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Neuroscientists have long sought to explain how the brain correctly recognizes a stimulus despite the stimulus appearing under different circumstances with widely variable external factors. For example, with regard to olfactory stimuli, humans can…

Studies have shown that all classes of vertebrates—and even some invertebrate species—have the cognitive ability to discriminate among different quantities. For example, many kinds of studied animals can distinguish specific numbers of objects in…

Black holes pack an extraordinary amount of mass into a small spatial volume, resulting in gravitational fields so powerful that not even light can escape. These extreme objects occur as two distinct populations in the universe. The first, called…

A new mathematical approach called emulation dramatically decreases the amount of time necessary to solve equations describing key properties of atomic nuclei. The approach will help physicists run simulations far more quickly—and without the need…

For the first time, researchers have used the spin rates of black holes in the wide-ranging and ongoing search for dark matter. A recent study proposed that if a certain kind of dark matter particle, known as an ultralight boson, existed in a…

A new study has offered a possible explanation for a mysterious drop in brightness exhibited by the star Betelgeuse, an event known as the Great Dimming. Betelgeuse is an aged, red supergiant star located relatively close to Earth and readily…

The discovery of gravitational waves in 2015 revolutionized astronomy by opening up an entirely new way of studying extreme cosmic phenomena. Now researchers have reported the first evidence for a previously theorized but never-before-seen kind of…

Astronomers have found oddly synchronized star formation rates in 36 dwarf galaxies scattered around the Milky Way Galaxy. These dwarf galaxies all showed declines in star formation rates starting around six billion years ago, and then showed…

After a 203-day journey covering 472 million kilometers (293 million miles), NASA's Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. Perseverance is the largest and most sophisticated machine to ever land on another world.…

In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first humanmade object to leave the solar system when the space probe traversed the heliopause—the boundary at which the outflow of plasma from the Sun, known as solar wind, gives way to the collective solar winds from…

Ample evidence—from lake-, river-, and delta-like geological features to aqueous mineralogy—supports the inference that Mars once had vast quantities of water pooling and flowing across its surface. A longstanding question has centered around what…

Cosmochemists have discovered the oldest solid material known to exist on Earth. The material, stardust, consists of silicon carbide grains measuring around one micrometer in size. The grains date back approximately 7 billion years, or about 2.5…

In September 2020, researchers answered a longstanding question about why planetary nebulae display such a rich variety of shapes. Winds from aging stars produce planetary nebulae as the winds eject the stars' outer layers, shrouding the stars in…

The nearest images of the Sun obtained to date have revealed a new phenomenon, dubbed campfires, which appear as small, bright flickers of light all over the Sun's surface. The Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency spacecraft launched in February…

Astronomers have discovered the closest black hole on record, located 1,100 light-years away from our solar system. This black hole is part of the star system HR 6819, which consists of two bright, bluish stars. On a clear, dark night, these stars…

Obscured by a hazy atmosphere 100 times thicker than Earth's, Venus is a notoriously difficult world to study. Ground temperatures on Venus exceed 450°C (842°F)—enough to melt lead and to have quickly degraded the Soviet robotic landers last placed…

Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have solved a significant cosmic mystery that will help scientists better understand dark matter, an enigmatic substance theorized to outnumber normal matter at least fivefold. In 2018, astronomers were…

Astronomers have observed a galaxy from when the universe was only 1.4 billion years old that is remarkably similar to our Milky Way. Although lacking spiral arms like our galaxy, this distant galaxy does display a rotating disc and a starry,…

The ExoMars orbiter has detected a green glow emanating from excited oxygen molecules in the dayside atmosphere of Mars. The observations, gathered over a six-month period last year, confirm a four-decades-old prediction and represent the first time…

Highly energetic light emitted by aged stars causes asteroids to keep spinning faster and faster to the point of disintegration, a new study finds. The findings help explain why white dwarf stars—remnants of Sunlike stars—often have metallic…

Using old data from the NASA spacecraft MESSENGER, researchers have demonstrated how to measure the average lifetime of a neutron from space. This finding is important because, despite decades of efforts, physicists still cannot definitively say how…

With the launch of the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope in October 2021, astronomers will finally be able to perceive distant galaxies that host quasars—the most luminous objects in the universe. Quasars shine forth with the equivalent…

In a surprising find, researchers have detected phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of Venus. This poisonous, colorless, flammable gas is nonetheless considered a strong sign of life, or "biosignature." Biosignatures are gases or combinations of gases…

In December 2019, a new solar cycle started. Solar cycles are the roughly 11-year periods—documented going back nearly 270 years—over which the Sun’s magnetic activity peaks and troughs. This activity is marked by the formation of sunspots on the…

The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way serves as a unique laboratory for testing predictions of general relativity. In a new study, researchers report that a long-studied star—called S2 or sometimes S-02—moves in a rosette-shaped…

After a 40-year search, astronomers have identified the first star shown to pulsate on only one side. Many kinds of stars, called variables, undergo natural pulsations, or periodic changes in brightness that are visible across the whole star. The…

