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Many industries are eyeing up hydrogen as a source of clean energy, but with supplies of green hydrogen limited, we should prioritise the areas where it could have the most positive impact on carbon emissions, say researchers

This week’s science roundup covers 2025’s near-record heat, a new mpox strain and fresh clues about why hobbits vanished 50,000 years ago.

Career paths are rarely a straight line and often include some unexpected curves. That is certainly true for Erin Sholl, deputy chief of the Space Transportation Systems Division within the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. From struggling with multiplication tables in elementary school to supporting the International Space Station from the Mission Control Center, her journey has been full of twists and turns.

Erin Sholl (second from right) received the Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation Award in 2017 for significant achievements and exemplary contributions to the International Space Station and Commercial Crew Programs as the Safety and Mission Assurance Visiting Vehicles Group lead. NASA/James Blair

Despite her early difficulties in math and science, Sholl eventually grew to love and excel in both subjects. She planned to study chemical engineering in college – inspired by a love of chemistry and a favorite high school teacher – but discovered a greater affinity for physics once she arrived at Pennsylvania State University. She switched her major to aerospace engineering and soon met a classmate who had interned at Johnson. After that, Sholl declared, “The dream was born!”

Her first position at Johnson was as a trajectory operations officer for the Flight Operations Directorate. She spent six years supporting the space station on console in the Mission Control Center, describing the experience as “something out of the movies.” When Sholl went looking for a new challenge, she landed in the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate.

Erin Sholl working on console as a trajectory operations officer in the Mission Control Center during the STS-128/17A mission in 2009. NASA/Lauren Harnett

“I was drawn to the Operations and Visiting Vehicles Branch because it had many similar aspects to my previous position – real-time operations and visiting vehicles,” she said. “I worked various roles over the next 12 years, gradually taking on more responsibility, and eventually becoming a group lead, then branch chief.” Sholl also served as acting deputy chief for the Space Habitation Systems Division, which oversees the Operations and Visiting Vehicles Branch. Her performance drew the attention of the Space Transportation Systems Division’s chief. “He asked me to come be his deputy, and that is where I still am today!”

The Space Transportation Systems Division provides system safety, reliability, and risk analysis for human spaceflight programs. The division works with the different program offices to reduce risk through technical assessments and guidance on Safety and Mission Assurance requirements throughout program and project lifecycles.

Sholl works closely with the division chief to support strategic planning, budgeting, and operations. “A key part of my role is connecting with people – both inside and outside the division – to ensure smooth communication and representation of the team’s needs,” she said. She leverages her relationship-building and strategic thinking skills to lead initiatives that advance the division’s and the directorate’s goals and to mentor employees.

Erin Sholl (center) receives a certificate of achievement from Terrence Wilcutt, former director of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) at NASA Headquarters, and Patricia Petete, former director of SMA at Johnson, after completing requirements for the Safety and Mission Assurance Technical Excellence Program in System Safety. Image courtesy of Erin Sholl

Sholl believes strongly in the power of mentorship. “Having various mentors, both formal and informal, has been so important throughout my career,” she said. “Listening to what these people were saying about my strengths led me to a path I’d never considered because I hadn’t seen those things in myself.” Being a mentor and advocate for team members is one of Sholl’s favorite parts of the leadership positions she has held, particularly as branch chief. “I really felt like I could connect with my people and advocate for them in a way that felt meaningful,” she said.

She encourages young professionals to seek out mentors or opportunities to shadow colleagues in different roles. “Relationships are the key to everything,” she said. “The more people you meet and the more you learn about different paths in space exploration, the better off you will be in your career.”

Susan Schuh, Flight Crew Integration Operational Habitability (OpsHab) team lead and Erin Sholl host a JSC Parenting community event in 2023.Image courtesy of Erin Sholl

Sholl noted that professional relationships can be bolstered by activities outside of the office. She played a key role in establishing and growing JSC Parenting, a virtual community of about 600 employees who share information and support each other on issues related to caregiving, schooling, and balancing work with family life. “My leadership within the community enhances my professional leadership and positively impacts my colleagues,” she said.

