Space & Physics
Search for Alien Life Ignites Battle over Giant Telescope
Private funding for the Arecibo Observatory—the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world—may be a poison pill
Cosmology704 articles archived since 1845
Space & Physics
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Nets Historic Cash Infusion
With a $100-million donation, billionaire Yuri Milner plans to revolutionize the astronomical quest to find alien life
Space & Physics
Alien Intelligence Search Gets Major New Push
Entrepreneur and former physicist Yuri Milner talks about the just-announced $100-million Breakthrough Listen Project to search for extraterrestrial technological civilizations ...
Space & Physics
Private Space Endeavors Move Forward after String of Accidents
NASA chooses astronauts to fly on commercial missions
Space & Physics
Dark Matter Dominates Just-Discovered Galaxies
Astronomers have discovered more than 800 so-called "ultradiffuse galaxies" that are virtually invisible because they have relatively few stars and are mostly dark matter. Clara Moskowitz reports ...
Space & Physics
What if Dark Matter Is Stranger Than We Thought? [Video]
The universe’s hidden stuff could be a mirror world of invisible particles and “dark atoms”
The Sciences
100 Years of Great Physics: Watch Live Monday and Tuesday [Video]
General relativity and Noether’s theorem take center stage in two live Web broadcasts this week
Space & Physics
Astronomers Claim to Take First Glimpse of Primordial Stars
A bright galaxy may hold starts from a generation that seeded the rest of the universe
Space & Physics
Hubble's Proposed Supersize Successor Generates Controversy
As the legendary space telescope enters its twilight years, astronomers are searching for a replacement, but no one agrees about what it should accomplish
Space & Physics
Making Space for Everyone: A Q&A with BoldlyGo's Jon Morse
NASA’s former director of astrophysics plans to revolutionize space science with agile, privately funded missions
Space & Physics
Frenzy-Feeding Black Hole Makes Galaxy Most Luminous
A galaxy 12.5 billion light-years away gives off the light of 300 trillion suns, because its feeding black hole produces enough heat to set the whole galaxy's dust glowing. Lee Billings reports ...
Space & Physics
On Mauna Kea, Astronomers and Hawaiians Can Share the Skies
The Thirty Meter Telescope can revolutionize astronomy and become a part of the holy mountain’s rich cultural heritage
Space & Physics
How Astronomers Discovered the Universe's Hidden Light
Galaxies in every corner of the universe have been sending out photons, or light particles, since nearly the beginning of time. Astronomers are now beginning to read this extragalactic background light...
Just Another Cloudy Morning on a Hot Exoplanet
Astronomers use Kepler telescope to study weather on Jupiter-size planets beyond our solar system
The Sciences
Science's Path from Myth to Multiverse
In his latest book Nobel Prize winner Steven Weinberg explores how science made the modern world, and where it might take us from here
The Sciences
Rogue Antimatter Found in Thunderclouds
A detector fitted on an airplane picked up a signature spike in photons that does not fit any known source of antiparticles
Space & Physics
Space Supervoid Sucks Energy from Light
A vast region of space colder than expected is also largely devoid of galaxies, and the two observations are no coincidence. Clara Moskowitz reports
Space & Physics
Astronomers Seek Super-Size Hubble Successor to Search for Alien Life
Controversy swirls around a bold proposal for a bigger, better—and expensive—replacement for NASA’s premier space telescope
MESSENGER’s Mercurial Swan Song and Other Interplanetary Smash-Ups
On April 30, if all goes well, after running out of fuel to fight off orbital decay NASA’s long-running MESSENGER spacecraft will end its mission to Mercury by crashing into the planet’s surface at nearly 4 kilometers per second...
Space & Physics
Agony and Ecstasy: Hubble's Top Moments and Near-Death Episodes
Scientists and astronauts recall the telescope’s finest hours as well as threats to its 25-year existence
