Universe Today

How can identifying land on exoplanets help scientists better understand whether an exoplanet could harbor life? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how identifying land on exoplanets could help dispel waterworld false positives, which occur when the data indicates an exoplanet contains deep oceans (approximately 50 Earth oceans), hence the name “waterworld”. This study has the potential to help scientists develop more efficient methods for classifying exoplanets and their compositions, specifically regarding whether they contain life as we know it, or even as we don’t know it.

If humans are planning to live off-world and colonise planets like Mars, that includes having children. But deep space and the surface of Mars aren't Earth, and there are several hazards that a gestating foetus will face, mainly microgravity and galactic cosmic rays. In a new paper, a researcher breaks down pregnancy into 10 sequential stages, evaluating what the implications of those conditions would be at each step. The author suggests that radiation would be the bigger risk.

Imagine if every time you turned on your phone, it accidentally jammed radio telescopes trying to detect alien signals. That's essentially what's happening as thousands of internet satellites flood Earth's orbit, creating electronic noise that's drowning out the whispers from black holes, distant galaxies, and the Big Bang itself. A massive new study reveals that our quest to connect every region of the planet is accidentally sabotaging our ability to answer the biggest questions in science and the problem is getting worse with every satellite launch.

Imagine 3D printing an entire building from Moon dust, or having robots construct disaster relief shelters while humans stay safely away from danger. Imagine construction sites where materials never run out because they're literally made from the dirt beneath your feet, and where every structure is built with manufacturing level precision. What sounds like science fiction is becoming reality as engineers solve the ultimate construction puzzle, building on other planets. The innovations being pioneered for lunar bases and Martian colonies are about to transform every construction site on our home planet.

But wait, before you build that moon casino we need to talk about a couple things. One, you really have to figure out how the roulette wheel is going to work in a low gravity environment. Second, we’re going to need you to keep the noise down.

In astronomy, larger distances are both a blessing and a curse. They can cause issues like longer communication times, which also requires more powerful equipment, and positioning uncertainty that can affect the outcomes of measurements, especially in the outer reaches of the solar system. However, they can also be useful for a specific type of measurement called interferometry, where two systems a far distance apart can provide accurate location measurements to a third system - the same principle that GPS uses. A new paper looks at potentially using the same technique to track deep space probes rather than cars on a freeway and finds that, while it is around the same accuracy level, it is able to provide that same location data for more than double the amount of time.

How can artificial intelligence (AI) be used to locate lunar pits and skylights, which are surface depressions and openings, respectively, that serve as entrances to lava caves and lava tubes? This is what a recent study published in Icarus hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated using machine learning algorithms to more efficiently identify pits and skylights on lunar volcanic regions (lunar maria) of the Moon. This study has the potential to help researchers develop new methods in identifying key surface features on planetary bodies that could aid in both robotic and human exploration.

New research on the samples collected by China's Chang'e-5 mission is revolutionizing our understanding of how the Moon cooled. A team led by Stephen M. Elardo, an Assistant Professor from the University of Florida, found that lava on the near side of the Moon likely came from a much shallower depth than previously thought, contradicting previous theories on how the Moon formed and evolved.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that our studies of the Moon have unlocked the mysteries of the universe.

We’ve been talking about sending a radio telescope to the far side of the Moon for awhile now. Now that reality is one step closer with the completion of the design and construction phase of the Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment-Night (LuSEE-Night) radio telescope project. This milestone marks a major step in the development of the system, which is planned to launch on a lunar lander in 2026.

What can carbon dioxide (CO₂) on Saturn’s moons teach scientists about their formation and evolution? This is what a recent study submitted to The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated the different types of CO₂ that exist on several of Saturn’s mid-sized moons. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the existence of CO₂ on planetary bodies and what this could mean for their formation and evolution, and potentially whether they could possess life as we know it.

Plenty of groups have been theorizing about Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) recently. That is in part because of their candidacy as a potential source of dark matter. But, if they existed, they also had other roles to play in the early universe. According to a recent draft paper released on arXiv by Jeremy Mould and Adam Batten of Swinburne University, one of those roles could be as the seeds that eventually form both quasars and radio galaxies.

Collaboration has always been a hallmark of space research. Experts in different disciplines come together to work towards a common goal, and many times achieve that. One of the current goals of space exploration is long-term settlement of the Moon, and in order to achieve that goal, engineers and astronauts will have to deal with one of the thorniest problems on that otherworldly body - dust. Lunar dust is much harder to deal with that Earth’s equivalent, as it is sharp, charged, and sticks to everything, including biological tissue such as lungs, and even relatively smooth surfaces like glass. Several research groups are working on mitigation techniques that can deal with lunar dust, but a new cross-collaborative group from the University of Central Florida is developing a coating, testing it, and simulating all in one project, with the hopes that someday their solution will make it easier for astronauts to explore our nearest neighbor.

In January of 2024, the company Astrobiotic was set to make history with the first privately-developed lander, named Peregrine, to reach the Lunar surface, sent aboard a United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket.

In the young V883 Orionis system, ALMA observations have revealed signatures of complex organic compounds such as ethylene glycol and glycolonitrile – potential precursors to amino acids, DNA, and RNA. These findings indicate that the building blocks of life may not be limited to local conditions but could form widely throughout the Universe under suitable circumstances.

What can brine (extra salty) water teach scientists about finding past, or even present, life on Mars? This is what a recent study published in Communications Earth & Environment hopes to address as a researcher from the University of Arkansas investigated the formation of brines using 50-year-old data. This study has the potential to help researchers better understand how past data can be used to gain greater insights on the formation and evolution of surface brines on the surface of Mars.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 22, 2025 Recent research led by Vincent Chevrier of the University of Arkansas offers new evidence that brines-salt-rich liquid water-could form on the Martian surface under specific seasonal conditions. Drawing on decades of research, Chevrier used atmospheric data from NASA's Viking 2 lander alongside advanced computer simulations to demonstrate that seasonal frost could briefly melt, creating small qu

Scientists studying the brightest gamma ray burst ever recorded have discovered evidence that these explosions produce complex, layered jets rather than simple uniform beams. This remarkable finding helps solve a long standing puzzle about how the universe's most powerful explosions work and opens new possibilities for observing similar events under challenging conditions.

A new five year study of 13 NASA astronauts shows that their arteries remain healthy and disease free long after returning from the International Space Station, offering reassuring news for future long duration space missions and suggesting the human cardiovascular system is more resilient to spaceflight than previously thought.

Next time you're drinking a frosty iced beverage, think about the structure of the frozen chunks chilling it down. Here on Earth, we generally see it in many forms: cubes form, sleet, snow, icicles, slabs covering lakes and rivers, and glaciers. Water ice takes all these fascinating forms, thanks to its hexagonal crystal lattice. That makes it less dense than nonfrozen water, which allows it to float in a drink, in a lake, and on the ocean.