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Lasers can melt through extraterrestrial ice efficiently

Lasers aren’t just useful for entertaining cats or pointing out features of PowerPoint slides. They can also drill holes on icy extraterrestrial bodies from comets to Mars polar caps—at least, according to a new paper published in Acta Astronautica by researchers at the Technical University of Dresden, who describe a new laser drill for use […]

With Trump eyeing space station demise, NASA pushes for commercial replacements

President Donald Trump and his new interim head of NASA, Sean Duffy, are pushing for a renewed effort to shuffle off the responsibility of running the International Space Station in favor of becoming a customer of a commercial space station provider instead.

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Observations investigate the nature of a newly discovered odd radio circle

Astronomers from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany and elsewhere have conducted radio spectropolarimetric observations of a recently identified odd radio circle designated ORC J0356–4216. Results of the observational campaign, presented Sept. 5 on the arXiv pre-print server, shed more light on the nature of this object.

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Is dark energy evolving? Astrophysicists consider the possibilities

Dark energy—the term used to describe whatever is causing the universe to expand at an increasing rate—is one of the universe’s greatest mysteries. The most widely accepted theory currently suggests that dark energy is constant, and the energy of empty space drives cosmic acceleration.

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Airbus, Leonardo and Thales reported moving towards European space firm

European aerospace firms Airbus, Leonardo and Thales could seal an accord this year to set up a joint satellite enterprise, a senior Airbus official told Corriere della Sera daily in an interview published Sunday.

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Study finds exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e is unlikely to have a Venus- or Mars-like atmosphere

In the search for habitable exoplanets, atmospheric conditions play a key role in determining if a planet can sustain liquid water. Suitable candidates often sit in the “Goldilocks zone,” a distance that is neither too close nor too far from their host star to allow liquid water. With the launch of the James Webb Space […]

Mars Perseverance rover data suggests presence of past microbial life

A new study co-authored by Texas A&M University geologist Dr. Michael Tice has revealed potential chemical signatures of ancient Martian microbial life in rocks examined by NASA’s Perseverance rover.

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The exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e takes its turn in the JWST’s spotlight

When the JWST finally began its long-awaited science operations in July 2022, there was a long list of targets awaiting its attention. Scientists compete for observing time by submitting proposals, and for every nine submitted proposals, only one gets approved. In the most recent Cycle 4 of the telescope’s mission, scientists requested about 78,000 hours […]

Ten years later, LIGO is a black-hole hunting machine

On September 14, 2015, a signal arrived on Earth, carrying information about a pair of remote black holes that had spiraled together and merged. The signal had traveled about 1.3 billion years to reach us at the speed of light—but it was not made of light. It was a different kind of signal: a quivering […]

Planets without plate tectonics and too little carbon dioxide could mean that technological alien life is rare

The closest technological species to us in the Milky Way galaxy could be 33,000 light years away and their civilization would have to be at least 280,000 years, and possibly millions of years, old if they are to exist at the same time that we do, according to new research presented at the EPSC–DPS2025 Joint […]

Where did the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS come from?

Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third ISO ever detected. It was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) station on 1 July 2025. It’s traveling through the inner solar system at about 220,000 km/h and will make its closest approach to the sun in late October.

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Models explain mysterious feature controlling magnetic properties of the sun

In the late 1980s, scientists realized they could understand the interior properties of the sun by observing the sound waves that resonate inside it. This technique, called helioseismology, revealed a mysteriously thin dynamical layer in the interior of the sun that became known as the tachocline.

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Mysterious ‘red dots’ in early universe may be ‘black hole star’ atmospheres

Tiny red objects spotted by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are offering scientists new insights into the origins of galaxies in the universe—and may represent an entirely new class of celestial object: a black hole swallowing massive amounts of matter and spitting out light.

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For too long, colonial language has dominated space exploration: Is there a better way?

At an internal staff briefing last week, acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy declared the United States has a “manifest destiny to the stars,” linking this to the need to win the “space race.”

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This star is consuming its companion and could explode brilliantly

Binary star systems are not rare. Neither are systems where one star is a remnant like a white dwarf or neutron star, and its companion is on the main sequence. In those systems, the dense remnant can draw material away from the main sequence star. This can create violent Type 1a supernovae in the case […]