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Space

Are there different types of black holes? New method puts Einstein to the test

Frankfurt. Black holes are considered cosmic gluttons, from which not even light can escape. That is also why the images of black holes at the center of the galaxy M87 and our Milky Way, published a few years ago by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, broke new ground. “What you see on these images is not the black hole itself, but rather the hot matter in its immediate vicinity,” explains Prof. Luciano Rezzolla, who, along with his team at Goethe University Frankfurt, played a key role in the findings. “As long as the matter is still rotating outside the event horizon – before being inevitably pulled in – it can emit final signals of light that we ...

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Space

Taft Armandroff and Brian Schmidt elected to lead Giant Magellan Telescope Board of Directors

PASADENA, CA — November 4, 2025 — The GMTO Corporation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit and international consortium building the Giant Magellan Telescope, today announced a leadership transition on its Board of Directors. After nearly a decade of leadership as chair, Dr. Walter Massey is retiring. The board has elected Dr. Taft Armandroff as its new chair and Nobel Laureate Dr. Brian Schmidt as vice chair. Dr. Massey’s tenure guided the Giant Magellan Telescope through key design and construction milestones, helped secure nearly $500 million in private and ...

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Space

Scientists recreate cosmic “fireballs” to probe mystery of missing gamma rays

An international team of scientists, led by the University of Oxford, has achieved a world-first by creating plasma "fireballs" using the Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator at CERN, Geneva, to study the stability of plasma jets emanating from blazars. The results, published today (3 November) in PNAS, could shed new light on a long-standing mystery about the Universe’s hidden magnetic fields and missing gamma rays. Blazars are active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes that launch narrow, near-light-speed ...

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Space

Expansion microscopy helps chart the planktonic universe

Plankton are the invisible engines of life on Earth, producing much of the planet’s oxygen and forming the foundation of the oceanic food chain. They are also incredibly diverse, with tens of thousands of species described so far, and many more waiting to be discovered. Among them, protists, tiny, single-celled organisms, stand out for their extraordinary diversity and evolutionary significance, yet for decades, scientists could study them only through genomic data, as reliable imaging methods were lacking. During the COVID-19 pandemic, EMBL Group Leader Gautam Dey received a Zoom call from his ...

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Space

World-first study shows Australian marsupials contaminated with harmful ‘forever chemicals’

New research has shown for the first time that Australian marsupials are contaminated with synthetic ‘forever chemicals’, which are linked to significant health impacts in other animals and humans. University of Melbourne researchers in the Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants (ALEC) and the Melbourne Veterinary School measured the concentrations of human-made per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in possums from the greater Melbourne region, with findings published today in ...

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Space

How do planets get wet? Experiments show water creation during planet formation process

Washington, DC—Our galaxy’s most abundant type of planet could be rich in liquid water due to formative interactions between magma oceans and primitive atmospheres during their early years, according to new research published in Nature by Carnegie’s Francesca Miozzi and Anat Shahar. Of the more than 6,000 known exoplanets in the Milky Way, so-called Sub-Neptunes are the most common. They are smaller than Neptune and more massive than Earth and believed to have rocky interiors with thick hydrogen-dominated ...

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Space

‘Broken’ genes a common factor in marsupial fur colour

The distinctive coloured fur of two of Australia's rarest marsupials could be caused by 'broken' pigment genes, new research from La Trobe University has found. The elusive desert-dwelling marsupial mole and the black-coated morph of the endangered eastern quoll are two of a growing number of marsupials showing common colour oddities. In many species, colour oddities like melanism and xanthism are considered chromatic disorders and are detrimental to an animal’s survival. But in research published ...

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Space

LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA observed “second generation” black holes

In a new paper published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the international LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration reports on the detection of two gravitational wave events in October and November of last year with unusual black hole spins. An observation that adds an important new piece to our understanding of the most elusive phenomena in the universe. Gravitational waves are “ripples” in space-time that result from cataclysmic events in deep space, with the strongest waves produced by the collision of black holes. Using sophisticated algorithmic techniques and mathematical models, researchers are able to reconstruct ...

