Category: Science

James Webb may have discovered the universe’s earliest supermassive black hole in galaxy GHZ2. Observations reveal high-energy emission lines, challenging existing models of rapid black hole and galaxy growth. Upcoming JWST and ALMA studies aim to confirm AGN activity and refine our understanding of early cosmic evolution.

NASA’s upcoming Roman Space Telescope is expected to measure seismic waves in over 300,000 red giant stars, far greater than early predictions. These signals will help scientists better understand exoplanet systems and the Milky Way’s ancient core. Researchers say Roman’s natural survey design enables this breakthrough even before the telescope has launched.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has identified Phippsaksla, a sculpted, metal-rich boulder in Jezero Crater with an unusually high iron-nickel composition. The rock’s chemistry strongly suggests it is a meteorite formed elsewhere in the solar system. Its presence within impact-shaped terrain offers fresh clues about ancient asteroids and helps scientists reconstruct key…

A hardy moss species survived 283 days on the outside of the ISS, enduring vacuum, radiation and extreme temperatures. More than 80% of its spores lived and germinated back on Earth. The findings reveal surprising resilience in early land plants and may support future Moon and Mars ecosystem designs.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 has been cleared as an Earth threat, but updated observations show a small chance it could hit the Moon in 2032. Space agencies are monitoring the asteroid closely, expecting new data to narrow uncertainties and determine whether the lunar-impact probability will drop or rise.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 achieved Florida’s 100th launch of 2025, carrying 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The milestone reflects a surge in launch cadence driven by reusable rockets, satellite constellations, and expanding commercial demand, marking one of the busiest years ever on the Space Coast.

Webb’s mid-infrared images of Apep reveal a rare triple-star system producing vast carbon-rich dust spirals from colliding stellar winds. The two Wolf–Rayet stars and a distant supergiant create layered shells that record centuries of activity and enrich the galaxy with elements vital for future stars and planets.

A new isotopic study reveals that Theia—the Mars-sized body that struck Earth 4.5 billion years ago to form the Moon—likely originated in the inner Solar System, close to Earth’s birthplace. By comparing heavy-element isotope ratios in lunar rocks, Earth samples, and meteorites, researchers found identical signatures, showing both worlds formed from the same inn…

When LIGO and Virgo detected GW231123 in late 2023, it appeared to show two black holes merging in the so-called mass gap, where theory predicted none should exist. But new simulations indicate that rapidly spinning, strongly magnetized massive stars can collapse into black holes without exploding entirely. This process sheds enough mass to leave behind […]

NASA is preparing an unprecedented mission to save the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a key gamma-ray burst monitor launched in 2004 but now rapidly losing altitude. Partnering with Katalyst Space Technologies, NASA will send a robotic servicer on a Pegasus XL rocket to rendezvous with Swift, inspect it, and raise it to a stable orbit. […]

Scientists at Georgia Tech have created an AI technique that pre-trains exoskeleton controllers using existing human motion datasets, removing the need for lengthy lab-based retraining. The system predicts joint behavior and assistance needs, enabling controllers that work as well as hand-tuned versions. This advance accelerates prototype development and could improve…

Researchers from the Allen Institute and Japan’s University of Electro-Communications have built one of the most detailed mouse cortex simulations ever created. Using Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer, the team modeled around 10 million neurons and 26 billion synapses, recreating realistic structure and activity. The virtual cortex offers a new platform for studying br…

UC San Diego engineers have developed a soft, AI-enabled wearable patch that can interpret gestures with high accuracy even during vigorous or chaotic movement. The armband uses stretchable sensors, a custom deep-learning model, and on-chip processing to clean motion signals in real time. This breakthrough could enable intuitive robot control for rehabilitation, indus…

A new image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS captures its glowing tails and a distant barred spiral galaxy, creating a dramatic cosmic overlap. Astronomers say the comet’s unusual features remain natural despite online speculation. With its closest Earth approach in December, researchers are preparing for sharper spacecraft images expected to reveal even more detail.

Researchers in China have set a new 27.2 percent efficiency record for perovskite solar cells by fixing chlorine-ion clumping, a major barrier to performance. Their simple potassium-based method creates a uniform film and boosts long-term stability, marking a major step toward commercial adoption and more reliable low-cost solar energy.