Sholl also emphasized the importance of being open to trying new things, even if an opportunity seems to diverge from your expected career path. “I volunteer for everything because I am always eager to learn more and find out what else I might be good at and how else I can serve my team,” she said. “I think it’s easy to feel intimidated hearing about other people’s career paths, because they often sound so perfectly planned and successful. You rarely hear about the pivots, setbacks, or decisions made for personal reasons.”

The reality, she added, is more complex. “I tried for many roles I didn’t get, and it took a lot of trial and error to find my path to a career I really love.”

Explore More 6 min read 25 Years of Space Station Technology Driving Exploration  Article 5 days ago 4 min read Artemis II Vehicle Manager Branelle Rodriguez Gets Orion Ready for “Go” Article 1 week ago 5 min read Student Art Murals at Johnson Celebrate 25 Years of Humanity in Space  Article 2 weeks ago

Career paths are rarely a straight line and often include some unexpected curves. That is certainly true for Erin Sholl, deputy chief of the Space Transportation Systems Division within the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. From struggling with multiplication tables in elementary school to supporting the International Space Station from the Mission Control Center, her journey has been full of twists and turns.

Erin Sholl (second from right) received the Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation Award in 2017 for significant achievements and exemplary contributions to the International Space Station and Commercial Crew Programs as the Safety and Mission Assurance Visiting Vehicles Group lead. NASA/James Blair

Despite her early difficulties in math and science, Sholl eventually grew to love and excel in both subjects. She planned to study chemical engineering in college – inspired by a love of chemistry and a favorite high school teacher – but discovered a greater affinity for physics once she arrived at Pennsylvania State University. She switched her major to aerospace engineering and soon met a classmate who had interned at Johnson. After that, Sholl declared, “The dream was born!”

Her first position at Johnson was as a trajectory operations officer for the Flight Operations Directorate. She spent six years supporting the space station on console in the Mission Control Center, describing the experience as “something out of the movies.” When Sholl went looking for a new challenge, she landed in the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate.

Erin Sholl working on console as a trajectory operations officer in the Mission Control Center during the STS-128/17A mission in 2009. NASA/Lauren Harnett

“I was drawn to the Operations and Visiting Vehicles Branch because it had many similar aspects to my previous position – real-time operations and visiting vehicles,” she said. “I worked various roles over the next 12 years, gradually taking on more responsibility, and eventually becoming a group lead, then branch chief.” Sholl also served as acting deputy chief for the Space Habitation Systems Division, which oversees the Operations and Visiting Vehicles Branch. Her performance drew the attention of the Space Transportation Systems Division’s chief. “He asked me to come be his deputy, and that is where I still am today!”

The Space Transportation Systems Division provides system safety, reliability, and risk analysis for human spaceflight programs. The division works with the different program offices to reduce risk through technical assessments and guidance on Safety and Mission Assurance requirements throughout program and project lifecycles.

Sholl works closely with the division chief to support strategic planning, budgeting, and operations. “A key part of my role is connecting with people – both inside and outside the division – to ensure smooth communication and representation of the team’s needs,” she said. She leverages her relationship-building and strategic thinking skills to lead initiatives that advance the division’s and the directorate’s goals and to mentor employees.

Erin Sholl (center) receives a certificate of achievement from Terrence Wilcutt, former director of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) at NASA Headquarters, and Patricia Petete, former director of SMA at Johnson, after completing requirements for the Safety and Mission Assurance Technical Excellence Program in System Safety. Image courtesy of Erin Sholl

Sholl believes strongly in the power of mentorship. “Having various mentors, both formal and informal, has been so important throughout my career,” she said. “Listening to what these people were saying about my strengths led me to a path I’d never considered because I hadn’t seen those things in myself.” Being a mentor and advocate for team members is one of Sholl’s favorite parts of the leadership positions she has held, particularly as branch chief. “I really felt like I could connect with my people and advocate for them in a way that felt meaningful,” she said.

She encourages young professionals to seek out mentors or opportunities to shadow colleagues in different roles. “Relationships are the key to everything,” she said. “The more people you meet and the more you learn about different paths in space exploration, the better off you will be in your career.”