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Space

Game-changing heat shield to revolutionize aerospace manufacturing with long-life engines

Aerospace industry has undergone tremendous developments over the last century, with materials science engineers playing a significant role in this transformation. It is well known that as the operating temperature of metallic materials increases, the speed of aircraft can be enhanced and fuel consumption can be reduced. Therefore, research on high-temperature materials has been directly linked to the improvement of aircraft performance and has been actively conducted worldwide since the 1940s. For more than 80 years, Ni-based alloys have been the primary materials used for high-temperature applications. To enable their use at even higher temperatures, ...

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Space

Now in 3D, maps begin to bring exoplanets into focus

ITHACA, N.Y. – Astronomers have generated the first three-dimensional map of a planet orbiting another star, revealing an atmosphere with distinct temperature zones – one so scorching that it breaks down water vapor, a team co-led by a Cornell expert reports in new research. The temperature map of WASP-18b – a gas giant known as an “ultra-hot Jupiter,” located 400 light years from Earth – is the first applying a technique called 3D eclipse mapping, or spectroscopic eclipse mapping. The effort builds on a 2D model that members of the same team published in 2023, which demonstrated eclipse mapping’s potential ...

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Space

In global collaboration, IU scientists unlock secrets to the building blocks of the universe

Scientists at Indiana University have achieved a breakthrough in understanding the universe thanks to a collaboration between two major international experiments studying neutrinos, which are ubiquitous, tiny particles that stream through everything in space but barely interact with anything around them. The results, published in the journal Nature, bring researchers closer to answering one of the biggest questions in science: why is the universe filled with matter, such as stars, planets, and life, instead of nothing? The discovery stems from a first-of-its-kind joint analysis between the NOvA experiment in the United ...

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Space

UC Irvine astronomers discover nearby exoplanet in habitable zone

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 23, 2025 — University of California, Irvine astronomers have identified an exoplanet located in a star’s habitable zone, where surface conditions might exist that can support the presence of liquid water – an essential ingredient for all known life. The exoplanet, which exists in a region of the Milky Way Galaxy that is relatively close to our solar system, may have a rocky composition like Earth and is several times more massive, making it a “super-Earth.” The UC Irvine researchers and colleagues discuss their characterization of the exoplanet in a paper published today in The Astronomical Journal. "We have found so many exoplanets at ...

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Space

Planetary scientists link Jupiter’s birth to Earth’s formation zone

New research from Rice University suggests that the giant planet Jupiter reshaped the early solar system in dramatic ways, carving out rings and gaps that ultimately explain one of the longest-standing puzzles in planetary science: why many primitive meteorites formed millions of years after the first solid bodies. The study, which combined hydrodynamic models of Jupiter’s growth with simulations of dust evolution and planet formation, was recently published in Science Advances. Through state-of-the-art computer simulations, planetary scientists André Izidoro and Baibhav Srivastava found that Jupiter’s rapid ...

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Space

A ‘dead’ 1800s idea rises again... with clues to the mystery of the universe’s missing antimatter

In 1867, Lord Kelvin imagined atoms as knots in the aether. The idea was soon disproven. Atoms turned out to be something else entirely. But his discarded vision may yet hold the key to why the universe exists. Now, for the first time, Japanese physicists have shown that knots can arise in a realistic particle physics framework, one that also tackles deep puzzles such as neutrino masses, dark matter, and the strong CP problem. Their findings, in Physical Review Letters, suggest these “cosmic knots” could have formed and briefly dominated in the turbulent newborn ...

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Space

Telescope hack opens a sharper view into the universe

A novel imaging technique used for the first time on a ground-based telescope has helped a UCLA-led team of astronomers to achieve the sharpest-ever measurement of a star’s surrounding disk, revealing previously unseen structure. The breakthrough opens a new way for astronomers to study fine details of a wide variety of astronomical objects and opens the door to new discoveries about the universe. The ability to view fine details of astronomical objects depends on the size of the telescope. As a telescope’s ...

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Space

Successful ground-to-satellite laser communications applying next-generation error correction codes, mitigating atmospheric turbulence

Abstract The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki Ph.D.) and the Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech, President: OBATA Makoto), collaborated with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), have achieved the world’s first successful demonstration of next-generation error correction codes, mitigating the impact of atmospheric turbulence on ground-to-satellite laser communications. Atmospheric turbulence in ground-to-satellite laser links is known to cause fading, resulting in burst data errors. Error correction codes are one of the key technologies to mitigate such effects. In this experiment, ...

