A milestone in the history of particle physics: Why does matter exist?
For every particle that exists in our universe, there is an antiparticle. But if matter and antimatter were both produced in equal amounts by the Big Bang, why is there so much matter around us and so little antimatter? A new experiment from CERN may hold the answer to this decades-long puzzle.
Astronomers discover giant chimneys spewing energy from the center of the galaxy
At the center of our galaxy, a supermassive black hole hoovers up matter and blasts out energy. Now astronomers have discovered two exhaust channels which are funneling matter and energy away from the supermassive black hole and out towards the edges of the galaxy, dubbed galactic center chimneys.
Chilean telescope uncovers one of the oldest star clusters in the galaxy
An ultra-high definition image captured by the Gemini South telescope in Chile has uncovered one of the oldest star clusters in the Milky Way. The cluster, called HP 1, could give clues to how our galaxy was formed billions of years ago. The HP 1 cluster is estimated to be 12.8 billion years old.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a super-speedy pulsar
A super-speedy pulsar has been spotted dashing across the sky, discovered using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. The pulsar is traveling at a breathtaking 2.5 million miles an hour.
Asteroid Ryugu is porous, shaped like a spinning top, and is formed of rubble
The Japanese Space Agency has been exploring a distant asteroid named Ryugu with its probe, Hayabusa 2. After arriving at its destination 200 million miles from Earth, the probe managed to land on the asteroid. Now the first results from study of the asteroid are in, with three new papers published.
A hive of activity: Using honeybees to measure urban pollution
According to a new study from Vancouver, bees could help us understand urban pollution. A team from the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research at University of British Columbia has found an innovative way to measure the level of source of pollution in urban environments: by analyzing honey.
Spacewalk a success as astronauts upgrade batteries on the ISS
The International Space Station was treated to new batteries on Friday, thanks to the NASA astronauts who took a spacewalk for nearly seven hours in order to complete the upgrades. The batteries were replaced with newer lithium-ion batteries, which have improved power capacity and lighter mass.
Unexpected particle plumes discovered jetting out of asteroid Bennu
The OSIRIS-REx craft entered orbit around asteroid Bennu last year and isn't scheduled to return until 2023. But the mission is already producing unexpected findings, like plumes of particles which are being energetically ejected from the surface of the asteroid.
Trip to Neptune’s moon, Triton, could inform search for extraterrestrial life
NASA has proposed sending a spacecraft to Neptune to study its largest moon, Triton, up close. Studying Triton could offer clues to how liquid water is maintained on planets and moons, which might indicate what to look for when searching for life beyond our own planet.
Toyota shoots for the moon with its new lunar rover concept
Toyota announced it will be teaming up with the Japanese space agency to design and built a lunar rover. The two organizations aim to create a manned, pressurized rover suitable for mobility on the moon, using efficient fuel cells that would allow the rover to cruise more than 10,000 kilometers
Mind-bending model shows Venus isn’t our nearest neighbor — it’s Mercury
Every textbook and table on the internet agrees -- the closest planet to Earth is Venus. But according to a new article in Physics Today, a new mathematical model shows that our assumptions about the distances between planets are wrong. In fact, the planet closest to us on average is Mercury.
Astronomers plan to beam Earth’s greatest hits into deep space, and you can help
If you could send a message to a potential alien civilization, what would it sound like? Think on that, as a new project from the SETI Institute (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) will give the public the chance to submit musical compositions to be beamed into space.
A silver bullet is being aimed at the drug-resistant superbugs on the ISS
Superbugs can pose a serious health risk for astronauts, as a bacteria which is benign here on Earth can mutate into a drug-resistant superbug once it enters space. Now this problem is being tackled by a team of microbiologists who have found a way to inhibit the spread of bacteria in the ISS.
Take a dip in the Lagoon Nebula in first image from SPECULOOS instrument
The European Southern Observatory has released the first image collected by their new SPECULOOS instrument, and it's a stunning portrait of the Lagoon Nebula. SPECULOOS isn't designed to study nebulae -- it is designed to search for habitable planets -- but it's hard to object to the gorgeous results.
Cosmic dust bunnies: Scientists find unexpected ring around Mercury
A pair of scientists searching for a dust-free region near the Sun have made an unexpected discovery: a vast dust ring around the tiny planet Mercury. Scientists had thought that the energy of solar winds would blow away any dust so close to the Sun, but the new findings show that's not the case.
New Hubble image displays dazzling Messier 28 globular cluster
Messier 28 is a group of stars in the constellation of Sagittarius, located 18,000 light-years from us. It is a collection of stars that is tightly bound together by gravity and which orbits around a galactic core. As the gravity is strong, the stars are at a high density.
Body surrogate robot helps people with motor impairments care for themselves
Assistive technologies can benefit people with disabilities by giving them greater independence and control over their lives. A team from Georgia Tech has been working on an assistant robot to help people who have severe motor impairments with tasks like shaving, brushing their hair, and drinking water.
Desk lamps take on a new task by converting their light to power
What if we could charge devices using light from indoor sources like desk lamps? A group of scientists working on a technology called organic photovoltaics aim to do just that. The team from Kyushu University has developed special light harvesters optimized to produce energy from ambient indoor lighting.
