The forces of rotation caused red hot masses of stones to be torn away from the Earth and to be thrown into the ether, and this is the origin of the stars.

— Anaxagoras 428 BC

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NASA quietly ends financial support for planetary science groups

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 10:00am

The U.S. space agency will quit funding several independent science advisory groups this year

Categories: Astronomy

Deer may see hidden glowing signs in forests

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 10:00am

Deer antler rubs and hoof scrapes change how parts of the forest reflect short-wavelength light, perhaps leaving a glowing signal

Categories: Astronomy

ALMA Observes The Missing Link In Exoplanet Formation

Universe Today - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 9:39am

Back in 2014, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) captured an image of a young protoplanetary disk around a young star named HL Tauri. The image showed gaps and rings in the disk, substructures indicating that young planets forming there. This meant that planet formation began around young stars a lot sooner than thought. ALMA is continuing its investigation of protoplanetary disks in its ARKS survey (ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures).

Categories: Astronomy

Alex Garland’s The Bone Temple is brutal, brilliant - and mind-blowing

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 8:30am
This follow-up to the influential 28 Days Later continues to take the zombie movie franchise in a surprising and thought-provoking direction
Categories: Astronomy

Alex Garland’s The Bone Temple is brutal, brilliant - and mind-blowing

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 8:30am
This follow-up to the influential 28 Days Later continues to take the zombie movie franchise in a surprising and thought-provoking direction
Categories: Astronomy

The New Composite That Heals Itself 1,000 Times

Universe Today - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 7:55am

Material science plays an absolutely critical role in space exploration. So when a new type of self-healing composite is announced, it’s worth a look–especially when the press release specifically calls out its ability to repair microtears associated with micrometeoroid impacts on satellites. It sounds like just such a composite material was recently invented at North Carolina State University - and it’s even already been spun out into a start-up company.

Categories: Astronomy

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ESO Top News - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 7:54am

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Categories: Astronomy

Watch three solar prominences erupt in epic video

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 7:00am

A European spacecraft caught rare footage of three successive prominences popping off the sun

Categories: Astronomy

Can science explain consciousness?

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 6:00am

A dive into how scientists are trying to understand what consciousness is and where it comes from

Categories: Astronomy

Octopuses prompt rethink of why animals evolve big brains

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 5:00am
A popular idea suggests a link between big brains and a rich social life, but octopuses don't fit the pattern, which suggests something else is going on
Categories: Astronomy

Octopuses prompt rethink of why animals evolve big brains

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 5:00am
A popular idea suggests a link between big brains and a rich social life, but octopuses don't fit the pattern, which suggests something else is going on
Categories: Astronomy

California wildfire smoke linked to increased autism diagnoses, new study finds

Scientific American.com - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 5:00am

Children born to mothers who were exposed to smoke in southern California showed increased rates of autism, although the reason why is unclear

Categories: Astronomy

ESA at the European Space Conference 2026

ESO Top News - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 5:00am

The 18th European Space Conference (ESC) will take place on 27 and 28 January 2026 at the Square Convention Centre in Brussels, Belgium.

Categories: Astronomy

Magnetic avalanches power solar flares, finds Solar Orbiter

ESO Top News - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 3:00am

Just as avalanches on snowy mountains start with the movement of a small quantity of snow, the ESA-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft has discovered that a solar flare is triggered by initially weak disturbances that quickly become more violent. This rapidly evolving process creates a ‘sky’ of raining plasma blobs that continue to fall even after the flare subsides.

Categories: Astronomy

Legs made for a Mars landing 

ESO Top News - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 2:50am

To land on the right foot on the Red Planet, European engineers have been dropping a skeleton of the four-legged ExoMars descent module at various speeds and heights on simulated martian surfaces.

Categories: Astronomy

Plato and the Lunar Alps

APOD - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 12:00am

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


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

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APOD - Wed, 01/21/2026 - 12:00am

The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy.


Categories: Astronomy, NASA