ESA’s Euclid space telescope has captured about 1.2 million galaxies in its first year, providing one of the most detailed wide-field surveys of the universe ever made. Covering distances up to 10 billion light-years, Euclid’s clear, expansive imaging is helping astronomers study galaxy shapes, mergers, dwarf galaxy populations, and the role of supermassive black …

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected a distant, metal-poor galaxy whose unusually massive, ultraviolet-bright stars match the expected signatures of Population III — the universe’s first stars. Through the help of gravitational lensing and Webb’s infrared sensitivity, researchers observed light from just 800 million years after the Big …

Scientists mapped the path of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with ten times greater accuracy using images from ESA’s Mars orbiter. The breakthrough shows how observations from different points in space can improve future planetary defense. The data, the first of its kind from another planet’s orbit, offers a powerful new tool for tracking fast-moving cosmic objects.

After debris punctured a window on the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, China will launch an uncrewed Shenzhou-22 lifeboat to Tiangong to protect its crew. The capsule will deliver supplies and guarantee a safe return, highlighting growing orbital-debris dangers and echoing similar past incidents such as Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 failure.

Researchers at JMU Würzburg have achieved the first autonomous in-orbit satellite orientation using an AI controller on the InnoCube CubeSat. Trained through deep reinforcement learning, the AI repeatedly reoriented the spacecraft, demonstrating a major step toward fully autonomous, lower-cost satellite systems and future AI-managed missions.

Using ALMA’s ultra-sensitive Band 9 observations, astronomers identified galaxy Y1 as an extreme star-forming system in the early universe. Producing stars at 180 solar masses per year, Y1 reveals how intense, short-lived starbursts helped shape young galaxies and may have been more common than previously believed.

Astronomers analyzing Gaia and TESS data have discovered that the famed Pleiades is only the bright center of a much larger stellar complex containing over 3,000 stars. Spanning 2,000 light-years, this vast family reveals how young clusters form, travel, and disperse across the galaxy.

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have captured a rare early look at supernova SN 2024ggi, just one day after its discovery. The blast shockwave appeared olive-shaped—not spherical—revealing surprising asymmetry in the explosion. Recorded with the FORS2 instrument, the data shows the shock-breakout phase in unprecedented detail. The discovery challeng…

As lunar exploration surges, scientists warn that the Moon’s limited stable orbits are growing crowded. Georgia Tech simulations suggest that with about 50 satellites, each may need several collision-avoidance maneuvers per year. Even now, orbiters like Chandrayaan-2 require frequent course corrections. With Artemis and private missions incoming, agencies are develo…

SpaceX successfully launched the Sentinel-6B ocean-monitoring satellite on November 17, 2025, marking its 500th orbital mission using a reused Falcon 9 booster. Sentinel-6B will extend more than 40 years of continuous sea-level measurement, delivering high-precision global ocean data as part of Europe’s Copernicus climate program. Equipped with advanced radar and mi…

India has officially greenlit Chandrayaan-4, a 2028 lunar sample-return mission set to bring home 3 kg of Moon soil. The mission involves five spacecraft docking in Earth orbit before heading to the lunar surface. ISRO is also moving ahead with its Bharatiya Antariksh Station, with the first module planned for 2028 and full completion targeted […]

Astronomers captured the first moments of a nearby supernova, revealing an asymmetric, olive-shaped blast. In massive stars, core collapse after fuel exhaustion creates a shock wave. Early observations of future supernova surveys will be able to sample diversity in stellar explosions as well as the properties of broad breaks due to asymmetric shocks, which probe the…

A major solar storm in mid-November 2025 dazzled Earth with vivid auroras but forced astronauts on the ISS to take radiation precautions. Russian cosmonauts sheltered in the station’s heavily protected Destiny lab, while other crew members stayed in shielded quarters as controllers limited access to higher-risk modules during the event.

Astronomers discovered GJ 251 c, a super-Earth 20 light-years away. Its location in the habitable zone and rocky composition make it a top candidate for future searches for life beyond our solar system. The team, led by Suvrath Mahadevan and Corey Beard, said this discovery provides a clock for one of the best candidates to search […]

Astronomers using JWST may have discovered Population III stars in cluster LAP1-B, offering new insights into early galaxy formation and the universe’s first luminous objects. JWST observations suggest Population III stars may have formed 13 billion years ago, helping trace early galaxies. These stars might be building blocks for larger galaxies as well, making it…