9+ hour, 17+ min ago  (548+ words) Scientists have known for nearly a century that the universe is expanding, with galaxies moving away from each other over time. The speed of this expansion today is called the Hubble constant. But measuring it has turned into one of…...

23+ hour, 26+ min ago  (381+ words) Scientists are using one of Earth's toughest microscopic creatures to explore an important question for future space travel: Could the soil on Mars naturally block microbes from Earth? The surprising test subjects are tardigrades, often called "water bears," tiny animals…...

1+ day, 9+ hour ago  (833+ words) A recent study showed that Mars was warm and wet billions of years ago. The finding contrasts with another theory that this era was mainly cold and icy. The result has implications for the idea that life could have developed…...

2+ day, 9+ hour ago  (557+ words) One of the largest known stars in the universe underwent a dramatic transformation in 2014, new research shows, and may be preparing to explode. A study led by Gonzalo Mu'oz-Sanchez at the National Observatory of Athens, published in Nature Astronomy today,…...

2+ day, 23+ hour ago  (376+ words) Astronomers have captured the most detailed view ever of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, revealing a tangled web of cold gas filaments where new stars are born. The image was created using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array…...

3+ day, 23+ hour ago  (438+ words) Scientists have discovered that the colorful light shows seen above Earth's poles also occur on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon'and they behave in strikingly similar ways. New observations reveal that despite vast differences between the two worlds, the basic processes that…...

5+ day, 22+ hour ago  (423+ words) Since the first Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) experiment in 1960, scientists have been scanning the Milky Way for signs of advanced alien civilizations. They have looked for unusual radio signals, brief flashes of laser light, and even excess heat that…...

6+ day, 9+ hour ago  (668+ words) Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in science. Astronomers believe it makes up most of the matter in the universe, yet no one has ever directly seen it. It does not reflect, emit, or absorb light, which makes…...

6+ day, 22+ hour ago  (502+ words) Astronomers have uncovered a mysterious group of distant galaxies that may fill an important gap in our understanding of how galaxies grow and change over time. These newly identified galaxies formed only about one billion years after the Big Bang,…...

1+ week, 23+ hour ago  (456+ words) For the first time, scientists have created a detailed map of the upper atmosphere of Uranus, revealing how temperature and electrically charged particles change with height above the planet. The breakthrough was made by an international team of astronomers using…...