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Many people share a fear that a giant asteroid could wipe out life on Earth. While scientists are clear that it *could* happen again, the odds can be hard to grasp. A new study led by Carrie Nugent aims to contextualize this risk by comparing it to other misfortunes one might encounter in a 71-year lifetime. The goal: to help the public and policymakers understand why "planetary defense" is a worthwhile investment.

For decades, the search for life has followed a simple rule: find the liquid water. But this may have blinded us to other possibilities. A new study from MIT scientists raises a tantalizing question: What if an entirely different type of liquid could support life? They found that "ionic liquids"—salts in liquid form—can easily form from common planetary ingredients and remain stable at temperatures and pressures that would instantly vaporize water.

The edge of our galaxy is a strange place. Unlike our solar neighborhood, this region has low-density gas, very few heavy elements (low metallicity), and isn't churned up by spiral arms. This makes it a simpler, cleaner laboratory for studying star formation. However, these distant molecular clouds are faint and difficult to observe. Now, a new study from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory has used the IRAM 30-meter telescope to get the best look yet at this extreme enviro

In July 2025, astronomers spotted 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object (ISO) ever detected passing through our solar system. Now, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided the crispest view yet of this "interstellar tourist." The observations are helping scientists constrain its size and confirm its cometary nature, all while it travels at a staggering speed.

Four astronauts—NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi, and Russia's Kirill Peskov—parachuted into the Pacific on Saturday after a five-month stint on the International Space Station. Their mission was anything but routine, beginning as an urgent replacement for the two NASA test pilots of Boeing's Starliner, who ended up stranded in orbit for over nine months.

Astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi has outlined a bold blueprint for a mission that could, within our lifetimes, launch a tiny probe to a nearby black hole. The goal: to return data that could completely alter our understanding of general relativity and the fabric of space-time. It hinges on technology that is just on the horizon and finding a target that is currently invisible.

Gamma-ray binaries are among the rarest and most extreme objects in the galaxy. They consist of a massive star in orbit with a compact object—a neutron star or black hole. HESS J0632+057, a TGB (TeV Gamma-ray Binary) 4,560 light-years away, is one of these mysteries. It's a massive Be-type star with a "decretion disk" (a disk of material it has shed) orbited by what is likely a pulsar.

Since 2015, we've detected over 100 gravitational wave events from binary black hole (BBH) mergers. We've always assumed they were isolated pairs. But researchers from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) have found compelling evidence that a famous merger, GW190814, was part of a "hierarchical triple system," providing new clues to how these violent events form.

US astronaut Jim Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 13 Moon mission which nearly ended in disaster in 1970, has died at the age of 97. The former Navy pilot, immortalized by Tom Hanks in the 1995 movie "Apollo 13," is being remembered as one of the greats of the US space program—a man who traveled to the Moon twice and, through his composed leadership, rescued a mission from the brink of catastrophe as the world watched in suspense.

In a "first-of-its-kind" deal, SpaceX has agreed to carry scientific experiments for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) on its future Starship trips to Mars. "Italy is going to Mars!" ASI president Teodoro Valente announced on X (formerly Twitter). SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell echoed the excitement, posting, "Get on board! We are going to Mars!" The deal comes as Elon Musk dreams of colonizing the red planet, even as his massive rocket faces significant technical setbacks.

If humanity is to colonize Mars, they'll need to eat. Temidayo Oniosun, founder of the Lagos-based firm Space in Africa, thinks a helping of Egusi soup might just hit the spot. His company is expecting its Egusi melon seeds to splash down in the Pacific Ocean Saturday after a trip to the International Space Station. It's the first food native to West Africa to be sent to space, and as Oniosun says, it's a sign that space exploration is becoming a truly global mission.

One of the biggest mysteries in science is how the "Dark Ages" of the universe ended. This period, beginning 370,000 years after the Big Bang, had no stars and no light. It ended when the first Population III (Pop III) stars ignited, forged from pure hydrogen and helium. Observing these stars is functionally impossible, so scientists must rely on supercomputer simulations.