News

After analyzing 669 million galaxies, the Dark Energy Survey has released its final report on the forces ripping our universe apart. Dark Matter is invisible, but it has mass. Mass bends light. By measuring the slight distortion of millions of background galaxies, DES created a map of the invisible scaffolding of the universe.

Scientists are using the "echo" of light to map the dusty structures surrounding supermassive black holes, revealing a complex mix of graphite and silicate grains. Quasars flicker. When the central black hole swallows matter, it flares brightly in optical light.

Why is Io a volcanic hellscape while Europa is an icy ocean world? New research proves they didn't evolve that way—they were built that way from the start. Did Io start out wet like Europa, only to have its water boiled off by volcanic heat and Jupiter's radiation over billions of years?

We are building the ultimate telescope, but we don't yet know how to read everything it will see. Scientists are racing to fill the "Computational Astrochemistry" gap. When HWO looks at a planet, it will see a spectrum of light. We match lines in that spectrum to a database of known gases.

Astronomers have found a massive cluster of galaxies hiding in plain sight. Obscured by their own creation—dust—these giants are forming stars at rates that challenge our understanding of the universe. The Paradox: Young stars emit brilliant ultraviolet light. But they form inside dense clouds of dust.

Scientists have reverse-engineered evolution to rebuild an ancient enzyme. By putting it inside living bacteria, they are viewing Earth's past—and the future of finding aliens—through a new lens. The Target: Nitrogenase. Without this enzyme turning air into food (ammonia), life as we know it wouldn't exist.

Deep in the Milky Way, astronomers have found a 13-atom chemical ring that bridges the gap between interstellar dust and the origins of life. Until now, space sulfur was only found in tiny fragments—molecules with fewer than 6 atoms.

When a medical crisis struck the ISS, a handheld device became the most important tool in orbit. Astronauts reveal how they handled the emergency.On Earth, hospitals have MRI machines and CT scanners. In space, astronauts rely on a portable ultrasound device no bigger than a smartphone.

The rocket is ready, but the architecture is changing. NASA's new leadership is betting on a commercial future to get us to "Artemis 100." Old Way (Apollo): One rocket carried everything (Command Module + Lander). Simple, direct.

Space debris is falling faster than we can track it. Now, scientists are using earthquake sensors to listen for the sonic booms of crashing satellites. When a spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere, it isn't just a fireball; it's a supersonic projectile.

Edmond Halley gets the credit, but a flying monk named Eilmer knew the secret 600 years earlier. "I see you, you bringer of tears..."989 AD: Eilmer, a young monk at Malmesbury Abbey, witnesses a terrifying "hairy star." It coincides with Viking raids and the death of an Archbishop. He never forgets it.

We plan to live on the Moon, but our power storage technology is stuck on Earth. How do we build batteries that survive the freezing dark and burning light? In sci-fi movies, power just works. In reality, space exposes batteries to conditions they were never designed for.