News

A timelapse has been released showing the newly discovered Tatooine-like planet HD 143811 AB b making part of its journey around the two stars that give it light. The planet can be seen directly because it is both very large and very young, so the observations provide insight into how systems like this form and […]

Astronomers using the JWST have traced the source of a long-duration gamma-ray burst back to a supernova that exploded around 13.07 billion years in the universe’s past. The explosion is now the earliest known supernova event that we have seen, taking place when the universe was just 730 million years old. On March 14, 2025, […]

Take yourself back in time to the year 1758. We are in Germany and it’s winter, so we can confidently assume that it is cold, with possible snow covering the fields and roofs of houses. Here we meet the protagonist of this story, farmer and astronomer Johann Georg Palitzsch. He is scanning the sky as […]

What did dinosaurs look like? It’s not easy to figure out when all you have to go on is scant fossil evidence, but every now and then a rare find gives us a fresh glimpse into the past. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the […]

NASA’s Voyager spacecraft (1 and 2), launched in 1977, are both on a trajectory that will take them out of the Solar System, and into interstellar space.  It’s a slow journey. For an obvious example, in November 2026 Voyager 1 will reach one full light-day from Earth, or the amount of time it takes light […]

Hold onto your hats folks – this one is a wild ride. As we romp though Earth’s fastest species, we must bear in mind the spheres in which they operate. That’s why we’ve broken down our categories into Earth, Sea, and Sky, with a few honorable mentions along the way. On your marks, get set, […]

Home Alone, it’s a Christmas classic. There’s not a year that’s gone by where I’ve not returned to the McCallister’s mansion-esque home during the festive period (did you hear the theory his dad was some kind of mobster boss?). I love it, one of my top 10 favorite movies easily, but recently it’s had me […]

The origins of the Celtic languages are cloaked in mystery. With desperately few written records, its story survives only in scattered fragments and faint traces. That’s why linguists at Aberystwyth University in Wales are striving to build the world’s first dictionary of the ancient Celtic languages. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter is no longer communicating with Earth, after an unknown “anomaly” put it out of contact with NASA’s Deep Space Network. In November 2013, NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft launched into space, beginning its long journey to Mars. In September 2014, it entered Mars’s orbit, and began its mission to […]

It’s not just the “superflu” getting people sick right now. Norovirus, scourge of cruise ships and ruiner of holiday plans, is coming back with a vengeance in some US states, with reports of a newer, highly contagious variant driving the spread. Wastewater data from across the country is currently showing high levels of norovirus, with […]

If you’ve been on the Internet for long enough, you’ve probably come across the meme that – sooner or later – everything turns into crabs. According to the meme, sooner or later – be you a fish or Danny DeVito – you are to become a crab. While this is, of course, just a fun […]

American astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson, and English physicist, science communicator, and musician Professor Brian Cox have given the world their thoughts on interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, and the unnecessary hypothesis that it could be an alien spacecraft. First up, the recap. On July 1, 2025, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) did […]

Buried in the leaf litter of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest lie members of what just might be the world’s cutest genus. The teeny tiny toadlets of the Brachycephalus group are super small frogs that currently number 42 species, and now another member has joined their ranks. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]

Giant hornets are typically not a force to be reckoned with. With size and a venomous sting capable of taking down a human on their side, there’s a good reason why they’re often called “murder hornets”. But now, new research has discovered an animal that snacks on these beasties like it’s no big deal – […]

Even if you are a natural late riser, if you’re ever faced with cancer, it might be time to make an exception. A study of patients receiving immunotherapy for small-cell lung cancer found a remarkably large difference in survival between those treated early and late in the day. Most people when diagnosed with lung cancer […]

Spinning massive objects drag spacetime along with them. This curious phenomenon is an important prediction in general relativity, which has been confirmed from a variety of celestial bodies and events. The latest one comes from a supermassive black hole pulling a star apart. You can imagine that a massive spinning object twists spacetime as it […]

The first generation of stars that were born in the universe are a mystery. We can estimate when they existed and even how big they might have gotten, but direct evidence has been lacking. Now, JWST has found the most compelling proof of their existence, reporting a crucial signature of their presence in galaxy GS […]

Telescopes operating up and down the electromagnetic spectrum have confirmed that the longest gamma ray burst (GRB) was produced by a jet of material traveling at close to the speed of light in a distant galaxy. The environment in which the jet was moving was particularly dusty, which obscured our view at visible wavelengths, but […]

Never mind AI, the internet, or the rocket – it’s been argued that the control of fire was the most pivotal technological breakthrough in history. It gave our ancestors protection, the ability to cook food, and a reason to gather, transforming our genus from knuckle-dragging beasts to social creatures. Why do you think the gods […]

The emission of X-rays is usually the domain of the energetic events of the universe: hot stars, supermassive black holes, and the like. However, since 1996, with Comet Hyakutake, we have learned that even comets can emit X-rays. But despite efforts, no such signal was ever seen for an interstellar object. Enter this year’s superstar […]