Earth's Place in the Universe
- Space
Cosmic filaments may have the biggest spin in outer space
These rotating threads of dark matter and galaxies stretch millions of light-years. Scientists want to know how their spin begins.
- Space
Moon-sized white dwarf is the smallest ever found
This dead star is also spinning very fast and has an amazingly powerful magnetic field.
- Physics
Spin in this Milky Way bar may show cosmic dark matter does exist
A method akin to studying a tree’s rings reveals the timeline of a slowdown in those stars at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy.
- Space
Huge arc of galaxies is surprising and puzzling cosmologists
The arc appears to violate a cosmic rule that on such large scales, matter will be evenly distributed.
- Space
The Milky Way’s ‘yellowballs’ are clusters of baby stars
The mysterious cosmic objects — first spotted by citizen scientists — turn out to be infant stars of various masses.
- Climate
Climate may have sent drift of the North Pole toward Greenland
This mid-1990s shift in the pole’s movement was driven by glacial melt. And that was triggered in part by climate change, a new study reports.
- Physics
Stars made of antimatter could lurk in our galaxy
Fourteen sources of gamma rays in our galaxy look like they could be antistars — celestial bodies made of antimatter.
- Physics
The pebbled path to planets
Small pebbles zipping through a sea of gas may give rise to mighty planets.
- Physics
Staying grounded in space requires artificial gravity
On TV, people in space walk around like they’re on Earth. How can science give real astronauts artificial gravity? Spin right round, baby.
- Physics
Scientists discover likely source of the moon’s faint yellow tail
These sodium atoms are part of the debris kicked up from the moon’s surface, mostly by micrometeorites, two new studies conclude.
- Science & Society
Here’s why people picked certain stars as constellations
Patterns of human eye movement help explain why particular sets of stars form iconic shapes, a high school student showed.
- Fossils
Dinosaur-killing asteroid radically changed Earth’s tropical forests
The asteroid collision initially reduced the diversity in what had been sunny tropical rainforests. In time, the forests would become permanently darker.
