Astronomy

Being vaccinated against hepatitis B may reduce chronic inflammation levels in the body, which could help ward off diabetes

Winning more than $1 billion in Powerball is an exciting possibility, but keeping a cool math mind can help you decide whether that opportunity is worth your $2 bet

A cable design that sends light through air rather than solid glass could cut signal loss and make long-distance transmissions cheaper

The drug rapamycin has been linked to a longer life and we're starting to understand how it might have this effect

The drug rapamycin has been linked to a longer life and we're starting to understand how it might have this effect

Surprising discoveries about the species responsible for 90 per cent of mushroom-related deaths is revealing the fungi kingdom to be even stranger than we had thought

Surprising discoveries about the species responsible for 90 per cent of mushroom-related deaths is revealing the fungi kingdom to be even stranger than we had thought

A collection of seven book reviews from our archives, each paired with a recently published book we recommend

Scrap cars could be used to build new electric vehicles thanks to a new process for turning various aluminium alloys into a strong and mouldable metal

Scrap cars could be used to build new electric vehicles thanks to a new process for turning various aluminium alloys into a strong and mouldable metal

This long-exposure photograph, taken over 31 minutes from a window inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, captures the graceful arcs of star trails.

From “trenfluencers” to complex drug regimens, influencers are reshaping how millions approach steroid use. Now, researchers are trying to catch up with what this means for our health

From “trenfluencers” to complex drug regimens, influencers are reshaping how millions approach steroid use. Now, researchers are trying to catch up with what this means for our health

As AI grows more fluent in mimicking human empathy, language and memory, we’re left asking: If a machine can fake awareness so well, what exactly is the real thing?

Mathematicians have unraveled a key conjecture about knot theory

Less than three weeks since the first MetOp Second Generation weather satellite, MetOp-SG-A1, was launched, this remarkable new satellite has already started transmitting data from two of its cutting-edge instruments, offering a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come.

Wait wait wait. There are other, less stressful options. I don’t want to end on such a downer note. There is hope for us yet!

For nearly a century, cosmologists have relied on a simplified model of the universe that treats matter as uniform particles that don't interact with each other. While this approach helped scientists understand the Big Bang and the expansion of space, it ignores a fundamental reality, that our universe is anything but uniform. Stars cluster into galaxies, matter collapses into black holes, and vast empty voids stretch across space, all constantly interacting through gravity and other forces.

When most stars like the Sun die, they don't go out with a bang, they fade away as white dwarf stars, Earth-sized remnants that slowly cool over billions of years. For decades, it was thought these stellar corpses were poor candidates for hosting life because they cool predictably, giving any orbiting planets only brief windows in the "habitable zone" where liquid water could exist. But new research suggests this assumption may be fundamentally wrong.

September’s night sky features the iconic Summer Triangle, almost directly overhead at nightfall, and a newcomer to the evening sky: the planet Saturn, which will rise in the east not long after sunset. Get tips for viewing these and lots more stargazing info by downloading this month’s Sky Tour podcast!

The post September Podcast: Hello, Saturn! appeared first on Sky & Telescope.