Astronomy

When we leave Earth, we have to bring everything with us, from the air we breathe to the food we eat. For example, a 6-person, 1000-day mission might require 108 tonnes of food. In a new paper, researchers suggest ways that synthetic biology could allow us to convert local resources, regenerate resources in closed-loop environments, protect explorers from radiation, and create custom medicine on demand to support long-term space exploration.

From "Star Wars" film sets to baboons in Saudi Arabia, here's how to experience the "eclipse of the century" in style on Aug. 2, 2027.

Why isn't this ant a big sphere?

Blue Origin's powerful New Glenn rocket now has a payload for its second-ever flight —NASA's ESCAPADE Mars mission.

The new TRACERS mission will track magnetic reconnection that drives particles down into Earth's atmosphere when space weather turns bad.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Friday, July 18, 2025.

Very massive stars (VMSs)have had a massive impact on the formation of our universe. However, there aren’t very many of them, with only around 20 known specimens in the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud. Even observing those is difficult for the current generation of telescopes, which is where an unexpected technological champion might play a role. According to a new paper by Fabrice Martins of CNRS and a group of European and American researchers, the upcoming Habitable World Observatory (HWO) might be our most useful tool when it comes to finding these elusive giants.

Astronomers have discovered an object at the edge of the solar system that is locked in a strange rhythmic dance with the ice giant Neptune.

Two teams of astronomers have simultaneously discovered a strange, spinning dead star that seems to defy our current understanding of both neutron stars and white dwarfs.

We commonly think that sperm determines the sex of a child, depending on whether it carries an X or Y chromosome, but a study now suggests that a woman's age is also a factor

We commonly think that sperm determines the sex of a child, depending on whether it carries an X or Y chromosome, but a study now suggests that a woman's age is also a factor

The Southern Delta Aquariids are active alongside the trusty Perseid meteor shower.

Over multiple generations, small nematode worms began preferring microplastic-contaminated food over cleaner options, which could have consequences for ecosystem health

Over multiple generations, small nematode worms began preferring microplastic-contaminated food over cleaner options, which could have consequences for ecosystem health

'I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible, so that a modern day Scottish person could see themselves in space one day.'

"The mountaineer defies gravity; the astronomer looks up. Both seek to reach the unreachable."

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the galaxy cluster Abell 209.

Grazing livestock and farming over the past 4000 years have rapidly accelerated the rate of soil loss in the Alps, jeopardising the ecosystem and putting the mountains at risk of further erosion

Grazing livestock and farming over the past 4000 years have rapidly accelerated the rate of soil loss in the Alps, jeopardising the ecosystem and putting the mountains at risk of further erosion

Discover why some puzzles stump supersmart AIs but are easy for humans, what this reveals about the quest for true artificial general intelligence—and why video games are the next frontier