In recent years, black holes have morphed from highly theoretical exotic possibilities to well-observed astrophysical objects. The observational evidence has come from sources such as the first observation of ripples in spacetime caused by black hole collisions and the first image of a black hole published in 2019.Black holes are predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which describes the universe on the largest scale. But these objects must also distort spacetime on the tiniest ...read more

Sometimes daydreams turn into reality. As an undergrad, Martin Smith remembers attending a lecture that stuck with him. The talk touched on the difficulty of showing how ancient wormlike creatures evolved into more complex organisms with arms and legs — like insects, spiders, crabs, and centipedes. Demonstrating that had so far proved daunting, since no Cambrian period larval fossil contained the details necessary to make any evolutionary inferences. Smith remembers thinking, "If they ever fin ...read more

Beyond Earth's blue skies stretches a universe full of possibilities, including countless stars with planets that might support life. While Earth is the only known host of life, astronomers have identified several exoplanets that could potentially support it. "An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than our Sun,” explains Michelle Hill, an Earth and planetary science researcher at the University of California, Riverside.One crucial factor in determining a planet's potential for life ...read more

The Hubble telescope, which has served as an incredibly advanced window into the universe for over thirty years, has recently struggled with several less-than-stellar service disruptions.But, NASA officials insist, the telescope’s legacy is far from finished — and it’s projected to remain active well into the next decade.Over the past six months, Hubble has repeatedly experienced technological malfunctions, causing the telescope to enter “safe mode” and temporarily pause viewing as sci ...read more

Dimetrodon was the largest predator of its time, preying on giant amphibians nearly 300 million years ago during the Early Permian period.“They were eating basically whatever they wanted,” says Kirstin Brink, a paleontologist at the University of Manitoba in Canada who studies these creatures.But these ancient sail-finned creatures have often been misunderstood throughout history and were incorrectly classified as dinosaurs for some of the past 150 years. The Dimetrodon were instead more clo ...read more

Quantum computing offers the hope of dramatic increases in computational capabilities. That’s the promise of quantum computers that can handle hundreds of thousands or millions of quantum bits or qubits. But for the moment, the state-of-the-art machines barely manage a few dozen qubits and cannot yet outperform classical computers in any meaningful way. Part of the problem is that quantum algorithms generally require hundreds or thousands of qubits, even for simple problems. So mathematicians ...read more

Europe is in the midst of a heat wave, and while Olympic athletes in Paris for the 2024 Summer Games might be spared the worst of it, the weather will still be hot.As global temperatures have risen, major sporting events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup have had to adapt to high heat and extreme storms to keep athletes and fans safe and allow the games to go on.Olympic organizers have moved events such as marathons to early mornings and even to cooler cities. FIFA, the governing body for wor ...read more

Humanity has long been captivated by the dark side of the moon, known for its mystery and opportunities for discovery. For decades, though, the moon’s darkest and most distant regions were thought to be unreachable. But in August 2023, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which became the first spacecraft to land near the moon’s south pole.Outfitted with groundbreaking temperature detection and chemical analysis technology, Chandrayaan-3 collected ...read more

For many people, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee is the start of a great day. But caffeine can cause headaches and jittersin others. That’s why many people reach for a decaffeinated cup instead.I’m a chemistry professor who has taught lectures on why chemicals dissolve in some liquids but not in others. The processes of decaffeination offer great real-life examples of these chemistry concepts. Even the best decaffeination method, however, does not remove all of the caffeine – about 7 mi ...read more

Nikolai Kardashev, a Russian astrophysicist, was one of the founders of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). In 1964, Kardashev published a paper proposing a way to categorize a planet's energy use, a system that has come to be known as the Kardashev Scale. In 1964, when Kardashev published his paper, SETI was still a very young field. But now, a growing number of researchers are actively looking for technosignatures that indicate intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy.Pinchen ...read more