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Illustration shows how the mass of a large star warps the flat geometry of spacetime, illustrated as a contoured space.

Physical World

A quantum origin for spacetime

Physicists find hints that entanglement explains Einstein’s equations for gravity

Physical World

Fast facts about the Milky Way | Things to Know

VIDEO: Our galaxy may seem humble, but here are a few things to know about what makes it an exceptional place

Conceptual illustration of a red planet with its golden star blazing out light from the left. Other small, pale stars twinkle in the background.

Physical World

The search for exoplanets

PODCAST: Not that long ago, scientists found evidence that our Sun wasn’t unique — other stars have their own orbiting bodies. It was a discovery centuries in the making. What does this mean for Earth today and our place in the universe? (Season 2/Episode 2)

Image shows a view of the sun and its corona. Half of the image is taken in UV light. The right half of the image shows the sun in visible light during an eclipse, when its corona can be easily seen.

Physical World

Hotter than the sun: The mysterious solar corona

Several new missions aim squarely at a long-standing astronomical conundrum, with the promise of improving space-weather predictions

Photo taken during Apollo 11 moon landing. On the 50th anniversary, scientists consider what we’ve learned from the moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts. What the rocks tell us about the early solar system is still being discovered.

Physical World

How the moon landings changed our view of the solar system

Lunar samples hinted at a barrage of debris pummelling planets billions of years ago. Fifty years after Apollo 11, that story is still unfolding.

Short animated clip shows dynamic streaks of red and orange circling a dark center.

Physical World

What the image of the Milky Way’s black hole really shows

The massive object at the galaxy’s center is invisible. But this year’s picture of the swirling plasma around its edges will help to reveal more about the galaxy’s history and evolution.

Thousands of bright galaxies are visible in the darkness of space in a processed image originally captured using a near-infrared camera focused on the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723.

Physical World

Can cosmology untangle the universe’s most elusive mysteries?

From the Big Bang to dark energy, knowledge of the cosmos has sped up in the past century — but big questions linger

Artist’s conception of the spacecraft flying above a boulder-rich mountain on the asteroid Bennu.

Physical World

Seeking surprises in comets and asteroids

Exploring small bodies in the solar system provides clues to origins

Spectrogram shows a subtle, curved signal discernible from background noise.

Physical World

Physicists probe validity of Einstein’s gravity on cosmic scales

New tests could verify general theory of relativity, or find flaws

Physical World

How gas fuels galaxies

VIDEO: Scientists track gas through time and space to better understand how conglomerations of stars are born and die

Artist’s illustration of black hole in the center of a galaxy studded with star groups.

Physical World

Unbound and out: Boosted by black holes, stars speed off, leaving clues behind

Space oddities may help reveal dark matter and other secrets in the Milky Way. Astronomer Warren Brown explains.

Image combines views from ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, revealing the supernova remnant in both visible wavelengths and the far-infrared.

Physical World

Space is the place for impossible molecules

Compounds with noble gases don’t form naturally on Earth. But in the interstellar medium, they are helping scientists probe the history of the universe.

Composite mage shows a solar filament that ribbons from a glowing red sun with areas of yellow eruptions against a black sky.

Physical World

Are we ready? Understanding just how big solar flares can get

Recasting the iconic Carrington Event as just one of many superstorms in Earth’s past, scientists reveal the potential for even more massive, and potentially destructive, eruptions from the sun

Photograph of two brown mice. One is a lot more bulky than the other.

Living World

Rodents in space: Keeping bone and muscle strong on the ISS

Researchers helped mice stay mighty with an experiment to counter the effects of microgravity. The gene treatment might also enhance muscle and bone health on Earth — and in humans.

Photograph at night, with mountainous terrain and desert floor. In the sky one can see thousands of stars and the disk of the Milky Way galaxy.

Physical World

A galactic archaeologist digs into the Milky Way’s history

Astrophysicists now have the data and models to uncover subtle imprints from our galaxy’s past

A cross section slice of a fragment of blue crystal edged in translucent gray.

Physical World

Keeping time with zircons

Crystals of the mineral zircon are rugged enough to survive the most violent geologic events. Impurities within them provide a time capsule of planetary history.

Image shows the dark maria of the near side of the Moon alongside the lighter colored far side.

Physical World

Moon rocks reveal hidden lunar history

As NASA astronauts aim for landings in 2027, geologists find surprises in recently retrieved samples from the far side

Artist’s rendering of a cold eyeball planet features a glowing orange “pupil” where the sun hits the planet, surrounded by dark blue ocean and then an icy white edge that recedes into darkness.

Physical World

Beyond the twilight zone

Tidally locked worlds are places of extremes. On one side it’s an endless day, the other a perpetual night. Yet scientists speculate that some may harbor conditions that could support life.

An artist’s conception of a primitive, supermassive black hole surrounded by a star-filled early galaxy.

Physical World

Primordial black holes could explain dark matter, galaxy growth and more

A half-century-old, still-disputed idea about dense cosmic objects from the dawn of time could solve longstanding mysteries about the universe

Animation shows a close-up of the moving robotic arm of the OSAM-1 spacecraft.

Technology

Orbiting robots could help fix and fuel satellites in space

Machines that grip, grapple and maneuver will soon have their go at maintaining the fleet of small spacecraft that encircle Earth

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Story Behind a Picture

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