Astronomy

New research shows that complex life is unlikely to ever exist around cool, dim red dwarfs. About 33% of the Milky Way's stars are late M dwarfs, which are the smallest, coolest stars, and are the easiest stars to detect Earth-like planets around. The stars aren't bright enough for photosynthetic organisms to create a Great Oxygenation Event, which led to complex animal life here on Earth.

Researchers used the JWST to find a pair of strong gravitationally lensed Supernovae. They exploded billions of years ago, and their light is just reaching us now. Because of the lensing, we'll see multiple images of them, separated by years or decades. This could reveal the expansion rate of the Universe, and provide a solution to the Hubble Tension.

Back in the earlier days of the internet, there was a viral video from a creator called Bill Wurtz called “the history of the entire world, i guess” which spawned a number of memorable memes, some of which are still in use to this day. One of those was a clip from the video where Wurtz states “The Sun is a deadly laser.” Apparently, that was more true than even he knew, as a new paper from Georgios Tsirvouils of the Luleå University of Technology in Sweden and his co-authors have shown experimental evidence that the Sun’s laser-like radiation is likely responsible for the death of a vast majority of closely-orbiting asteroids.

Jets of ionized gas streak across a cosmic landscape from a newly forming star.

Hallucigenia was such an odd animal that palaeontologists reconstructed it upside-down when they first analysed its fossils - and now we may know what it ate

Hallucigenia was such an odd animal that palaeontologists reconstructed it upside-down when they first analysed its fossils - and now we may know what it ate

Getting kids to eat well can be a minefield and a source of tension. Nancy Bostock, a consultant paediatrician, says these are the six things she recommends when dealing with fussy eaters and the way we talk about food with kids.

Getting kids to eat well can be a minefield and a source of tension. Nancy Bostock, a consultant paediatrician, says these are the six things she recommends when dealing with fussy eaters and the way we talk about food with kids.

Scientists have finally identified where some of the most powerful radiation bursts from solar flares originate, solving a mystery that has puzzled solar physicists for decades. Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology traced intense gamma rays back to a previously unknown population of particles supercharged to millions of electron volts in the Sun’s atmosphere, revealing the mechanism behind these strange signals.

Every second, a trillion ghost particles stream through your body unnoticed, invisible messengers carrying secrets from the hearts of distant stars. Astrophysicists at the University of Copenhagen have now mapped exactly where these neutrinos originate across our Milky Way Galaxy and how many reach Earth, creating the most comprehensive picture yet of these elusive particles.

Researchers risk fire, explosion or poisoning by allowing AI to design experiments, warn scientists. Some 19 different AI models were tested on hundreds of questions to assess their ability to spot and avoid hazards and none recognised all issues – with some doing little better than random guessing

Researchers risk fire, explosion or poisoning by allowing AI to design experiments, warn scientists. Some 19 different AI models were tested on hundreds of questions to assess their ability to spot and avoid hazards and none recognised all issues – with some doing little better than random guessing

The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy.

What just leapt from the Sun?

What's happening to this meteor?

This floating ring is the size of a galaxy.

Jupiter with the Great Red Spot

Both Moon and Sun create beautiful

The dark-floored, 95 kilometer wide crater Plato and sunlit peaks of the

How solid is our understanding of exoplanet habitability? Are the ideas of an Optimistic Habitable Zone and a Conservative Habitable Zone sufficient to advance our understanding? New research introduces an expanded exoplanet 'temperate zone,' highlighting planets that are amenable to atmospheric study by the JWST.