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NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has just completed its 23rd close approach to the Sun, once again flying through the solar corona at a blistering 430,000 miles per hour. Credit: Johns Hopkins University/APL/Steve Gribben ================================================================================== NASA’s Parker Solar Probe once again dived deep into the Sun’s atmosphere, matching its own record for speed and proximity. Racing at 430,000 mph and skimming just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface, the probe gathered rare data from within the Sun’s corona. On March 22, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 23rd close encounter with the Sun, reaching a distance of just 3.8 million...

Dark energy, a mysterious force that scientists believe is behind the accelerated expansion of the universe, is weakening — which could result in the universe over the course of billions of years collapsing on itself, according to new research. An international group of more than 900 researchers studying the expansion of the universe presented their findings on Wednesday during the American Physical Society's Global Physics Summit in Anaheim, Calif. The scientists, who are collaborating on something called the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) are studying the history of the universe's expansion out to 11 billion years in the past. They...

The long-awaited Blaze Star could erupt as a visible nova on March 27, 2025, lighting up the night sky in a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic show. ============================================================================== For the first time in nearly a century, Earth’s night sky may soon be lit up by one of nature’s rarest celestial events: a nova visible to the unaided eye. At the heart of this cosmic countdown is the Blaze Star, or T Coronae Borealis—a binary star system nestled within the elegant arc of the Northern Crown. After decades of quiet buildup, astronomers believe it could erupt any night now. If it does, stargazers around...

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered an object they've dubbed 'Big Wheel,' a gargantuan galaxy spinning through the early universe and growing larger by the second. The Big Wheel alongside some of its neighbors. (Image credit: Weichen Wang et al. (2025), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Deep observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an exceptionally large galaxy in the early universe. It's a cosmic giant whose light has travelled over 12 billion years to reach us. We've dubbed it the Big Wheel, with our findings published March 17 in Nature Astronomy. This giant disk galaxy...

Breakthrough research has shown that twisting light into spiral patterns like those found in nature dramatically improved the efficiency of OLED screens. The researchers behind the novel approach believe their method for twisting light could revolutionize the efficiency of electronics, including display technologies like OLEDs and night vision. In the nearly 150 years since the invention of the light bulb, the science of light has continued to advance. As the use of electronic devices involving display technologies has rapidly spread in recent decades, scientists have been searching for new and innovative ways to control the chaotic behavior of light or...

A novel discovery has introduced “time crystals” and “time quasicrystals,” which operate on perpetual motion and could potentially transform quantum computing and precision measurements. Credit: SciTechDaily.com Physicists at Washington University have forged ahead in the field of quantum mechanics by creating a new phase of matter known as “time crystals” and the even more advanced “time quasicrystals.” These groundbreaking materials defy traditional physics by maintaining perpetual motion and could revolutionize quantum computing and precision timekeeping by providing a stable, energy-conserving method of measuring time and storing quantum information. Time Crystals Physicists at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) have created...

New James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) images show the first carbon dioxide-containing planet discovered outside of Earth’s solar system, displaying the telescope’s ground breaking research capabilities. One hundred thirty thousand lightyears from Earth, the multiplanet system HR 8799 has been a primary target for astronomers studying planet formation. The new research confirms JWST’s ability to measure an exoplanet’s atmospheric chemistry and suggests the four planets formed similarly to Jupiter and Saturn, coalescing around a solid core. Viewing a Young Solar System At only 30 million years old, HR 8799 is relatively young compared to Earth’s 4.6 billion-year-old solar system. Due...

"I think that the simplest explanation of the rotating universe is the universe was born in a rotating black hole." ...Black hole cosmology, also known as "Schwarzschild cosmology," suggests that our observable universe might be the interior of a black hole itself within a larger parent universe. The idea was first introduced by theoretical physicist Raj Kumar Pathria and by mathematician I. J. Good. It presents the idea that the "Schwarzchild radius," better known as the "event horizon," (the boundary from within which nothing can escape a black hole, not even light) is also the horizon of the visible universe.

Galaxies observed by the JWST with those rotating one way circled in red, those rotating the other wat circled in blue (Image credit: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2025)) ==================================================================================== Without a doubt, since its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionized our view of the early universe, but its new findings could put astronomers in a spin. In fact, it could tell us something profound about the birth of the universe by possibly hinting that everything we see around us is sealed within a black hole. The $10 billion telescope, which began observing the cosmos...

A radical new theory suggests that black holes could transition into white holes, creating a location in space where time begins by ejecting material back into the cosmos. The theory also suggests a quantum mechanics link between black and white holes, including an aspect of enigmatic dark matter. The research team behind the new theory believes their work could represent a critical step toward reconciling quantum mechanics and gravity, potentially leading to new theories about the universe’s very nature. Black Holes (and White Holes) Have Long Fascinated Scientists First proposed by Albert Einstein, black holes have long fascinated scientists. Still,...