Susan Schuh, Flight Crew Integration Operational Habitability (OpsHab) team lead and Erin Sholl host a JSC Parenting community event in 2023.Image courtesy of Erin Sholl

Sholl noted that professional relationships can be bolstered by activities outside of the office. She played a key role in establishing and growing JSC Parenting, a virtual community of about 600 employees who share information and support each other on issues related to caregiving, schooling, and balancing work with family life. “My leadership within the community enhances my professional leadership and positively impacts my colleagues,” she said.

Sholl also emphasized the importance of being open to trying new things, even if an opportunity seems to diverge from your expected career path. “I volunteer for everything because I am always eager to learn more and find out what else I might be good at and how else I can serve my team,” she said. “I think it’s easy to feel intimidated hearing about other people’s career paths, because they often sound so perfectly planned and successful. You rarely hear about the pivots, setbacks, or decisions made for personal reasons.”

The reality, she added, is more complex. “I tried for many roles I didn’t get, and it took a lot of trial and error to find my path to a career I really love.”

Explore More 6 min read 25 Years of Space Station Technology Driving Exploration  Article 5 days ago 4 min read Artemis II Vehicle Manager Branelle Rodriguez Gets Orion Ready for “Go” Article 1 week ago 5 min read Student Art Murals at Johnson Celebrate 25 Years of Humanity in Space  Article 2 weeks ago

Satellites are emerging as a powerful new tool in the fight to curb emissions of methane. While methane is much shorter-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, it is vastly more potent at trapping heat, which makes rapid cuts essential for slowing warming in the short term. The same satellite technology that has transformed methane monitoring in the oil and gas sector is now being turned towards another major source – landfill sites.

Scientists have achieved an unprecedented view of the Sun by coordinating observations between two of the most powerful solar instruments ever built. For the first time, observations from the Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii and the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft have captured the same solar region simultaneously from different vantage points. This created a stereoscopic view that reveals intricate details of tiny "campfire" features scattered across the Sun's surface. These fleeting brightening, though individually small, occur in such vast numbers that they may collectively shape how the Sun's outer atmosphere is heated and how plasma erupts into space.

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3. New Timing for Stubble Burning…

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  November 11, 2025

Every year for decades, long rivers of smoke and haze have spread across the Indo-Gangetic Plain in northern India from October to December. That’s when farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and other states burn off plant “stubble” after the rice harvest.

When winds are weak and the atmosphere becomes stagnant, the haze can push levels of air pollution several times higher than limits recommended by the World Health Organization. Smoke typically mixes with particles and gases from other sources, such as industry, vehicles, domestic fires (heating and cooking), fireworks, and dust storms, to form the haze, though scientists consider stubble burning to be a major factor.

In some ways, the seasonal timing of stubble fires in 2025 followed typical patterns. Air quality deteriorated in Delhi and several other cities for about a month after crop fires intensified during the last week of October, explained Hiren Jethva, a Morgan State University atmospheric scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. For about a decade, Jethva has tracked the stubble burning season in India using satellites, and has made predictions about the intensity of the upcoming fire season based on vegetation observations.  

The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of a smoky haze darkening skies over much of the plain on November 11, 2025. According to news reports, it was the first of several days in 2025 when pollution levels exceeded 400 on India’s air quality index, the strongest rating on the scale. As in past years, the poor air quality prompted officials in some areas to close schools and institute more stringent air quality controls on construction.

However, the daily timing of burning departs from what Jethva has seen in the past. He started tracking the number of fires years ago by primarily tallying observations from MODIS—which pass over locations on Earth each morning and afternoon on the Terra and Aqua satellites, respectively. Then, most fires were lit in the early afternoon between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. local time.

But in the past few years, stubble fires have occurred progressively later in the day, Jethva said. He identified the shift by analyzing observations from GEO-KOMPSAT-2A, a South Korean geostationary satellite launched in late 2018 that collects data every 10 minutes.

Most stubble fires now happen between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., he said, meaning that fire-monitoring systems that rely solely on MODIS, or similar sensors like VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), miss many of the fires. “Farmers have changed their behavior,” he said.

