Remembering Frank Drake, who transformed the search for alien life & extraterrestrial intelligence into a full-fledged scientific endeavor.
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The Earth is not flat. Here’s how you can prove it.
Without quantum physics, the Sun wouldn’t shine at all. Earth, as we know it, is only teeming with life because of the influence of our Sun. Its light and heat provides […]
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 […]
And what can it teach us about our Solar System’s earliest days? In many ways, astronomy is unique among the sciences. In every other field, you have the ability to design […]
Think leisure is pointless?
The first Earth-sized planet without a parent star has just been discovered. For countless millennia, planets beyond our Solar System were mere speculation. Today, we know of over 4,000 confirmed […]
Most cities reeked of death, defecation, and industrial waste. Still, focusing only on stench means turning a blind eye (or nose) to the many other smells that helped shape human history.
In 1990, we only knew of the ones in our Solar System. Today, we know of thousands, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
We’re still not sure what the ultimate question is. Here are 5 excellent candidates. One of the most amusing stories in all of science fiction is Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s […]
The stone camel sculptures, seven in total and originally uncovered back in 2018, far predate more famous monuments.
Planets are either rocky, like Earth, or gas-rich, like Neptune, with no in-between. What are the different types of planets that exist in the Universe? If all you could see […]
The study identified superhabitable planets outside of our solar system.
The Universe has asymmetries, but that’s a good thing. Imperfections are essential for the existence of stars and even life itself.
France is split in two by its very own “desert,” the Empty Diagonal. The area’s depopulation is fairly recent, and Paris is to blame.
You’re gonna die, cloud! All stars, even our Sun, will someday eventually die. After burning on the main sequence for billions of years, the Sun will expand into a red giant, […]
The idea of gravitational redshift crossed Einstein’s mind years before General Relativity was complete. Here’s why it had to be there.
The laws of physics aren’t changing. The Earth is. When it comes to any physical science, we know that the fundamental rules governing how the Universe works remain constant with time. […]
At just 3 solar masses, it eliminates the “mass gap.” Searching for black holes is one of the most difficult astronomical games a scientist can play. Emitting no light of their […]
Awe is a powerful force, a fact that is both exciting and terrifying.
Was there ever life on Mars? Is there life on Mars now? Did it originate there or here, on Earth? All possibilities are fascinating.
Nuclear fusion has long been seen as the future of energy. As the NIF now passes the breakeven point, how close are we to our ultimate goal?
It likely isn’t the rare occurrence we once thought it was. In our Solar System, there’s one overwhelming source of mass that all the planets orbit around: our Sun. Each planet […]
With 1550 distinct type Ia supernovae measured across ~10 billion years of cosmic time, the Pantheon+ data set reveals our Universe.
We give it the flight plan, and it takes care of the rest. It has to. Here’s why. No matter how advanced our technology becomes, there are certain limits that can […]
Without these two elements, we’re doomed to fail. In this day and age, it’s virtually impossible to have sufficient expertise to figure out what the complete, comprehensive, scientifically validated truth surrounding […]
At its biggest for the next 15 years, it’s still much smaller than the Moon. On October 6, 2020, Mars makes its closest approach to Earth until 2035. Earth orbits in […]
The last 70 years have taken us farther than the previous 70,000. But can we accomplish more than creating a record saying, “We were here?”
More than any other of Einstein’s equations, E = mc² is the most recognizable to people. But what does it all mean?