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Space

‘Messy’ galaxies in the early universe struggled to settle

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have captured the most detailed look yet at how galaxies formed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang – and found they were far more chaotic and messy than those we see today. The team, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, analysed more than 250 young galaxies that existed when the universe was between 800 million and 1.5 billion years old. By studying the movement of gas within these galaxies, the researchers ...

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Space

Discovery of a brown dwarf orbiting a red dwarf through the synergy of ground- and space-based observatories

M dwarfs, or red dwarfs, are the most common type of star in our galaxy, accounting for more than half of all stars in the Milky Way. These small, cool stars are key targets for understanding the processes of stellar and planetary formation and evolution. However, because M dwarfs are intrinsically faint, detailed observations have historically been limited, and early surveys suggested that more than 70% of them were single stars. Recent advances in observational techniques, however, have revealed that this picture was incomplete: the frequency of low-mass ...

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Space

Planet formation depends on when it happens: UNLV model shows why

A new study led by UNLV scientists sheds light on how planets, including Earth, formed in our galaxy – and why the life and death of nearby stars are an important piece of the puzzle. In a paper published Sept. 23 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers at UNLV in collaboration with scientists from the Open University of Israel for the first time modeled details about how the timing of planet formation in the history of the galaxy affects planetary composition and density. “Materials ...

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Space

A hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy of space immunology

With the advent of commercial spaceflight, an increasing number of people may be heading into space in the coming years. Some will even get a chance to fly to the Moon or live on Mars. One of the major health risks associated with spaceflight involves the immune system, which normally fights off viruses and cancer. It’s already established that spaceflight weakens immunity; current and past astronauts report clinical issues such as respiratory illnesses and skin rashes. These issues may become even more serious on longer-terms ...

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Space

Mysterious glow in Milky Way could be evidence of dark matter

Johns Hopkins researchers may have identified what could be a compelling clue in the ongoing hunt to prove the existence of dark matter. A mysterious diffuse glow of gamma rays near the center of the Milky Way has stumped researchers for decades, as they’ve tried to discern whether the light comes from colliding particles of dark matter or quickly spinning neutron stars. It turns out that both theories are equally likely, according to new research published today in the journal Physical ...

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Space

Unexpected discovery on Saturn's moon challenges our view on chemistry before life emerged

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the US space agency NASA have made an unexpected discovery that challenges one of the basic rules of chemistry and provides new knowledge about Saturn’s enigmatic moon Titan. In its extremely cold environment, normally incompatible substances can still be mixed. This discovery broadens our understanding of chemistry before the emergence of life. Scientists have long been interested in Saturn’s largest, orange-coloured moon as its evolution can teach us more about our own planet and the earliest chemical steps ...

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Space

Astronomers detect radio signals from a black hole tearing apart a star – outside a galactic center

New study reveals, for the first time, a tidal disruption event (TDE), where a black hole tears apart a star, occurring outside the center of a galaxy that produced exceptionally strong and rapidly evolving radio signals. This rare discovery shows that supermassive black holes can exist and remain active far from galactic cores, challenging current understanding of where such black holes reside and how they behave. The event’s delayed and powerful radio outbursts also suggest previously unknown ...

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Space

Can we hear gravitational-wave "beats" in the rhythm of pulsars?

Pulsars suggest that ultra–low-frequency gravitational waves are rippling through the cosmos. The signal seen by international pulsar timing array collaborations in 2023 could come from a stochastic gravitational-wave background—the sum of many distant sources—or from a single nearby binary of supermassive black holes. To tell these apart, Hideki Asada, theoretical physicist and Professor at Hirosaki University, and Shun Yamamoto, researcher at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, propose a method that exploits beat phenomena between gravitational waves at nearly the same frequency, searching for ...

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Space

Key ExoMars Rover part ships from Aberystwyth

The search for life on Mars takes a leap forward today, as a key instrument for a major space mission begins its journey from Aberystwyth University to Italy for testing. The infrared spectrometer, named Enfys, will be a part of the suite of remote sensing instruments onboard the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover. The Rosalind Franklin Rover is part of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars programme and Europe’s first Mars rover. Designed to be operated remotely across the planet’s rugged terrain, it will drill up to two metres beneath ...

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