Astronomy

A new long-term study suggests that the more heat waves people are exposed to, the more their body’s aging process accelerates

Scientists have developed a new and improved method to better understand "steam world" exoplanets, a move that could refocus the search for life.

New research tapping into decades-old concepts is challenging the notion that the only way to treat cancer is to kill every last cancer cell. Instead, scientists suggest, we could try a little persuasion

New research tapping into decades-old concepts is challenging the notion that the only way to treat cancer is to kill every last cancer cell. Instead, scientists suggest, we could try a little persuasion

SpaceX shared spectacular photos of its Falcon 9 night launch carrying the U.S. Space Force's X-37B space plane to orbit on Aug. 21, 2025.

Some fast X-ray transients — quick flashes of energetic radiation — may come from massive stars collapsing and exploding at the same time.

The post Weird X-ray Flashes Lose Some of Their Mystery appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal unexpectedly high levels of carbon dioxide coming off 3I/ATLAS, giving another clue to the comet’s origin

Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal unexpectedly high levels of carbon dioxide coming off 3I/ATLAS, giving another clue to the comet’s origin

The James Webb Space Telescope has joined the study of the interstellar invader 3I/ATLAS, uncovering secrets that could reveal more about the planetary system in which it formed.

The narrowest magnetic loops ever seen in the sun's corona have been imaged by the most powerful solar telescope on Earth.

Fresh results from near-infrared instruments foretell a bright future for finding life elsewhere in the Milky Way

The chain of lights shows the river's corridor from Minya to New Bani Sewf City to the heart of Cairo.

Microplastics are seemingly everywhere—and now growing research suggests they could be breeding grounds for drug-resistant bacteria

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Luxembourg's National Advanced Optical System spacecraft and several smaller satellites to orbit from California today (Aug. 26).

In the past decade, the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission has revealed the nature, history, and behaviour of billions of stars. Our pioneering stargazer has reshaped our view of the skies around us like no other, revealing that star clusters are more connected than expected over vast distances.

The JWST has found another moon orbiting Uranus. It's the planet's 29th known moon, and it bears the uninspiring, temporary name S/2025 U1. It's too small and faint to be detected by the Hubble, or by Voyager 2, the only spacecraft to visit the ice giant.

Neil Armstrong almost made a mistake. He had found an interesting rock sticking out of a formation. Curious to see what the rock was made of, he needed to examine its interior more closely. So he reached for his hammer and took a swing.

Earth’s atmosphere is large, extending out to around 10,000 km from the surface of the planet. It’s so large, in fact, that scientists break it into five separate sections, and there’s one particular section that hasn’t got a whole lot of attention due to the difficulty in keeping any craft afloat there. Planes and balloons can visit the troposphere and stratosphere, the two sections closest to the ground, while satellites can sit in orbit in the thermosphere and exosphere, allowing for a platform for consistent observations. But the mesosphere, the section in the middle, is too close to have a stable orbit, but too sparse in air for traditional airplanes or balloons to work. As a result, we don’t have a lot of data on it, but it impacts climate and weather forecasting, so scientists have simply had to make a lot of assumptions about what it's like up there. But a new study from researchers at Harvard and the University of Chicago might have found a way to put stable sensing platforms into the mesosphere, using a novel flight mechanism known as photophoresis.

SpaceX scrubbed the planned 10th test flight of its Starship megarocket for the second day in a row today (Aug. 25), this time because of some uncooperative clouds.

African countries imported a record number of solar panels in the past year, which could be the beginning of a green energy boom on the continent