NASA’s Lucy spacecraft discovered that asteroid Donaldjohanson is a wobbling, peanut-shaped relic born from a violent collision and slowly reshaped by the subtle force of sunlight。 It also carries traces of ancient water, making it an important clue to the solar system’s mysterious past
A colossal ancient collision may have left some of the Moon’s deepest secrets surprisingly close to future Artemis landing sites。 By recreating the impact that formed the giant South Pole-Aitken basin—the Moon’s largest and oldest crater—scientists found that a low-angle strike from a large, iron-cored object blasted material from deep inside the M
A newly proposed quantum sensing technique could make it much easier to identify one of physics’ newest and most intriguing classes of magnets: altermagnets。 These unusual materials, discovered only a few years ago, appear to combine the speed and efficiency of antiferromagnets with some of the useful electronic properties of traditional magnets, m
Scientists are raising concerns that we may be overlooking evidence of extraterrestrial life even when it is present。 Hidden biosignatures, limitations in detection technology, and assumptions about what life should look like can all create dangerous false negatives。 The researchers say future missions should focus not only on finding life, but als
NASA’s upgraded Cold Atom Lab is turning the International Space Station into a frontier for quantum research, creating ultra-cold matter that behaves in astonishing ways。 The experiments could unlock new discoveries about the universe while paving the way for powerful future technologies in space and on Earth
Researchers found that twisting layered sheets of hexagonal boron nitride can dramatically change the light produced by quantum emitters embedded within the material。 The technique offers an unexpected new level of control over components that could power future quantum computers, communications systems, and sensors
A new quantum device can generate precisely controlled bursts of sound-like particles, or phonons, by forcing electrons through an ultra-thin crystal at extremely low temperatures。 The surprising behavior pushes beyond the limits predicted by current theories, suggesting scientists need to rethink how energy moves through advanced materials。 In the
A new study suggests Earth may have been sending tiny hitchhikers to Venus for billions of years。 Researchers found that asteroid impacts could launch microbes into space, where some might survive the journey and end up suspended in Venus' clouds。 If future missions detect life there, there's a surprising chance it didn't originate on Venus at all—
Celebrating the United States' 250th anniversary, NASA released a stunning Hubble portrait of Messier 3, an ancient globular cluster with more than 500,000 stars。 The remarkable cluster is helping scientists unravel the Milky Way's past thanks to its rare stars and possible origins in a long ago cosmic merger
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular red, white, and blue view of one of the Milky Way's oldest star clusters to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary。 Hidden within the ancient cluster are clues to how exploding stars helped transform the young universe into one capable of forming planets and, eventually, life
Astronomers may have witnessed one of the rarest and most dramatic cosmic events ever seen: a long-sought intermediate-mass black hole ripping apart a dense white dwarf star and devouring it。 The Einstein Probe space telescope caught the explosion in its earliest moments, revealing an unusual sequence of intense X-ray flashes unlike anything seen i
A new AI-powered framework could transform how astronomers measure the expansion of the Universe。 By analyzing images of Type Ia supernovae and modeling their environments in unprecedented detail, researchers can estimate cosmic distances with near-spectroscopic accuracy。 The technique is designed for the flood of data expected from the upcoming Ve
Scientists have combined machine learning with quantum physics to discover two new superconductors and create a much faster way to search for many more。 The technique could bring researchers significantly closer to the long-sought goal of a room-temperature superconductor
A decades-old puzzle about water has finally been unraveled。 Researchers found that water trapped in tiny nanoscale spaces is not inherently more reactive。 Instead, the intense pressures created inside these microscopic gaps explain most of the effect, while the surrounding material can further enhance water's chemistry if it interacts with the rea
What if consciousness isn’t limited to brains like ours。 Philosophers Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness could arise in many different forms of life, even in beings built from radically different materials than those found on Earth。 Drawing on the vastness of the universe and the likely existence of countless alien civiliza