Astronomers have revealed new evidence that there are not just one but four tiny planets circling around Barnard's Star, the second-nearest star system to Earth. The four planets, each only about 20 to 30% the mass of Earth, are so close to their home star that they zip around the entire star in a matter of days. That probably means they are too hot to be habitable, but the find is a new benchmark for discovering smaller planets around nearby stars. "It's a really exciting find -- Barnard's Star is our cosmic neighbor, and yet we know so little about...

"We thought they were basically all going to be fried because the entire universe turned into a vat of boiling oil." ====================================================================== The newfound galaxy, Andromeda XXXV, is seen within the white ellipse. (Image credit: CFHT/MegaCam/PAndAS (Principal investigator: Alan McConnachie; Image processing: Marcos Arias)) Astronomers have discovered a collection of tiny galaxies located roughly 3 million light-years away that includes the smallest and faintest galaxy ever seen. This galaxy, designated Andromeda XXXV, and its compatriots orbiting our neighbor galaxy, Andromeda, could change how we think about cosmic evolution. That's because dwarf galaxies this small should have been destroyed in the...

The race between Jupiter and Saturn for the most moons in the Solar System may have just finally come screeching to a halt. A team of scientists has found a whopping 128 previously unknown moons hanging around Saturn, in a discovery officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union. This brings the planet's total number of known moons to 274, leaving Jupiter, with its mere 95 moons, in the dust. The first hint that there were more moons awaiting discovery came between 2019 and 2021, when 62 such objects were identified. Other small objects were also spotted at the time that...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites, launches from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. SPHEREx will use its telescope to provide an all-sky spectral survey, creating a 3D map of the entire sky to help scientists investigate the origins of our universe. PUNCH will study origins of the Sun’s outflow of material, or the solar wind, capturing continuous 3D images of the Sun’s...

A total lunar eclipse will be seen across North America on the night of March 13-14, 2025, while parts of Europe will get a brief view. On the night of March 13-14, 2025, a total lunar eclipse will be visible from Earth, and North America will be in the prime position for the spectacular event, which will also feature a "Blood Moon." Lunar eclipses happen when Earth is between the sun and a full moon. During the event, the moon moves through Earth's umbra, the dark center of its shadow. Catch up with the latest lunar eclipse news and events...

A new record for maintaining plasma burning inside a fusion reactor has been set in France, beating China's previous benchmark by 25%.France's WEST fusion reactor has shattered a nuclear fusion record set by China just a few weeks ago, marking yet another small but significant step on the road toward near-limitless clean energy.The CEA's (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) WEST tokamak nuclear fusion reactor maintained a steady loop of burning plasma for a record 1,337 seconds, according to a Feb. 18 announcement -- beating China's previous 1,066-second benchmark, set on Jan. 20, by 25%...Scientists have been trying...

In a remarkable development, researchers have successfully turned light into a supersolid for the first time, paving the way for new insights into the unusual quantum states of matter. This achievement marks a significant milestone in the field of condensed matter physics. Dimitrios Trypogeorgos from Italy’s National Research Council (CNR) reportedly said, “We actually made light into a solid. That’s pretty awesome.” This feat builds on earlier work by fellow CNR scientist Danielle Sanvitto, who demonstrated over a decade ago that light could behave like a fluid. However, Trypogeorgos, Sanvitto, and their team have taken it further by creating what...

A supersolid is a paradox of physics — a material that is both solid and liquid at the same time. This contradictory form of matter was first proposed more than 60 years ago, and, for a long time, people thought it was too nuts to actually exist. But we’re talking about the realm of quantum mechanics, and normal expectations should be thrown out the window. In 2007, researchers at ETH Zurich and MIT unveiled the world’s first supersolids, starting with superflooding sodium and rubidium, respectively. Now, an international team of researchers has unveiled an entirely new route to supersolidity, harnessing...

The second lunar lander made by Intuitive Machines has touched down on the Moon, but like the private aerospace company’s first spacecraft, it may not be upright. The Athena vehicle for Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission landed yesterday just 100 miles from the lunar south pole, but there’s uncertainty around its orientation which may impact the mission’s duration. “We don’t believe we’re in the correct attitude on the surface of the Moon yet again,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said during the post-landing news conference.“We’re going to get a picture from the lunar reconnaissance orbital camera from above and we’ll confirm...

Elements heavier than iron are thought to be born in some of the most violent explosions in the cosmos, like the cataclysmic mergers of neutron stars. The coalescence of these ultradense remnants -- which are forged when once-massive stars collapse -- creates superheavy atomic nuclei packed with neutrons in less than a second. In a flash, the jam-packed nucleus seems to go through internal changes and forms elements such as silver and gold.Now, an analysis of the chemical makeup of 42 very old stars scattered in the halo of the Milky Way reveals for the first time that nuclear fission...