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Water is heavy, expensive to transport, and vital for life. Future space missions depend on our ability to recycle every drop and harvest new sources from alien worlds. Sending water to the ISS costs tens of thousands of dollars per gallon. For a Mars colony, resupply is impossible. We need systems that are closed-loop, durable, and energy-efficient.

The Mars dream is on the back burner. Elon Musk announces a pivot to building a "self-growing city" on the Moon first. For years, SpaceX's mantra has been "Occupy Mars." But in a major strategic shift, Elon Musk has announced that the company will prioritize establishing a settlement on the Moon.

How do massive gas giants form far from their stars? Astronomers used JWST to find a chemical fingerprint that points to a surprising answer. The HR 8799 system is a giant version of our own solar system, with four massive planets orbiting far from their star. The smallest is five times heavier than Jupiter.

A nearby orange dwarf star was known to host two worlds. Now, precise measurements have revealed a massive third planet lurking further out. HD 176986 is a K-type star (smaller and cooler than our Sun) located 91 light-years away. In 2018, astronomers found two hot super-Earths orbiting it.

Venus is hiding a secret. Radar data has revealed a massive volcanic cave system lurking beneath the planet's thick, toxic atmosphere. Volcanic activity isn't unique to Earth. We've seen lava tubes on Mars and the Moon. But finding them on Venus is a different challenge entirely. The planet is shrouded in thick sulfuric acid clouds that block visible light.

Enceladus isn't just an icy moon. It's a planetary-scale generator, pumping energy and plasma waves more than 500,000 km through the Saturnian system. Famous for its water geysers, Enceladus has long been known to feed Saturn's E-ring. But a new study of 13 years of Cassini data reveals something much bigger: a vast "lattice" of magnetic waves connecting the moon to the planet.

Samples from asteroid Bennu reveal that the building blocks of life didn't need warm water to form—they could have been forged in the freezing, radioactive dark of the early solar system. When NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission dropped a capsule containing dust from asteroid Bennu into the Utah desert, it delivered a time capsule from 4.6 billion years ago. Inside, scientists found amino acids—the molecules that make up proteins and DNA.

Water isn't enough. A new study reveals that Earth hit a rare "chemical jackpot" 4.6 billion years ago, retaining the Phosphorus and Nitrogen essential for DNA and proteins. Phosphorus (for DNA/RNA) and Nitrogen (for proteins) are the building blocks of life. Without them, a planet is sterile, no matter how much water it has.

Could the lack of coal on other planets explain the Great Silence? A new study argues that advanced civilizations cannot rise without burning their past. For seven decades, SETI has scanned the stars for radio signals. But a new paper suggests we might be missing a crucial prerequisite for radio technology: Geology.

Galaxy clusters are twice as heavy as we thought. A new study reveals a hidden population of black holes and neutron stars that could rewrite the laws of gravity. Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the universe, held together by gravity. For decades, scientists assumed they were mostly made of dark matter.

SpaceX is moving its human spaceflight operations away from the historic Pad 39A. A massive crane signals the change as the company pivots to Starship. For years, Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center has been the crown jewel of American spaceflight—hosting Apollo 11, the Space Shuttle, and SpaceX's return of astronauts to orbit. But in 2025, the pad went silent for crewed missions.

Earth's magnetic poles don't just swap overnight. New evidence reveals they can wander in chaos for 70,000 years, leaving the planet exposed. Deep beneath our feet, the Earth's outer core of liquid nickel-iron churns, generating the magnetic field that shields us from cosmic radiation. But this shield isn't permanent. Every so often, the poles flip.