlatives all the time, but that’s no substitute for quantifying just how bad, big, or important something is. This article was written by Kimberly Arcand and Megan […]
ORBITER was in the path of totality for the solar eclipse, and on our way, we were joking about which of us might scream. Turns out, how could you not?
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Gravitational waves and electromagnetic ones don’t need to go together. But physics says it’s possible; what do the observations say? “The black holes collide in complete darkness. None of the […]
The outer three can even be seen with a small, 1.5 meter telescope. This 2010 picture of three of the four known exoplanets orbiting HR 8799 represents the first time […]
What Hubble sees at its best is only a tease for what James Webb will deliver. “With the Hubble telescope and all the other things that are out there, I believe […]
There are many people who preach the supposed benefits of psychedelics, but none do it as well, nor as reliably, as these philosophers and scientists.
If nature makes equal amounts of matter and antimatter, how are we here? When you look out at the vastness of the Universe, at the planets, stars, galaxies, and all there […]
If you think federal funding for science is expensive, wait until you see the cost of not funding it. “For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as […]
Black holes shouldn’t be this big, much less this big so many billions of years ago. Yet here we are. “Ultramassive black holes — that is, black holes with masses exceeding 10 billion […]