Molten iron rains from the evening skies of an exoplanet designated WASP-76b, according to a new study. WASP-76b is a gas giant—a large planet with a vast gaseous envelope, like Jupiter—located about 390 light-years from Earth. Astronomers used an…

Stellar explosions known as supernovae may be behind several anomalous rises in radiocarbon captured in tree rings over the past 40,000 years, according to a recent study that adds mounting evidence to the hypothesis that supernovae can impact…

On July 20, 1969, the bulkily space-suited figure of astronaut Neil Armstrong descended the ladder of Apollo 11’s lunar lander, planted his boot in the Moon's gray dust, and declared: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."…

Researchers recently discovered a black hole with a mass estimated at 3.3 times the mass of the Sun, which is significantly less than the lowest-mass black holes previously detected with approximately 5 times the Sun's mass. The new finding opens…

After a decades-long search, astronomers have detected the signature of a molecule predicted as the first type to have ever formed in the universe. Called helium hydride and symbolized HeH+, this positively charged ion consists of a helium atom that…

Researchers recently announced the discovery of the farthest object ever identified within our solar system. Designated 2018 VG18 and nicknamed Farout, the object is located about 120 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, or 120 times the average…

In a breakthrough for astronomy and physics, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has obtained a direct image of a black hole. The first black hole captured in this manner is a supermassive one at the heart of a nearby galaxy, Messier 87. Further study…

Researchers have reached a key new milestone in the continuing search for worlds like Earth that could support life elsewhere in the universe. For the first time, water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere of an exoplanet that resides within…

Researchers Chi Ma of Caltech and Alan Rubin of the University of California at Los Angeles reported in the journal American Mineralogist (September 2019) the discovery in a meteorite of the first natural occurrence of the iron-carbide mineral…

Researchers have recorded the most massive neutron star on record, weighing as much as 2.17 Suns but packed into a city-sized sphere just 30 kilometers (19 miles) across. This astonishingly dense object is seemingly at the limits of the maximum mass…

New research from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) predicts that the next decade will be a favorable period for human exploration due to lower risks of inclement "space weather"—a term that refers to radiation conditions…

Astronomers have arrived at a new, precise measurement of the mass of the Milky Way. Historical estimates have varied widely, from 500 billion times the mass of the Sun—a quantity known as a solar mass—to as high as three trillion solar masses. The…

Among the most remarkable geophysical features in the solar system are four fissures—nicknamed tiger stripes—that streak across Saturn's moon Enceladus. Liquid water from this moon's interior erupts from these 130-kilometer- (80-mile-) long clefts…

After exploring Mars for almost 15 years, the Opportunity rover has roved its last. In February 2019, NASA announced the end of any further attempts to communicate with the machine, which has been unresponsive since stricken by a planet-wide dust…

New research involving the analysis of spectra obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed that the vast, yellow patches on the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa are made of table salt, NaCl. The results, which overturn a prevailing view of…

A star encircling the supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way Galaxy has offered a new, precise test of general relativity. Put forth by German-born U.S. theoretical physicist Albert Einstein in 1915, the theory of general relativity…

A large sampling of the first galaxies to have formed in the early universe reveals that these vast collections of stars and gas shone brighter than their modern-day counterparts. The discovery provides vital new clues about how the cosmos underwent…

Among the most compelling exoplanets discovered to date is a "super-Earth" around Barnard's star, the closest single star to our solar system. This star, a cool red dwarf significantly smaller than the Sun, is located only six light-years away—just…

Dawn, a pioneering mission to our solar system's asteroid belt, has gone silent. In late October 2018, Dawn ran out of hydrazine, the thruster fuel needed to orient the spacecraft for communication with Earth and the generation of solar power.…

NASA's Curiosity rover has produced new key evidence in determining whether Mars has ever hosted life. While drilling in an ancient lakebed, Curiosity recently discovered organic material more complex and abundant than previously found on the Red…

Astronomers have detected light from the “cosmic dawn,” the primordial epoch when the universe’s first stars began to shine. The long-sought discovery could throw open a window onto a previously inaccessible era, revealing the rise of stars and…

In July 2018, researchers reported the first definitive detection of a radioactive molecule outside of the solar system. The molecule, aluminum monofluoride (AlF), contains the radioactive isotope aluminum-26, forged deep inside a star through…

On February 6, 2018, the Falcon Heavy rocket passed its first launch test, lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a bright pillar of fire. Built by the California-based, private aerospace company SpaceX, the Falcon Heavy is the…

The fate of our Sun, along with 97 percent of the universe’s stars, is to become a white dwarf. These stellar relics are what is left when an aging star sheds most of its mass, ending up as a dense, shrunken, Earth-size core composed of carbon and…

The ice-covered moon Europa has long intrigued researchers as a potential abode for extraterrestrial life. Although its orbit around Jupiter is frigidly far from the Sun, Europa harbors an internal ocean. Furthermore, this inner liquid reservoir…

Mars, also known as the Red Planet, will soon welcome another robotic visitor sent from our Blue Planet. On May 5, 2018, NASA launched the InSight mission, an elaborate acronym for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat…

