Astronomy

What are the JWST's Little Red Dots? While they appear to be galaxies, there's no observational certainty. New research examines the idea that they're actually stars, suggesting that they're actually the progenitors for supermassive black holes.

Magnetic fields play an important, if sometimes underappreciated, part in planetary systems. Without a strong magnetic field, planets can end up as a barren wasteland like Mars, or they could indirectly affect massive storms as can be seen on Jupiter. However, our understanding of planetary magnetic fields are limited to the eight planets in our solar system, as we haven’t yet accrued much data on the magnetic fields of exoplanets. That could be about to change, according to a new preprint paper by a group of research scientists from Europe, the US, India and the UAE.

Just imagine it, the news stories are all over your phone when you wake! The day will surely come that we will discover that we are not alone in the Universe! What happens the day after though? A new research paper from the SETI Post Detection Hub at the University of St Andrews tackles this question, outlining how NASA and the global scientific community should prepare for the moment humanity detects signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Many people like to check that they have walked 10,000 steps over the course of a day, but falling short of that target still seems to bring serious health benefits

Many people like to check that they have walked 10,000 steps over the course of a day, but falling short of that target still seems to bring serious health benefits

Japan's Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 satellites, designed to study weather here on Earth, have also been quietly collecting valuable data on Venus for nearly a decade, scientists recently discovered.

Purdue University's new Neil Armstrong Space Prize, named for the school's most famous astronaut-alum, will honor achievements in "space discovery, innovation and human achievement."

Late Cretaceous dinosaur tracks found in Canada might have been made by different species walking together, but the evidence is far from conclusive

Late Cretaceous dinosaur tracks found in Canada might have been made by different species walking together, but the evidence is far from conclusive

Hidden layers of colour in the plumage of tanagers and some other songbirds explain what makes them so eye-catching

Hidden layers of colour in the plumage of tanagers and some other songbirds explain what makes them so eye-catching

The Tianzhou 9 freighter arrived at China's Tiangong space station last week, packed with supplies. Watch its arrival in this video.

NASA’s TRACERS spacecraft will look at the snap of magnetic field lines at the boundary between the solar wind and Earth's magnetic field.

The post NASA Launches TRACERS Mission to Study Space Weather appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Scientists have achieved a breakthrough that could revolutionise space exploration with a "smart" metal alloy that remembers its shape even in the bone chilling cold of outer space. This remarkable copper based material can be twisted and deformed when cold, then automatically snap back to its original form when heated, maintaining this mechanical "memory" at temperatures as extreme as -200°C. The discovery solves a critical challenge that has limited spacecraft design for decades, opening the door to more reliable satellites, space telescopes, and future missions to the frozen reaches of our Solar System and beyond.

Astronomers have seen exoplanetary systems at almost every stage, from extremely young to older than the Solar System. But now, they've spotted the exact moment when planet formation is initiated around a young star. Meteorites store a history of when the first minerals formed in the Solar System, and the ALMA telescope has seen the signal of these minerals forming in a protostellar system, about 1,300 light-years from Earth.

NASA has discovered that 7 out of 10 astronauts returning from the International Space Station have been unable to see clearly, with vision problems that can last for years! As we prepare for multi year Mars missions, scientists are racing to solve this mysterious "space blindness" before it derails humanity's greatest journey. It seems the cause could be as simple as the effects of weightlessness and the distribution of fluids around the body. Thankfully, it seems there are some possible solutions to what could become one of our greatest health challenges as we reach out further among the planets.

A new information ecosystem is on the rise, featuring closer connections, cosy media and worker-owned websites, writes Annalee Newitz

Feedback watches with raised eyebrows as Anthropic's AI Claude is given the job of running the company vending machine, and goes a little off the rails

From reducing pain to relieving stress, the evidence for music's power is strong. Stefan Koelsch says we should use it – now

A new information ecosystem is on the rise, featuring closer connections, cosy media and worker-owned websites, writes Annalee Newitz