Astronomy

Fossil jaws from colossal octopuses place them at the top of a prehistoric marine food chain

Neutrinos are very difficult to detect. And when they are detected, pinpointing their sources is likewise difficult. New research shows that the most energetic neutrino ever detected must have had an extraordinarly energetic source. It could even be primordial.

Infecting mice with RSV, a common virus that causes cold-like symptoms, prevented breast cancer cells from reaching their lungs. This was due to the release of proteins that stop viruses from replicating in the lungs also making it harder for cancer cells to seed new tumours

Infecting mice with RSV, a common virus that causes cold-like symptoms, prevented breast cancer cells from reaching their lungs. This was due to the release of proteins that stop viruses from replicating in the lungs also making it harder for cancer cells to seed new tumours

The Epstein-Barr virus seems to affect gene expression and cell signalling in a way that causes the autoimmune condition multiple sclerosis

The Epstein-Barr virus seems to affect gene expression and cell signalling in a way that causes the autoimmune condition multiple sclerosis

Scientists have found that young stellar cousins of our Sun are calming down and dimming more quickly in their X-ray output than previously thought, according to a study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

The European-Chinese Smile mission is due to launch on Tuesday 19 May 2026, at 05:52 CEST / 04:52 BST / 00:52 local time on a European Vega-C rocket.

The Trump administration said this move, which does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law, is just the start of a process to reclassify the drug more broadly

This enigmatic orb has undergone extensive examination and DNA testing, enabling scientists to reveal its true origins

One of the most dramatic and memorable scenes from Interstellar comes from Miller’s planet - and if you don’t want a spoiler for an 11 year old movie, feel free to skip to the next paragraph. When the crew arrives on this potential new home for humanity, they are faced with a literal 1.2 km high wall of water bearing down on them quickly. It’s a great representation of how waves on other planets can act differently than on Earth. Admittedly, according to Kip Thorne, the scientific advisor for that movie, those waves are actually caused by the planet’s proximity to a local black hole rather than the wind that forms our waves here.

The space environment—microgravity, extreme temperatures and more—make it near-impossible to truly test a space toilet like Artemis II's ahead of launch, experts say

The James Webb Space Telescope has taken a deep look at the rings around the ice giant Uranus and found a new mystery to be solved.

The post Uranus’s Outermost Rings Are Made of Two Different Things appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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After an intense few weeks the crew took time to celebrate together with a shared meal proposed by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot.

It’s a long‑standing tradition: each ESA astronaut works with a chef to create a few special dishes reserved for rare occasions — known as “bonus food”. Sophie’s bonus food was created by multi‑Michelin‑starred chef Anne‑Sophie Pic, offering the crew a taste of French gastronomy far from Earth.

Bonus food, tailored to specific crew members, makes up around one tenth of an astronaut’s menu. Astronauts say it adds variety to their meals, supports mental well‑being, and helps strengthen bonds among the crew in orbit.

One side is scorched to over 200 degrees, while the other is plunged into a darkness so cold it falls below minus 200. Welcome to TRAPPIST-1b and 1c, two rocky worlds that have just revealed the first ever climate maps of Earth sized planets beyond our Solar System. The James Webb Space Telescope has been watching, and what it found tells us something profound about where life might, and might not exist in our Galaxy.

At the heart of our Galaxy lurks a supermassive black hole four million times the mass of our Sun. For decades, astronomers have watched mysterious gas clouds drifting towards it on almost identical paths, wondering where they came from and why. Now, a team of researchers think they have finally cracked the puzzle and the answer involves two massive stars locked in a violent embrace!

A snippet of text from Homer’s famous epic recounting the siege of Troy was apparently placed inside this body as part of the mummification process

In 2022 a swarm of earthquakes in the Azores suggested that an eruption was imminent, but none happened. Now we know why, and it means magma can be sneakier than we knew