His analysis of GEO-KOMPSAT-2A observations indicates that the stubble burning activity in Punjab and Haryana was moderate in 2025 compared to other recent years. This year had higher numbers of fires compared to 2024, 2020, and 2019 but fewer fires than 2023, 2022, and 2021, he found.

Indian Space Research Organization researchers have also pointed out the shift in the timing of stubble burning. In a Current Science study published in 2025, one group reported that MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) satellite observations showed a shift in peak fire activity from about 1:30 p.m. in 2020 to about 5:00 p.m. in 2024. In December 2025, researchers with the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability, & Technology (iForest) released a multi-satellite analysis that came to a similar conclusion.

Meanwhile, parsing out precisely how much stubble fires contribute to poor air quality in Delhi compared to other sources of pollution remains a topic of active study and debate among scientists. “Studies report contributions ranging from 10 to 50 percent,” said Pawan Gupta, a NASA research scientist who specializes in air quality.

Gupta estimates that the stubble burning contribution ranges from 40 to 70 percent on a given day, dropping to 20 to 30 percent if averaged over a month or burning season, and under 10 percent if averaged annually. “Meteorological conditions—like a shallow boundary layer height and low temperature—during the burning season add extra complexity,” he said.

The timing of the fires may influence the degree to which stubble burning affects air quality. Some modeling research suggests that evening fires may lead to a stronger overnight buildup of particle pollution than early-afternoon fires because the planetary boundary layer, the lowest part of the atmosphere, tends to be shallower and have weaker winds at night, allowing pollutants to accumulate.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Adam Voiland.

References and Resources

• Biswal, A., et al. (2025) Emission time and amount of crop residue burning play critical role on PM2.5 variability during October–November in northwestern India during 2022–2024. Environmental Science: Atmospheres, 11.
• Burki, T. (2025) Stubble: The Farmer’s Bane. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 13(2), 207.
• The Deccan Herald (2025, December 8) Punjab, Haryana farmers change stubble burning time window to avoid satellite detection. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• Down to Earth (2025, November 26) Why has Madhya Pradesh burnt more paddy stubble for the second year in a row? Accessed December 9, 2025.
• Jethva, H., et al. (2019) Connecting Crop Productivity, Residue Fires, and Air Quality over Northern India. Scientific Reports, 9, 16594.
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (2025, December 1) Paddy Harvesting Season 2025 concludes with significant Reduction in Farm Fire Incidents across Punjab and Haryana. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NASA (2024, October 18) What is Air Quality? Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2020, November 17) A Busy Season for Crop Fires in Northwestern India. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2025, January 22) Is Fire Activity Declining in Northwestern India? Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NDTV (2025, December 1) Stubble Burning Down By 90% In Punjab, Haryana, Centre Informs Parliament. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NDTV (2025, December 9) Farm Fires Didn’t End, They Just Moved To Afternoon: Satellite Data Analysis. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• The New Indian Express (2025, November 11) AQI spikes to 428 in first ‘severe’ air day of this year, GRAP-III invoked in capital. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• Singh, N., et al. (2025) Evidence of shift in stubble burning timing over northwest India from geostationary satellite observations. Current Science, 129(10), 921-923.
• The Times of India (2025, December 6) Stubble burning cases jump by 18% in UP this year. Accessed December 9, 2025.

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November 11, 2025

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3. New Timing for Stubble Burning…

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  November 11, 2025

Every year for decades, long rivers of smoke and haze have spread across the Indo-Gangetic Plain in northern India from October to December. That’s when farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and other states burn off plant “stubble” after the rice harvest.

When winds are weak and the atmosphere becomes stagnant, the haze can push levels of air pollution several times higher than limits recommended by the World Health Organization. Smoke typically mixes with particles and gases from other sources, such as industry, vehicles, domestic fires (heating and cooking), fireworks, and dust storms, to form the haze, though scientists consider stubble burning to be a major factor.

