Hard Science
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Gamma-ray bursts are so powerful they could vaporize the Earth from 200 light-years away. Recreating them in the lab is not easy.
The outer planets' clouds hide the weirdness within.
Plants at room temperature show properties we had only seen near absolute zero.
Particle physicists use gigantic accelerators to investigate the infinitesimal.
"Superhabitable" planets might be real, but Earth is probably as good as it gets.
Does humanity have a moral imperative to seed life on lifeless worlds? And should we avoid colonizing a planet if life already exists there?
The cycles of life all rely on the dynamism of the Earth's crust.
A next-generation instrument on a delayed rover may be the key to answering the question of life on Mars.
There may be a symmetrical interdependence between order and chaos.
Archaeologists can learn how societies lived by studying what they left behind when they died. Astronomers are doing much the same thing.
Recasting the iconic Carrington Event as just one of many superstorms in Earth’s past, scientists reveal the potential for even more massive eruptions from the sun.
About six million years ago, the Mediterranean was sealed off from the Atlantic, and over centuries it ran dry. One megaflood reversed that.
This oddball system of three stars might be our best chance at finding nearby life in the Universe.
Wind farms seem less productive when scientists incorporate more realistic atmospheric models into their output predictions.
It's not about fairness. It's about using every possible advantage.
Laser-guided lightning isn't the only manmade way to create lightning.
The cosmic microwave background offers clues.
The LHC has a long, productive life ahead of it. An upgraded version, called the “High Luminosity LHC,” will be available in 2028.
Perhaps we should be searching for “other Mercurys” rather than “other Earths.”
You are an energy field — but not the “chakras” or “auras” kind.
An un-crewed sailing drone discovered the unusually shaped, slumbering seamount.
Though he renounced philosophy, Stephen Hawking's final theory of the universe redraws the basic foundations of cosmology.
Frozen adversity set the stage for an explosion of diversity.
Stars orbiting black holes were observed to move significantly slower than expected. One explanation centers on dark matter.
Finding this missing piece of water’s path through the universe offers clues to how it came to be on Earth.
The multiverse is an idea that has gained a lot of traction in popular culture. But what does science have to say about it?
Beer's flavor begins to change as soon as it is packaged. Are cans or bottles better at preserving flavor?
Time gets a little strange as you approach the speed of light.
That scary swirling void from which nothing can escape is our perfect universal translation tool.