Gorgeous image of the Cosmic Bat nebula leaves us starry-eyed
The Cosmic Bat nebula has been captured in beautiful detail by the European Southern Observatory. Formally known as NGC 1788, the nebula is two thousand light-years away in a dark corner of the Orion constellation. It is a "reflection nebula" which does not give off any light of its own.
A lunar time capsule: 50-year-old moon rock samples to be opened for study
Nearly 50 years after the Apollo missions to the Moon, NASA is breaking open samples of Moon rock for the first time. Samples collected from Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17 have been preserved and never exposed to Earth's atmosphere, making them invaluable resources.
Super telescope captures supermassive black holes forming billions of years ago
A camera mounted to the massive 8.2m Subaru Telescope in Hawaii has captured evidence of supermassive black holes forming in the ancient universe. Astronomers have discovered 83 quasars powered by supermassive black holes from billions of years ago, in the first 10 percent of the universe’s current age.
NASA shares an update about its next generation launch system, SLS
NASA is working on a next-generation launch system called Space Launch System, or SLS, hoping to create a transport system to take astronauts of the future to the Moon and beyond. Now NASA has announced its progress towards the first mission for the new system, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) in 2020.
Tiny amounts of water bounce along the surface of the Moon
New data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has shown water on the Moon moves in an intricate cycle, first mixing with lunar soil and then bouncing to a new location or being released into the atmosphere during the relatively warm lunar noon. Once temperatures drop, water returns to the surface.
Hide the cheese: scientists just created supermice that can see in infrared
A team of multidisciplinary scientists has achieved something impressive and frankly a little terrifying: they have used nanotechnology to give mice infrared vision. They injected mice with nanoparticles that gave the creatures infrared vision for up to 10 weeks from just one treatment.
Searching for habitable planets in the Goldilocks Zone of K stars
To find potentially habitable worlds, astronomers search in the "Goldilocks Zone" around stars to find planets where liquid water can exist on the surface. Now a new study has identified types of star called K stars which make especially promising targets to host habitable planets.
The birth of stars creates epic stellar winds which seed new galaxies
In the vast distances between galaxies, space is not empty -- gas and dust collects there and eventually becomes the seed for new stars and galaxies. But where does this matter come from? A study reveals how galactic winds carry material away from sites of star creation and out into intergalactic space.
Is the truth out there? New paper proposes solution to the Fermi paradox
Where are all the aliens? The Fermi paradox asks why, given how vast the universe is, no other civilizations have contacted us here on Earth. A new paper uses computer modelling to show it wouldn't necessarily take all that long for space-faring civilizations to travel across the galaxy.
CERN scientists create antimatter to answer fundamental question of the universe
The Big Bang should have created equal amounts of both matter and antimatter. And yet there is hardly any antimatter in our universe today. Why is that? A new experiment from CERN has been tackling the question by looking at how matter and antimatter could react differently to Earth's gravitational field.
Hubble captures two colliding galaxies merging to form a super-galaxy
Two galaxies are colliding in the distant NGC 6052 in the constellation of Hercules. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of this pair of galaxies, which were previously believed to be one irregularly shaped galaxy. Eventually the galaxies will merge into one giant new galaxy.
What does the Milky Weigh? NASA calculates the mass of our galaxy
Astronomers have calculated the approximate mass of the Milky Way. Researchers using the Hubble Telescope and the Gaia satellite have calculated the figure by observing the movement of globular star clusters -- groups of hundreds of thousands of stars which cluster together near the center of the galaxy
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon craft splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean
After a week spent hanging out at the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft has returned to Earth and landed safely in the ocean off the Florida coast. The craft has now completed its test flight and is ready to start taking astronauts into space.
China’s space station gets the green light in surprise announcement
In a surprise move, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced that it will be starting the process of building its own space station sooner than expected. It expects to launch a first mission imminently, and aims to have a space station completed by 2022.
Beautiful superbubbles may be bombarding the Earth with cosmic rays
Astronomers have identified two superbubbles thousands of light-years across which are made of a lighter gas suspended inside a heavier one. They believe the bubbles were created by an energetic supermassive black hole which gave off bursts of energy, or possibly from the winds generated by young stars.
Israel’s lunar lander just snapped a selfie on its way to the moon
Israel's Beresheet spacecraft shared an image of itself floating far above the Earth this week. The first privately funded mission to the moon was launched by the Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL at the end of February, marking Israel's first venture to the moon as well. It is set to land at the Sea of Serenity on April 11.
Dwarf planet FarFarOut is the most distant object discovered in our solar system
Late last year, a team of astronomers discovered what was then the most distant body observed in our solar system, nicknamed FarOut, while searching for the mysterious hypothesized Planet Nine. Now the same team has discovered an even more distant objected jauntily dubbed FarFarOut.
Ability to twist like magic may make spider silk the robotic muscle of the future
Researchers from MIT have discovered a new property of spider silk that could make it the robotic muscle of the future. The team found that not only are silk fibers very resilient, but they can also twist and contract with great force when exposed to varying levels of humidity.
Drones locate fuzzy friends in Australian koala-spotting mission
Counting koalas is a challenge requiring expert spotters that can give unreliable results. Now researchers have demonstrated drones which can detect heat signatures, use an algorithm to hone in on areas where koalas live, and count the animals even through the foliage of the eucalyptus trees they live in.