Scientists say new technologies have reopened the debate over whether Mars could someday be terraformed, turning a once impossible idea into a serious research topic。 Before anyone tries to reshape the Red Planet, though, researchers say we must understand the risks, including what might be lost if Mars already harbors its own forms of life
A new particle detector called PLATON could replace millions of tiny detector components with a single block of light-producing material。 Using a light-field camera, highly sensitive photon sensors, and AI, it reconstructs particle paths in fast, detailed 3D。 Simulations suggest it could match or surpass today’s best detectors while being far easie
Researchers have recreated the physics of extracting energy from a spinning black hole using a stationary device that produces synthetic ultrafast rotation。 The achievement transforms a long-standing theoretical idea into a practical experiment and could inspire new advances in optics, wireless communications, and quantum science
Scientists have created a programmable optical chip that can slow light on demand, giving engineers far greater control over how optical signals propagate through a circuit。 The technology could provide the delays, synchronization, and buffering functions needed to make light-based computing more practical。 A single chip could eventually perform se
A newly discovered turning point in the Sun’s 11-year cycle could allow scientists to predict future solar activity years earlier than before。 At this “switch-off” point, the most violent space weather abruptly ends, and the remaining number of sunspots offers clues about the next cycle’s strength。 Early projections suggest Solar Cycle 26 may be mo
MIT engineers have found a way to give chip-based lidar a wider, clearer view without relying on moving parts。 Their design uses differently shaped antennas that can sit close together without scrambling one another’s signals。 In tests, the system sharply reduced interference while steering a single precise beam across a broad field of view
A team of mathematicians used whimsical "silly sprinklers" to solve a physics mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades。 Their experiments showed that the rotation of both normal and reverse sprinklers is driven by the momentum of flowing water, not by the outside water flow or other long-standing theories。 The results finally provide a clear
K2-18b is one of the most promising worlds for the search for extraterrestrial life, so astronomers conducted an unusually powerful radio survey using both the VLA and MeerKAT telescopes。 Advanced software analyzed millions of signals, filtering out Earth-based interference and other false positives。 No convincing artificial radio transmissions wer
China’s Chang’e-6 samples have uncovered a surprising difference between the Moon’s two hemispheres。 Solar wind particles penetrated deeper into the far-side soil because Earth’s magnetosphere slows the particles that reach the near side。 Noble gases locked inside the lunar regolith preserved evidence of this uneven bombardment
A new theoretical study offers a possible explanation for how the Universe can grow more complex without violating the second law of thermodynamics。 Using a quantum gravity framework called Gravity from Entropy, mathematician Ginestra Bianconi found that the Universe’s total entropy may rise as space expands, even while entropy within each unit of
NASA is preparing for future astronaut landings on the Moon with an unusually ambitious orbital rehearsal。 During Artemis III in 2027, Orion astronauts will rendezvous and dock separately with prototype lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX, allowing crews and ground teams to test the complex maneuvers needed for later missions
A giant planet had been hiding inside one of astronomy’s most closely studied planetary systems, concealed by a bright disk of cosmic dust。 Webb revealed Beta Pictoris d through atmospheric traces of carbon monoxide, water vapor, and methane, showcasing a promising new method for finding elusive exoplanets
Dying Sun-like stars may not fade away quietly。 As blobs of gas erupt unevenly from their swollen surfaces, each burst gives the star a tiny push in the opposite direction。 Thousands of these random kicks could eventually break apart distant stellar pairs or, in rare cases, drive two stars into a violent collision
A new study suggests the brain begins making decisions much earlier than scientists previously thought。 Researchers found that even primary sensory regions are influenced by higher brain areas through rapid feedback loops, rather than simply passing information forward。 This more dynamic view of brain function could help engineers design future AI