How the Universe and Its Mirrored Version Are Different
From living matter to molecules to elementary particles, the world is made of “chiral” objects that differ from their reflected forms.
‘Major Anomaly’ Behind Latest SpaceX Starship Explosion
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk suggested on X that a high-pressure nitrogen tank failure was behind the explosion of the company's massive Starship rocket.
The Mysterious Inner Workings of Io, Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon
Recent flybys of the fiery world refute a leading theory of its inner structure—and reveal how little is understood about geologically active moons.
This Chinese Spacecraft Is Traveling to One of Earth’s Quasi-Moons
The Tianwen-2 probe has sent a self-portrait as it heads toward one of the most enigmatic objects in our space neighborhood: the quasi-moon Kamo’oalewa.
Astronomers Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Unlock the Secrets of Black Holes
Using a neural network trained with simulations of supermassive black holes, astronomers have found that the one at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*, likely rotates at maximum speed.
Astronomers Have Detected a Galaxy Millions of Years Older Than Any Previously Observed
Researchers estimate that MoM z14 was created 280 million years after the Big Bang, 10 million years earlier than the previous most primitive galaxy recorded.
The Plan to Send Plant-Filled ‘Gardens’ Into Orbit
Off-world agriculture has long seemed experimental, but that could soon change thanks to a collaboration between design firm Heatherwick Studio and the space architecture nonprofit Aurelia Institute.
Starship’s Latest Test Reveals New Problems for SpaceX to Solve
Unlike in recent tests, SpaceX’s ninth Starship survived launch, but a fuel tank leak meant it lost control before it could complete its objectives.
A New Study Reveals the Makeup of Uranus’s Atmosphere
Based on 20 years of observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, new research sheds light on one of the solar system’s most mysterious planets.
The Milky Way Has a Mysterious ‘Broken Bone’
Galactic bones, filaments of radio-wave-emitting particles, run through our galaxy, and one of them has a fracture. New analysis suggests collision with a neutron star may have caused it.