The Universe may have begun inside a black hole, not a Big Bang
For nearly a century, modern cosmology has treated the Big Bang as the opening moment of everything, the…
With a power of 10,000 suns, jets emitted by a black hole were measured for the first time
The universe contains many mysterious and powerful objects. This is the case for black holes, which are celestial…
The universe is significantly older than previously thought, astronomers find
Galaxies spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope have been causing trouble for the standard story of cosmic…
Massive black hole from the early universe has astronomers looking back to the Big Bang
Far back in cosmic time, one small red object is refusing to behave. Abell 2744–QSO1 appears just 700…
Dante’s Inferno suggests Hell and Purgatory mirror the physics of a massive asteroid impact
For centuries, Dante Alighieri’s Inferno has been read as a moral and spiritual descent, a journey into sin,…
Mercury has a 10-mile-thick layer of diamonds under its surface
Mercury does not look like a world built for extravagance. It is small, battered, sun-scorched and gray. Yet…
A dead galaxy from the early universe is forcing astronomers to rethink galactic evolution
Space tends to reward expectations. Young galaxies should spin. Gas falls in, gravity takes hold, angular momentum builds,…
NASA’s first nuclear-powered spacecraft is heading to Mars, and its bringing helicopters
For years, nuclear propulsion sat in the same category as so many ambitious space ideas, impressive on paper,…
The next phase of human evolution is already underway
A glass of milk can still mark a line through humanity. For most adults, drinking it brings discomfort…
Mars has air, but almost none of it can keep you alive
For all the drama around getting to Mars, the harder question starts after landing. A person can step…
Massive binary star system may be feeding the Milky Way’s central black hole
A string of small gas clouds near the Milky Way’s central black hole has puzzled astronomers for years.…
Black hole GW190521 may be a wormhole from another universe
For just one-tenth of a second in May 2019, the universe delivered a signal that did not fit…