Life on Earth Uses Water as a Solvent. What are Some Other Options for Life as We Don't Know it?
Your body's cells use water to dissolve chemicals. It's the same with all life on Earth. But could other fluids…
Future Mars Helicopters Could Explore Lava Tubes
The exploration of Mars continues, with many nations sending robotic missions to search for evidence of past life and learn…
Japan’s Moon Lander Touches Down, But Power Problem Mars Its Mission
Update for Jan. 21: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency shut down its moon lander to conserve battery power, but says…
What Future Propulsion Technologies Should NASA Invest In?
Researchers consistently complain about how difficult it is to fund breakthrough research. Most funding agencies, especially governmental ones, think funding…
Diamond Rain on Ice Giants Could Influence Their Magnetic Fields
Imagine Jupiter with a diamond core the size of Earth. That's what science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke described in…
Is this the Lightest Black Hole or Heaviest Neutron Star?
About 40,000 light-years away, a rapidly spinning object has a companion that's confounding astronomers. It's heavier than the heaviest neutron…
Astronomers See Massive Stars Forming Together in Multiple Star Systems
All stars form in giant molecular clouds of hydrogen. But some stars are extraordinarily massive; the most massive one we…
Early Galaxies Looked Nothing Like What We See Today
Talk to anyone about galaxies and it often conjurs up images of spiral or elliptical galaxie. Thanks to a survey…
M87*'s Event Horizon Image. One Year Later
In 2017, a worldwide collection of radio telescopes gathered data about the event horizon around the supermassive black hole at…
This Strange-Looking Galaxy is Actually Two. And They're Merging
This strange-looking galaxy seems to be a spiral with a long tidal tail stretching away. It's known as Arp 122,…