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Science

  • Artist’s impression of a black hole star (not to scale). The cut-out reveals the central black hole with it surrounding accretion disk. What makes this a black hole star is the surrounding envelope of turbulent gas. This configuration can explain what astronomers observe in the object they are calling “The Cliff.”
    MPIA/HdA/T. Müller/A. de Graaff
    Webb telescope photos show mysterious little red dots. Astronomers don’t know what they are
  • Photograph looking out into the Main Ethiopian Rift taken at Boset Volcano in Ethiopia. Photograph: Prof. Thomas Gernon (University of Southampton).
    Courtesy Prof. Thomas Gernon/University of Southampton
    Africa’s great divide: Why the continent’s split is so exciting for science
  • NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen illuminated by lights at Launch Complex 39B, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the coming days, engineers will prepare for the wet dress rehearsal, a two-day test that simulates launch day. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026.
    Keegan Barber/NASA
    Unanimous vote in risk assessment clears way for 4 astronauts to launch on moon mission
  • Monkeyflower
    Seema Sheth
    A wildflower in California reveals a newly documented evolutionary process
  • The identical Van Allen Probes follow similar orbits that take them through both the inner and outer radiation belts. The highly elliptical orbits range from a minimum altitude of approximately 373 miles (600 kilometers) to a maximum altitude of approximately 23,000 miles (37,000 kilometers).
    NASA
    NASA spacecraft makes an uncontrolled plunge back to Earth
  • TOPSHOT - This photo taken on January 14, 2025 shows mosquitoes in the insectary room in the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control in Phnom Penh. Cambodia is stepping up a "last mile" push to wipe out the mosquito-borne disease, focusing on hard-to-reach pockets of population in remote, forested or mountainous areas. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP) / To go with 'CAMBODIA-HEALTH-MALARIA,FOCUS' by Suy SE (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images)
    Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images
    DNA from a tiny but mighty insect could help reveal the timeline for prehistoric humans
  • The first photo of a ghost elephant captured by a motion controlled camera. The eyes glow in this night shot. (Credit: Courtesy of The Wilderness Project Archive)
    The Wilderness Project Archive
    For decades there were rumors of ghost elephants in Angola. This explorer found them
  • Artist's impression of an asteroid. This image is not intended to reflect the characteristics of any specific known asteroid.
    ESA
    Once deemed the riskiest asteroid ever observed, asteroid 2024 YR4’s path is now clearer
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  • 2-dart-pre-impact-1.jpg
    NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
    New observations show the aftermath of a spacecraft intentionally colliding with an asteroid
  • By analyzing microscopic remnants of burnt food left on pots, researchers now think that Stone Age cooks had complex diets, and even recipes.
    Lara González Carretero/University of York et al.
    What was on the menu for Stone Age cooks? The results are surprising

Editor's picks

  • 20251210-jane-austen-mystery-death.jpg
    Photo Illustration by Alberto Mier/CNN/Universal History Archive/Getty Images; Gillian Pullinger/Alamy Stock Photo; Will Dax/Solent News/Shutterstock
    Jane Austen’s cause of death has remained a mystery. But her letters and books offer clues
  • Pilot Amelia Earhart poses for a portrait in and airplane in circa 1936. (Photo courtesty Library of Congress/Getty Images)
    Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
    An object in a satellite image defies explanation. Could it solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries?
  • O’Neill Cylinder interior provides a 20-mile vista. Children born here would think it totally normal to have “upside down” land areas overhead.
    Rick Guidice/NASA
    Two billionaires have very different — and equally wild — visions of a future in space. Is either possible?
  • fig-25.jpg
    Susanne Muth/Dirk Mariaschk/Elis Ruhemann/Pompeii Reset Project/Humboldt University of Berlin
    An ancient stone staircase seemed to lead nowhere. Now it’s revealing the ‘lost Pompeii’
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Space

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  • This image shows the complex distribution of molecular gas in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way. It was obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. This map is as long as three full Moons side-by-side in the sky, and it is in fact the largest ALMA image ever obtained.
 This map is part of ACES — the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey — a project designed to understand how gas condenses into stars in the extreme and chaotic environment at the heart of our galaxy. The survey has charted the distribution of dozens of different molecules, five of which are shown here in different colours: sulphur monoxide (cyan), silicon monoxide (green), isocyanic acid (red), cyanoacetylene (blue), and carbon monosulphide (magenta).
 The stars in the foreground of this image were observed at infrared wavelengths (Y, Z and J filters) with ESO’s VISTA telescope as part of a different project. The actual density of stars in the CMZ is much higher than what is shown here, where we have opted to highlight the details in the molecular cloud. Note that the edges of the ALMA map appear somewhat sharp because the ALMA observations do not cover the entire rectangular area here.
    ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore/D. Minniti et al.
    Astronomers capture the most detailed image yet of our galaxy’s center
  • NASA’s Hubble telescope detects possible ‘dark galaxy’
  • A new problem throws four astronauts’ impending moon journey into uncertainty
  • NASA abruptly changes its roadmap to putting boots back on the moon

Archaeology

Show all

  • The blue-and-white porcelain is intricately decorated.
    Michael Flecker/Science Direct
    14th century shipwreck reveals huge cargo of rare Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain
  • Symbols found carved into 40,000-year-old artifacts may be precursor to writing
  • Ancient bone may be first physical evidence of Hannibal’s ‘war machine’ elephants in Western Europe
  • Scientists find first physical evidence that Romans used human poop as medicine

Life

Show all

  • FKt251103-MissionControl-20251114-Naranjo-09289.jpg
    Monika Naranjo-Shepard/Schmidt Ocean Institute
    Is all complex life on Earth related to a concept from Norse mythology? Kind of
  • World’s largest coral colony discovered off Australian coast by mother-daughter team
  • Ancient bacteria strain discovered in ice cave is resistant to some modern antibiotics
  • New experiments show Earth’s core may hold vast ‘oceans’ of an essential element for life

Paleontology

Show all

  • Artist impression of what Prototaxites would have look like in life
    Matt Humpage
    The largest life-form on land 400 million years ago was one that scientists can’t explain
  • Fossil analysis changes what paleontologists know about how long T. rex took to grow full size
  • Discovery of ancient bee nests in fossils points to a never-before-seen behavior
  • Scientists document over 16,000 footprints in the world’s most extensive dinosaur tracksite
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