New census of sun’s neighbors reveals best potential real estate for life

A new study led by a Georgia State University astronomy graduate student is a major step forward in the search for stars that could host Earth-like planets that may prove to be good havens for life to develop. Sebastián Carrazco-Gaxiola shared the results at the January 2026 meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix, […]

Webb finds early-universe analog’s unexpected talent for making dust

Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted two rare kinds of dust in the dwarf galaxy Sextans A, one of the most chemically primitive galaxies near the Milky Way.

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Webb reveals a sample of galaxies with unusual features, nicknamed ‘Platypus’

After combing through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a small team of astronomers at the University of Missouri says they have identified a sample of galaxies that have a previously unseen combination of features.

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Advanced quantum detectors are reinventing the search for dark matter

When it comes to understanding the universe, what we know is only a sliver of the whole picture.

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First sky map from NASA’s SPHEREx observatory

NASA’s SPHEREx Observatory has mapped the entire sky in 102 infrared colors, as seen here in this image released on Dec. 18, 2025. This image features a selection of colors emitted primarily by stars (blue, green, and white), hot hydrogen gas (blue), and cosmic dust (red).

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Young galaxies grow up fast: Research reveals unexpected chemical maturity

Astronomers have captured the most detailed look yet at faraway galaxies at the peak of their youth, an active time when the adolescent galaxies were fervently producing new stars.

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‘Platypus’ objects in the early universe look like stars but behave like galaxies

Scientists at the University of Missouri have identified a small group of unusual objects in the early universe. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Haojing Yan and his team at Mizzou’s College of Arts and Science spotted these strange objects, which seem like one galactic thing but have the unmistakable fingerprints of something else […]

Webb telescope sheds light on ancient ‘monster stars’ that may reveal the birth of black holes

Using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have revealed the universe’s most mysterious distant objects, known as little red dots, may actually be gigantic, short-lived stars.

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BWC: Man who fired shots at LAPD helicopter taken into custody after SWAT standoff

A K-9 assisted in arresting the suspect, who initially refused to drop his gun until officers fired shots at him

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Texas deputy constable working off-duty security shift ‘executed’ by suspect, chief says

Caldwell County Deputy Constable Aaron Armstrong attempted to arrest a suspect he had escorted out of the club when he was shot; he returned fire before collapsing

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Rare ‘firework morphology’ of supernova remnant Pa 30 may be due to white dwarf wind

In 1181 AD, a bright “guest star” was observed to linger in the sky for around six months. Nearly 850 years later, the likely remnants of this event were rediscovered and tentatively linked to the 1181 supernova and dubbed supernova remnant (SNR) Pa 30. Yet, this supernova remnant was unique in appearance and researchers have […]

Electrons that lag behind nuclei in 2D materials could pave way for novel electronics

One of the great successes of 20th-century physics was the quantum mechanical description of solids. This allowed scientists to understand for the first time how and why certain materials conduct electric current and how these properties could be purposefully modified. For instance, semiconductors such as silicon could be used to produce transistors, which revolutionized electronics […]

Jupiter’s moon Europa lacks the undersea activity needed to support life, study suggests

The giant planet Jupiter has nearly 100 known moons, yet none have captured the interest and imagination of astronomers and space scientists quite like Europa, an ice-shrouded world that is thought to possess a vast ocean of liquid salt water. For decades, scientists have wondered whether that ocean could harbor the right conditions for life, […]

Solving quantum computing’s longstanding ‘no cloning’ problem with an encryption workaround

A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo have made a breakthrough in quantum computing that elegantly bypasses the fundamental “no cloning” problem. The research, “Encrypted Qubits can be Cloned,” appears in Physical Review Letters.

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New report shows a 25% drop in annual LODDs

“Even one officer fatality is too many, and our ultimate goal is to have none. But we’re heartened by any decrease in those numbers,” said Bill Alexander, CEO of the NLEOMF

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