In some ways, the seasonal timing of stubble fires in 2025 followed typical patterns. Air quality deteriorated in Delhi and several other cities for about a month after crop fires intensified during the last week of October, explained Hiren Jethva, a Morgan State University atmospheric scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. For about a decade, Jethva has tracked the stubble burning season in India using satellites, and has made predictions about the intensity of the upcoming fire season based on vegetation observations.  

The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of a smoky haze darkening skies over much of the plain on November 11, 2025. According to news reports, it was the first of several days in 2025 when pollution levels exceeded 400 on India’s air quality index, the strongest rating on the scale. As in past years, the poor air quality prompted officials in some areas to close schools and institute more stringent air quality controls on construction.

However, the daily timing of burning departs from what Jethva has seen in the past. He started tracking the number of fires years ago by primarily tallying observations from MODIS—which pass over locations on Earth each morning and afternoon on the Terra and Aqua satellites, respectively. Then, most fires were lit in the early afternoon between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. local time.

But in the past few years, stubble fires have occurred progressively later in the day, Jethva said. He identified the shift by analyzing observations from GEO-KOMPSAT-2A, a South Korean geostationary satellite launched in late 2018 that collects data every 10 minutes.

Most stubble fires now happen between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., he said, meaning that fire-monitoring systems that rely solely on MODIS, or similar sensors like VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), miss many of the fires. “Farmers have changed their behavior,” he said.

His analysis of GEO-KOMPSAT-2A observations indicates that the stubble burning activity in Punjab and Haryana was moderate in 2025 compared to other recent years. This year had higher numbers of fires compared to 2024, 2020, and 2019 but fewer fires than 2023, 2022, and 2021, he found.

Indian Space Research Organization researchers have also pointed out the shift in the timing of stubble burning. In a Current Science study published in 2025, one group reported that MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) satellite observations showed a shift in peak fire activity from about 1:30 p.m. in 2020 to about 5:00 p.m. in 2024. In December 2025, researchers with the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability, & Technology (iForest) released a multi-satellite analysis that came to a similar conclusion.

Meanwhile, parsing out precisely how much stubble fires contribute to poor air quality in Delhi compared to other sources of pollution remains a topic of active study and debate among scientists. “Studies report contributions ranging from 10 to 50 percent,” said Pawan Gupta, a NASA research scientist who specializes in air quality.

Gupta estimates that the stubble burning contribution ranges from 40 to 70 percent on a given day, dropping to 20 to 30 percent if averaged over a month or burning season, and under 10 percent if averaged annually. “Meteorological conditions—like a shallow boundary layer height and low temperature—during the burning season add extra complexity,” he said.

The timing of the fires may influence the degree to which stubble burning affects air quality. Some modeling research suggests that evening fires may lead to a stronger overnight buildup of particle pollution than early-afternoon fires because the planetary boundary layer, the lowest part of the atmosphere, tends to be shallower and have weaker winds at night, allowing pollutants to accumulate.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Adam Voiland.

References and Resources

• Biswal, A., et al. (2025) Emission time and amount of crop residue burning play critical role on PM2.5 variability during October–November in northwestern India during 2022–2024. Environmental Science: Atmospheres, 11.
• Burki, T. (2025) Stubble: The Farmer’s Bane. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 13(2), 207.
• The Deccan Herald (2025, December 8) Punjab, Haryana farmers change stubble burning time window to avoid satellite detection. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• Down to Earth (2025, November 26) Why has Madhya Pradesh burnt more paddy stubble for the second year in a row? Accessed December 9, 2025.
• Jethva, H., et al. (2019) Connecting Crop Productivity, Residue Fires, and Air Quality over Northern India. Scientific Reports, 9, 16594.
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (2025, December 1) Paddy Harvesting Season 2025 concludes with significant Reduction in Farm Fire Incidents across Punjab and Haryana. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NASA (2024, October 18) What is Air Quality? Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2020, November 17) A Busy Season for Crop Fires in Northwestern India. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2025, January 22) Is Fire Activity Declining in Northwestern India? Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NDTV (2025, December 1) Stubble Burning Down By 90% In Punjab, Haryana, Centre Informs Parliament. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• NDTV (2025, December 9) Farm Fires Didn’t End, They Just Moved To Afternoon: Satellite Data Analysis. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• The New Indian Express (2025, November 11) AQI spikes to 428 in first ‘severe’ air day of this year, GRAP-III invoked in capital. Accessed December 9, 2025.
• Singh, N., et al. (2025) Evidence of shift in stubble burning timing over northwest India from geostationary satellite observations. Current Science, 129(10), 921-923.
• The Times of India (2025, December 6) Stubble burning cases jump by 18% in UP this year. Accessed December 9, 2025.

