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Huge study reveals how Epstein-Barr virus may cause multiple sclerosis
NASA's Chandra Finds Young Stars Dim Quickly
NASA’s Chandra Finds Young Stars Dim Quickly
These images, released on April 14, 2026, show two open star clusters, Trumpler 3 (left) and NGC 2353 (right). They represent a recent study from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory that shows how young Sun-like stars are dimmer in X-rays than previously thought.
This latest study looked at eight clusters of stars between the ages of 45 million and 750 million years old. The researchers found that Sun-like stars in these clusters unleashed only about a quarter to a third of the X-rays they expected. This quieting of young stars is a benefit for the prospects for life on orbiting planets around these stars — not a threat.
Learn more about what this finding means.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ/K. Getman; Optical/IR: PanSTARRS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
NASA’s Chandra Finds Young Stars Dim Quickly
These images, released on April 14, 2026, show two open star clusters, Trumpler 3 (left) and NGC 2353 (right). They represent a recent study from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory that shows how young Sun-like stars are dimmer in X-rays than previously thought.
This latest study looked at eight clusters of stars between the ages of 45 million and 750 million years old. The researchers found that Sun-like stars in these clusters unleashed only about a quarter to a third of the X-rays they expected. This quieting of young stars is a benefit for the prospects for life on orbiting planets around these stars — not a threat.
Learn more about what this finding means.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ/K. Getman; Optical/IR: PanSTARRS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
Smile set to launch on 19 May
The European-Chinese Smile mission is due to launch on Tuesday 19 May 2026, at 05:52 CEST / 04:52 BST / 00:52 local time on a European Vega-C rocket.
Trump administration officially reclassifies state-licensed medical marijuana as Schedule III
The Trump administration said this move, which does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law, is just the start of a process to reclassify the drug more broadly
U.S. scientists solve the mystery of a golden orb discovered in the deep sea. Here’s what it really is
This enigmatic orb has undergone extensive examination and DNA testing, enabling scientists to reveal its true origins
The Mechanics of Alien Waves
One of the most dramatic and memorable scenes from Interstellar comes from Miller’s planet - and if you don’t want a spoiler for an 11 year old movie, feel free to skip to the next paragraph. When the crew arrives on this potential new home for humanity, they are faced with a literal 1.2 km high wall of water bearing down on them quickly. It’s a great representation of how waves on other planets can act differently than on Earth. Admittedly, according to Kip Thorne, the scientific advisor for that movie, those waves are actually caused by the planet’s proximity to a local black hole rather than the wind that forms our waves here.
NASA’s Artemis II was a major success—so why couldn’t the crew flush the toilet?
The space environment—microgravity, extreme temperatures and more—make it near-impossible to truly test a space toilet like Artemis II's ahead of launch, experts say
Uranus’s Outermost Rings Are Made of Two Different Things
The James Webb Space Telescope has taken a deep look at the rings around the ice giant Uranus and found a new mystery to be solved.
The post Uranus’s Outermost Rings Are Made of Two Different Things appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
A Saturday‑night dinner onboard the International Space Station
After an intense few weeks the crew took time to celebrate together with a shared meal proposed by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot.
It’s a long‑standing tradition: each ESA astronaut works with a chef to create a few special dishes reserved for rare occasions — known as “bonus food”. Sophie’s bonus food was created by multi‑Michelin‑starred chef Anne‑Sophie Pic, offering the crew a taste of French gastronomy far from Earth.
Bonus food, tailored to specific crew members, makes up around one tenth of an astronaut’s menu. Astronauts say it adds variety to their meals, supports mental well‑being, and helps strengthen bonds among the crew in orbit.
Two Worlds Where the Sun Never Moves
One side is scorched to over 200 degrees, while the other is plunged into a darkness so cold it falls below minus 200. Welcome to TRAPPIST-1b and 1c, two rocky worlds that have just revealed the first ever climate maps of Earth sized planets beyond our Solar System. The James Webb Space Telescope has been watching, and what it found tells us something profound about where life might, and might not exist in our Galaxy.
The Stars Feeding our Galaxy’s Monster
At the heart of our Galaxy lurks a supermassive black hole four million times the mass of our Sun. For decades, astronomers have watched mysterious gas clouds drifting towards it on almost identical paths, wondering where they came from and why. Now, a team of researchers think they have finally cracked the puzzle and the answer involves two massive stars locked in a violent embrace!
Passage from Homer’s Iliad discovered in the abdomen of a Roman-era Egyptian mummy
A snippet of text from Homer’s famous epic recounting the siege of Troy was apparently placed inside this body as part of the mummification process
A volcanic mystery reveals that rising magma has a stealth mode
In 2022 a swarm of earthquakes in the Azores suggested that an eruption was imminent, but none happened. Now we know why, and it means magma can be sneakier than we knew
Plato aces space-like tests
The European Space Agency Plato mission has successfully completed a series of tough tests under space‑like conditions. With this accomplishment, the spacecraft is on track to lift off in early 2027 and begin its search for terrestrial planets.
Smoke Shrouds Northern Thailand
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Smoke Shrouds Northern Thailand
- Earth
- Earth Observatory
- Image of the Day
- EO Explorer
- Topics
- More Content
- About