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If alien signals have already reached Earth, why haven’t we seen them?

For decades, scientists have searched the skies for signs of extraterrestrial technology. A study from EPFL asks a sharp question: if alien signals have already reached Earth without us noticing, what should we realistically expect to detect today?

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Long-term radio observations probe a relativistic binary pulsar system

Astronomers have analyzed the data from long-term radio observations of a binary pulsar known as PSR J1906+0746. Results of the new study, published February 5 on the arXiv pre-print server, deliver important information regarding the nature of this system.

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A new concept for catching up with 3I/ATLAS

The arrival of 3I/ATLAS in our solar system spawned multiple proposals for a rendezvous mission to study it up close. As the third interstellar object (ISO) ever detected, the wealth of information direct studies could provide would be groundbreaking in many respects. However, the mission architecture for intercepting an interstellar comet poses numerous significant challenges […]

Southern California sky is lit up by Valentine’s Day SpaceX launch

Southern Californians out on Saturday night for Valentine’s Day took a break from staring longingly into each other’s eyes to gaze at something else: a SpaceX rocket blazing across the early evening Southern California sky.

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NASA to let private company Vast visit space station for private mission in 2027

NASA has let Axiom Space make four visits to the International Space Station and in January 2026 awarded it the right for the fifth visit next year, but on Feb. 12, the agency announced a new company would be allowed a private mission as well.

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The balloon mission raising the bar for exoplanet science

The atmospheres of exoplanets have been a focal point of the field lately, with the James Webb Space Telescope taking a look at as many as it can manage. But time on the world’s most powerful space telescope is valuable, and getting a complete picture of any such atmosphere is difficult without that significant time […]

Study outlines how JWST and Ariel could team up on exoplanet atmospheres

Astronomers want to collect as much data as possible using as many systems as possible. Sometimes that requires coordination between instruments. The teams that run the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the upcoming Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (Ariel) missions will have plenty of opportunity for that once both telescopes are online in the […]

How a certain form of dark matter may lead to the generation of cosmological magnetic fields

Tiny highly uniform magnetic fields are known to pervade the universe, influencing various cosmological processes. To date, however, the physical mechanisms underpinning the generation of these fields remain poorly understood. Recently, researchers at McGill University and ETH Zurich have described a novel mechanism that may lead to the generation of cosmological magnetic fields. This mechanism, […]

The Hubble tension: How magnetic fields could help solve one of the universe’s biggest mysteries

It’s well established that the universe is expanding, but there’s serious disagreement among scientists over how fast it’s happening.

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Four new astronauts arrive at the International Space Station to replace NASA’s evacuated crew

The International Space Station returned to full strength with Saturday’s arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because of health concerns.

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Astronomers trace a star’s three-year infrared glow to black hole birth

In 2014, a NASA telescope observed that the infrared light emitted by a massive star in the Andromeda galaxy gradually grew brighter. The star glowed more intensely with infrared light for around three years before fading dramatically and disappearing, leaving behind a shell of dust. Although a telescope captured the phenomenon at the time, it […]

Living in space can change where your brain sits in your skull: New research

Going to space is harsh on the human body, and as a new study from our research team finds, the brain shifts upward and backward and deforms inside the skull after spaceflight.

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Decoding China’s new space philosophy

A major theme in communist governments is the idea of central planning. Every five years, the central authorities in communist countries lay out their goals for the country over the course of the next five years, which can range from limiting infant mortality to increasing agricultural yield. China, the largest current polity ruled by communists, […]

Sophie Adenot, the second French woman to fly to space

When she was growing up, Sophie Adenot plastered her childhood bedroom with posters of rockets launching from Cape Canaveral.

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NASA moon mission spacesuit nears milestone

The next-generation spacesuit for NASA’s Artemis III mission continues to advance by passing a contractor-led technical review, as the agency prepares to send humans to the moon’s South Pole for the first time. Testing is also underway for the new suits, built by Axiom Space, with NASA astronauts and spacesuit engineers recently simulating surface operations […]