It isn’t just that mass and energy are equivalent and interchangeable. It tells us something fundamental about mass itself. Of all the equations that we use to describe the Universe, perhaps […]
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These needles in the vast galactic haystack take more effort to find, but they help piece together our origins.
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We know a lot about what else is out there, but we still don’t know everything. In the quest for life in the Universe, it makes sense to look at […]
Groundbreaking new research suggests gamma-ray bursts are caused by a star’s collapsing magnetic field.
Forgetting them, at any step, can lead to unscientific conclusions. No one, not even the smartest among us, were competent scientists from the outset. The concept of science is simple […]
A theoretical view of a distant world so far from our Sun that our Solar System appears barely brighter than the remaining stars in the sky. ( Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)) Pluto […]
Or is ‘new space’ created in between the gaps of the ‘old’ space? It’s been almost 100 years since humanity first reached a revolutionary conclusion about our Universe: space itself doesn’t […]
Turning salt water into fresh water with the power of the sun.
We have to use the right definition for the specific question we’re asking. When it comes to the Universe, we frequently characterize objects by examining and reporting on their physical […]
Need a distraction during these stay-at-home times? Look up tonight to see the first supermoon of spring.
It’s not just for Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars. Not even close. Shortly after Earth first formed first formed, life quickly took hold, thriving ever since. Both reflected sunlight on a […]
Researchers think they know how a group of ancient sloths, who died thousands of years ago in Ecuador, met their untimely end.
The Eagle Nebula, complete with the Pillars of Creation, tells a mini-version of the story of how all the Universe’s stars formed. The Eagle Nebula, found 7,000 light-years away, demonstrates how […]
Forget about alien nonsense. The Universe as it actually is doesn’t need any embellishments to be interesting. In our Solar System, the planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other masses are […]
Telescopes from the ground are bigger, but have to fight the atmosphere. Here’s how to win. In astronomy, seeing farther and fainter than ever before requires three simultaneous approaches. First light, […]
Astronomers have recently discovered the most massive neutron star to date, nearly at the theoretical limit for such stars. But it’s only about the size of a small city.
A new device shows promising results in its ability to convert CO2 and water into useful fuels.
A 71% wet Mars would have two major land masses and one giant ‘Medimartian Sea.’
Atop certain glaciers are herds of small mossy balls that somehow move together when no one’s looking.
Even though it was the crowning achievement of Einstein’s career, he was only a small part of the full story. If you were a physicist in the early 20th century, there […]
A gigantic star makes off during an eight-year gap in observations.
Sometimes not looking forward to something helps you get it done.
And it’s not because of leap seconds; it’s a fundamental property of most days. Human beings, in marking the passage of time, account for each day equally: with 24 hours. One […]
Nothing in the Universe can travel faster than the speed of light. So how does space itself do it? One of the fundamental rules we all learn in physics — set forth by […]
Combining two fabrics is the best way to filter out infectious coronavirus particles according to a new study.
Being ahead of the curve can be a dangerous place. These 7 thinkers were driven from their homelands over it.
Even before the Big Bang, energetic radiation was always present. When it comes to the physical Universe, the notion of “nothing” may truly be possible only in theory, not in […]
It’s 13.8 billion years old, with an uncertainty of just 1%. Here’s how. How old is the Universe? For generations, people argued over whether the Universe had always existed, whether it […]
Many of them are spinning at nearly the speed of light. When you do the math, there’s no other way it could have been. Take a look out there at the […]