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Black holes aren’t just the densest masses in the Universe, but they also spin the fastest of all massive objects. Here’s why it must be so.

For the past 150+ years, the big ones have all missed us. But at some point, our good luck will run out.

There could be variables beyond the ones we’ve identified and know how to measure. But they can’t get rid of quantum weirdness.

Are atoms, humans, planets, and galaxies destined to expand, too? One of the most revolutionary discoveries of the past century was the fact that the Universe is not eternally static and […]

Why does dark matter, if it doesn’t dissipate energy, become gravitationally bound at all? One of the most puzzling components of the Universe has to be dark matter. Although we have […]

It took a series of ingenious experiments in the 20th century to uncover some of our biggest cognitive biases.

A new model addresses a longstanding problem: where do quasars get the fuel they need to outshine entire galaxies?

The “overview effect,” experienced by astronauts when they view the Earth from outer space, irrevocably changes your perspective as a human.

Researchers discover that cancer cells go into hibernation to avoid chemotherapy effects.

Life is possible because of asymmetries, such as an imbalance between matter and antimatter and the “handedness” (chirality) of molecules.

How efficiently could quantum engines operate?

What do communist dictators Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong have in common with U.S. Presidents like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan? Hint: It’s the same thing they have in […]

It’s 92 billion light-years wide after just 13.8 billion years. And that’s just fine. If there’s one rule that people know about how fast things can move, it’s that there’s a […]

Water is vital for life. Luckily for spacefaring humans, the solar system is full of it.

Entropy always increases, but that doesn’t mean it was zero to start with. One of the most inviolable laws in the Universe is the second law of thermodynamics: that in any […]

While it’s always been a boon to Popeye’s “muskles,” it looks like spinach may also have a role to play in clean future batteries.

Unreasonable burdens prevent people from thriving. Eliminate them.

60% of all potentially dangerous asteroids remain undetected.

Even in the most exotic scenario imaginable, they still can’t remain stable in the Earth’s interior. It’s well known among scientists that if you submit even the most nonsensical paper […]

Growing marijuana in large, climate controlled warehouses is good for production but has a massive carbon footprint.

Have we always had quantum fields in the Universe? Or did they emerge at some finite time? No matter how we look at the Universe — at low temperatures or ultra-high energies, from […]

And which ones are probably examples where we’ve fooled ourselves? Every once in a while — multiple times per year — a new research finding fails to line up with our theoretical expectations. In […]

If we waited long enough, would even protons themselves decay? There are certain things in the Universe that, if you leave them alone for long enough, they’ll eventually decay away. […]

Are the stellar remnants in our cosmic backyard actually our parents and grandparents?

“To be ignorant of causes is to be frustrated in action.” So wrote Francis Bacon, counsel to Queen Elizabeth I of England and key architect of the scientific method. In […]

Daylight saving time was first implemented during the first world war to take advantage of longer daylight hours and save energy. While this made a difference when we heavily relied on coal […]

Everything is being driven apart. But there’s hope of reaching what’s currently so far away. For the first 7.8 billion years, the Universe unfolded exactly as scientists would have expected in […]

We have two ways of measuring the expansion rate. Here’s the harder one. If you want to understand where our Universe came from and where it’s going, you need to measure […]

And can scientists even agree on what ‘nothing’ means? The more curious we get about the great cosmic unknowns, the more unanswered questions our investigations of the Universe will reveal. […]

Despite the claims of one of Earth’s newest Nobel Laureates, the data doesn’t lie. One of the greatest scientific successes of the past century was the theory of the hot Big […]