"The large-scale homogeneity of the universe makes it very difficult to believe that the structure of the universe is determined by anything so peripheral as some complicated molecular structure on a minor planet orbiting a very average star in the outer suburbs of a fairly typical galaxy."

— Steven Hawking

Astronomy

Oldest cave art ever found discovered in Indonesia

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:12am

Beating the previous record for the oldest known cave artwork by at least 15,000 years, a hand stencil in an Indonesian cave might shed light on when early humans migrated to Australia

Categories: Astronomy

Our earliest vertebrate ancestors may have had four eyes

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
Extraordinary fossils of 518-million-year-old jawless fish, among the earliest known vertebrates, appear to show that these animals had two pairs of eyes
Categories: Astronomy

Our earliest vertebrate ancestors may have had four eyes

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
Extraordinary fossils of 518-million-year-old jawless fish, among the earliest known vertebrates, appear to show that these animals had two pairs of eyes
Categories: Astronomy

Oldest known rock art is a 68,000-year-old hand stencil with claws

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
Newly discovered rock art sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia, that date to nearly 68,000 years ago are thought to be the oldest rock art in the world, pre-dating Neanderthal hand stencils in Spain by 1100 years
Categories: Astronomy

Oldest known rock art is a 68,000-year-old hand stencil with claws

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
Newly discovered rock art sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia, that date to nearly 68,000 years ago are thought to be the oldest rock art in the world, pre-dating Neanderthal hand stencils in Spain by 1100 years
Categories: Astronomy

Ape-like hominin Paranthropus was more adaptable than we thought

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
A fossil discovery in northern Ethiopia expands the known range of Paranthropus, a genus of strong-jawed hominins that lived around 2 million years ago, and suggests they lived in a range of habitats
Categories: Astronomy

Ape-like hominin Paranthropus was more adaptable than we thought

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
A fossil discovery in northern Ethiopia expands the known range of Paranthropus, a genus of strong-jawed hominins that lived around 2 million years ago, and suggests they lived in a range of habitats
Categories: Astronomy

Bird retinas work without oxygen, and now scientists know how

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
The light-sensitive tissue of birds’ eyes is not supplied with oxygen by blood vessels – instead, it powers itself with a flood of sugar, and this may have evolutionary benefits
Categories: Astronomy

Bird retinas work without oxygen, and now scientists know how

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:00am
The light-sensitive tissue of birds’ eyes is not supplied with oxygen by blood vessels – instead, it powers itself with a flood of sugar, and this may have evolutionary benefits
Categories: Astronomy

NASA quietly ends financial support for planetary science groups

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 10:00am

The U.S. space agency will quit funding several independent science advisory groups this year

Categories: Astronomy

Deer may see hidden glowing signs in forests

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 10:00am

Deer antler rubs and hoof scrapes change how parts of the forest reflect short-wavelength light, perhaps leaving a glowing signal

Categories: Astronomy

ALMA Observes The Missing Link In Exoplanet Formation

Universe Today - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 9:39am

Back in 2014, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) captured an image of a young protoplanetary disk around a young star named HL Tauri. The image showed gaps and rings in the disk, substructures indicating that young planets forming there. This meant that planet formation began around young stars a lot sooner than thought. ALMA is continuing its investigation of protoplanetary disks in its ARKS survey (ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures).

Categories: Astronomy

Alex Garland’s The Bone Temple is brutal, brilliant - and mind-blowing

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 8:30am
This follow-up to the influential 28 Days Later continues to take the zombie movie franchise in a surprising and thought-provoking direction
Categories: Astronomy

Alex Garland’s The Bone Temple is brutal, brilliant - and mind-blowing

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 8:30am
This follow-up to the influential 28 Days Later continues to take the zombie movie franchise in a surprising and thought-provoking direction
Categories: Astronomy

The New Composite That Heals Itself 1,000 Times

Universe Today - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 7:55am

Material science plays an absolutely critical role in space exploration. So when a new type of self-healing composite is announced, it’s worth a look–especially when the press release specifically calls out its ability to repair microtears associated with micrometeoroid impacts on satellites. It sounds like just such a composite material was recently invented at North Carolina State University - and it’s even already been spun out into a start-up company.

Categories: Astronomy

εpsilon

ESO Top News - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 7:54am

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Categories: Astronomy

Watch three solar prominences erupt in epic video

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 7:00am

A European spacecraft caught rare footage of three successive prominences popping off the sun

Categories: Astronomy

Can science explain consciousness?

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 6:00am

A dive into how scientists are trying to understand what consciousness is and where it comes from

Categories: Astronomy

Octopuses prompt rethink of why animals evolve big brains

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 5:00am
A popular idea suggests a link between big brains and a rich social life, but octopuses don't fit the pattern, which suggests something else is going on
Categories: Astronomy

Octopuses prompt rethink of why animals evolve big brains

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 5:00am
A popular idea suggests a link between big brains and a rich social life, but octopuses don't fit the pattern, which suggests something else is going on
Categories: Astronomy