Downloads

November 11, 2025

JPEG (2.90 MB)

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

Widespread Smoke from Canadian Fires

3 min read

Fires burning in boreal forests created hazy skies across North America in summer 2025.

Article

Seeing the Monroe Canyon Fire in a New Light

5 min read

As wildland fires raged in the American West, NASA airborne technology was there to image it in incredible detail.

Article

B.C. Wildfires Send Smoke Skyward

2 min read

Lightning likely ignited several large fires that sent smoke pouring over the Canadian province in early September 2025.

Article

1

2

3

4
Next

Keep Exploring Discover More from NASA Earth Science

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Astronomers have performed the deepest radio observations ever of Omega Centauri, searching for signs of an intermediate mass black hole thought to lurk at its center. Despite 170 hours of observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array achieving unprecedented sensitivity, they detected absolutely nothing where the black hole should be. If an intermediate mass black hole exists in this massive star cluster, as suggested by fast moving stars discovered earlier this year, it must be accreting material at an extraordinarily low rate, barely feeding at all compared to other known black holes.

Researchers have discovered that a close encounter with a rogue planet or brown dwarf during the Sun's early years could have triggered the reshuffling of our Solar System's giant planets. Running 3000 simulations of stellar flybys, the team found that substellar objects passing within 20 astronomical units of the young Sun could destabilise the planets' orbits just enough to match their current configuration without destroying the delicate Kuiper belt. This flyby scenario represents a new possible explanation for one of the Solar System's defining events, with roughly a 1-5 percent probability depending on how common free floating planets actually are in young star clusters.

Astronomers at the University of Tokyo have used gravitational lensing to measure how fast the universe is expanding, adding weight to one of cosmology's most intriguing mysteries. Their technique exploits the way massive galaxies bend light from distant quasars, creating multiple distorted images that arrive at different times. The measurement supports recent observations showing the universe expands faster than predictions based on the early universe suggest, strengthening evidence that the "Hubble tension" represents genuine new physics rather than experimental error.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have detected the strongest evidence yet for an atmosphere on a rocky planet outside our solar system. Observations of the ultra-hot super-Earth TOI-561 b suggest that the exoplanet is surrounded by a thick blanket of gases above a global magma ocean.

Carl Sagan famously said that “We’re all made of star-stuff”. But he didn’t elaborate on how that actually happened. Yes, many of the molecules in our bodies could only have been created in massive supernovae explosions - hence the saying. Scientists have long thought they had the mechanism for how settled - the isotopes created in the supernovae flew here on tiny dust grains (stardust) that eventually accreted into Earth, and later into biological systems. However, a new paper from Martin Bizzarro and his co-authors at the University of Copenhagen upends that theory by showing that much of the material created in supernovae is captured in ice as it travels the interstellar medium. It also suggests that the Earth itself formed through the Pebble Accretion model rather than massive protoplanets slamming together.

The U.S.’s and Denmark’s health systems are starkly different, so it makes sense that their vaccination schedules would differ, too

The early universe was a very different place than today. And by “early” I don’t mean a billion or even ten billion years ago. The universe is about 13.77 billion years old, and when it was only a handful of seconds old, it was completely unrecognizable.

Many wonders are visible when flying over the Earth at night.

A new study, analyzing over 1,600 galaxies observed with Chandra over two decades, suggests that smaller galaxies do not contain supermassive black holes nearly as often as larger galaxies do.

Christmas trees—and conifers in general—have made some surprising cameos throughout U.S. history, author Trent Preszler reveals in his book Evergreen