The third mission ever to visit the solar system's innermost planet, Mercury, began on October 20, 2018, with the launch of BepiColombo. The mission will attempt to answer longstanding mysteries about Mercury, including its internal structure and…

The Kepler space telescope—the most prolific discoverer of exoplanets, or worlds outside our solar system, to date—has run out of fuel and ceased science operations, NASA announced on October 30, 2018. Kepler leaves a legacy for first revealing that…

The science of exoplanets—worlds beyond our solar system—has thus far focused more on quantity than quality. The considerable distances to most of the several thousand exoplanets catalogued to date, coupled with the limitations of current telescope…

Observing a neutron star in infrared light—a low-energy form of radiation seldom used for studying these cosmic objects—has revealed features that seem to have eluded astronomers' notice going back decades. The features could be a dusty disk…

On August 12, 2018, NASA's first mission to "touch" the Sun got underway with the launch of the Parker Solar Probe from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Over a seven-year period, the Parker Solar Probe will complete 24 orbits of the Sun.…

In an astrophysics breakthrough, researchers have captured a blazar—a kind of galaxy—in the act of slinging out high-energy neutrinos. The discovery serves as the first-ever confirmation of a natural "particle accelerator" generating the energetic…

Mathematics is often referred to as the language of nature. A new study further makes this case by demonstrating that the distribution of prime numbers bears a striking similarity to the positions of atoms in materials known as quasicrystals. The…

In early 2018, NASA announced that it had demonstrated a new type of celestial navigation for the first time. Called XNAV, for x-ray pulsar-based navigation, it relies on beams of radiation from pulsars—the cinders of exploded, massive stars. As…

The newest planet-hunting space telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), launched on April 18, 2018 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. TESS will now begin a two-year observing campaign of the entire sky. The…

Ordinary matter—the kind composing stars, planets, and people—accounts for merely five percent of the universe, dwarfed by dark matter’s and dark energy's portions at 25 and 70 percent, respectively. Yet until recently, around 40 percent of that…

After a decades-long search, the first evidence for a vast population of black holes inhabiting the core regions of the Milky Way Galaxy has emerged. Astronomers had theorized that in addition to a single supermassive black hole, the Galactic center…

Since its landing in 2012, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been analyzing Martian soils and rocks for evidence that the Red Planet could have supported life in its past. So far, Curiosity has found carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, methane,…

After 13 years studying Saturn and its moons, the Cassini spacecraft’s mission ended on September 15, 2017. Operators at NASA intentionally directed Cassini to plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere, destroying the spacecraft before its fuel supply ran out…

On October 19, 2017, astronomers discovered the first interstellar object ever known to have visited our solar system. An asteroid bestowed with the Hawaiian name ‘Oumuamua, meaning “scout,” it was initially detected as a fast-moving point of light…

On October 16, 2017, researchers announced for the first time the detection of gravitational waves and light coming from the same cosmic event. That event was the merging of two neutron stars, located about 130 million light-years from Earth. The…

Over the six decades since humans first began lobbing objects into space, the celestial environment around our planet has become increasingly crowded with “space junk.” This orbital debris ranges in size, from spent rockets and derelict satellites…

A total solar eclipse, although not exactly rare on a global scale, is one of the most dramatic natural events that one can witness on Earth. Being a syzygy of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, over the course of about one hour, the Moon covers more and…

A transit of the planet Mercury across the face of the Sun occurs on May 9, 2016, beginning at 11:12 GMT and ending at 18:42 GMT. It will be visible to anyone in a region of the Earth where the Sun is above the horizon during this interval.…

The New Horizons space probe, launched on January 19, 2006, was designed to fly by Pluto and to study that body and its satellites. On July 14, 2015, after a 9½-year journey, New Horizons reached the vicinity of Pluto, flying only 12,500 km (7800…

In the summer of 2014, a search conducted with the Hubble Space Telescope identified 5 small Kuiper Belt objects as potential second destinations for the New Horizons spacecraft after its flyby of Pluto, which would take place on July 14, 2015.…

One of the most remarkable features of the sea (marine) turtles that inhabit the tropical and subtropical waters of the world is their homing ability. Throughout the year, sea turtles swim huge distances, often more than 1600 kilometers (1000…

Europa, one of the four largest natural satellites, or moons, orbiting the planet Jupiter, may be the first planetary body in the solar system other than Earth to show evidence of plate tectonics, a research team from the University of Idaho and…

The U.S. Geological Survey published a new and extraordinarily detailed global geologic map of Mars on July 14, 2104, based on remotely sensed image and topographic data gathered over 16 years by four orbiting spacecraft: Mars Global Surveyor…

The next important era in the exploration of the Red Planet began in August 2012 with the successful landing of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and its robot rover Curiosity. The Mars Science Laboratory mission is a technological trailblazer in…

After 35 years of flight through space, the Voyage 1 probe finally entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). On that date, at a distance of approximately 12 billion miles…

The two Voyager space probes launched by NASA in 1977 completed their inspections of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune back during the 1980s, yet they have continued to contribute to science since then with their ongoing measurements…