Astronomy

A company in the Netherlands says it has perfected a way to create "graft chimeras" with the skin of one plant and the innards of another

From robot rights to ageing and climate change, this month’s science fiction squares up to the big topics, with new titles from authors including Nick Harkaway and Eve Smith

From robot rights to ageing and climate change, this month’s science fiction squares up to the big topics, with new titles from authors including Nick Harkaway and Eve Smith

A natural experiment in Wales showed that a shingles vaccine might lower the risk of developing dementia

Scientists have successfully fermented miso aboard the International Space Station, marking the first deliberate food fermentation in space that may open up new culinary possibilities for astronauts on long-term missions.

“The risks of remaining silent at this defining time are far greater than the risks of speaking out,” says one scientist regarding the Trump administration’s attacks on science

This streaming deal is a great alternative to Disney Plus as you can get three months of Starz for just $2.99 and watch Marvel content for less.

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This image shows Webb’s recent observation of the asteroid 2024 YR4 using both its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Data from NIRCam shows reflected light, while the MIRI observations show thermal light.

On 8 March 2025, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope turned its watchful eye toward asteroid 2024 YR4, which we now know poses no significant threat to Earth in 2032 and beyond.

This is the smallest object targeted by Webb to date, and one of the smallest objects to have its size directly measured.

Observations were taken to study the thermal properties of 2024 YR4, including how quickly it heats up and cools down and how hot it is at its current distance from the Sun. These measurements indicate that this asteroid does not share properties observed in larger asteroids. This is likely a combination of its fast spin and lack of fine-grained sand on its surface. Further research is needed, however this is considered consistent with a surface dominated by rocks that are roughly fist-sized or larger.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 was recently under close watch by the team at ESA's Near Earth Objects Coordination Centre, located in Italy. Planetary defence experts from the Agency's Space Safety programme worked with NASA and the international asteroid community to closely watch this object and refine its orbit, which was eventually determined to not pose a risk of Earth impact. Read details on this unusual campaign via ESA's Rocket Science blog and in news articles here and here.

Webb’s observations indicate that the asteroid measures roughly 60 meters (comparable to the height of a 15-story building).

The new observations from Webb not only provide unique information about 2024 YR4’s size, but can also complement ground-based observations of the object's position to help improve our understanding of the object’s orbit and future trajectory.

Note: This post highlights data from Webb science in progress, which has not yet been through the peer-review process.

[Image description: A collage of three images showing the black expanse of space. Two-thirds of the collage is taken up by the black background sprinkled with small, blurry galaxies in orange, blue, and white. There are two images in a column at the right side of the collage. On the right side of the main image, not far from the top, a very faint dot is outlined with a white square. At the right, there are two zoomed in views of this area. The top box is labeled NIRCam and shows a fuzzy dot at the center of the inset. The bottom box is labeled MIRI and shows a fuzzy pinkish dot.]

The spins of some early galaxies could be a clue that the entire observable universe exists within a black hole—except, that is, for all the evidence to the contrary

A spiral galaxy known as NGC 4945 exhibits powerful winds of material blowing from the supermassive black hole located at its core in a new photo taken by the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

A long-simmering disagreement over the universe’s present-day expansion rate shows no signs of resolution, leaving experts increasingly vexed

A California man has been sentenced to jail for flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base and photographing the installation.

At the heart of the Trump administration’s Signal scandal lies the familiar psychological pitfall of groupthink

Blackholes are a fascinating class of object to study. We have learned significant amounts over the years but one of the outstanding mysteries remains; how there were supermassive black holes with millions or even billions of times the mass of the Sun present in the first billion years after the Big Bang. Our current models of stellar mass black hole evolution and mergers cannot explain their existence. A new paper suggests that ultralight dark matter particles, like axions may have done the trick and provides a mass range for expected particles.

Squeezing exercise into one or two days a week seems to have similar health benefits as doing the same amount of physical activity spread out throughout the week

Squeezing exercise into one or two days a week seems to have similar health benefits as doing the same amount of physical activity spread out throughout the week

A mysterious and often debated aspect of human sexuality colloquially known as “squirting” sparks controversy. This episode explores what research reveals.

The first astronauts to enter a polar orbit chose the obvious animal to serve as their zero-g indicator: a plush polar bear. The doll also has an emperor penguin embroidered on its chest.

As humans continue to make tentative progress out into the cosmos, the impact of space exploration on our fragile bodies is only beginning to be understood. We know that space travel decreases muscle and bone mass but a team of researchers have discovered which bones suffer the most! Using a group of mice that became astro-rodents for 37 days, they discovered that bone degeneration effective the femur most but not the vertebrae. They concluded that it’s our weight-bearing bones that suffer the most.

Mother's Day 2024 heralded Mexico's most powerful geomagnetic storm in two decades. Here's why scientists say this is something to track.