
Ben Turner
Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.
Latest articles by Ben Turner

Hurricane Milton: Jaw-dropping images taken from space show the storm rapidly intensifying as it approaches Florida
By Ben Turner published
An image of Hurricane Milton moving towards Florida taken with the GOES satellite at 22:30 UTC on 10/07/24.

'This is the most impactful storm we have faced': 'Major' storm Hurricane Milton to make landfall as Florida reels from Helene
By Ben Turner published
State officials have warned Florida residents to prepare for "largest evacuation that we have seen" since 2017's Hurricane Irma.

James Webb Space Telescope is 'science and magic rolled together,' says iconic astronomer Maggie Aderin-Pocock
By Ben Turner published
Maggie Aderin-Pocock tells us about the power of the James Webb Space Telescope and how she inspires disadvantaged students to enter STEM.

James Webb telescope watches ancient supernova replay 3 times — and confirms something is seriously wrong in our understanding of the universe
By Ben Turner published
The James Webb Space Telescope has zoomed in on an ancient supernova, revealing fresh evidence that a crisis in cosmology called the Hubble tension isn't going anywhere soon.

Humanity faces a 'catastrophic' future if we don’t regulate AI, 'Godfather of AI' Yoshua Bengio says
By Ben Turner published
Yoshua Bengio played a crucial role in the development of the machine-learning systems we see today. Now, he says that they could pose an existential risk to humanity.

Black hole 'blowtorch' is causing nearby stars to explode, Hubble telescope reveals
By Ben Turner published
Star explosions called novas are happening twice as often near a gargantuan black hole jet as they are in the rest of the galaxy, and astronomers aren't sure why.

'People should not be there': 'Unsurvivable' 20-foot storm surge predicted as ferocious Hurricane Helene heads to Florida
By Ben Turner last updated
Hurricane Helene has been intensifying with the help of unprecedentedly warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico and is now barreling toward Florida.

James Webb telescope spots rare 'missing link' galaxy at the dawn of time
By Ben Turner published
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted a rare galaxy at the dawn of time that may be a "missing link" between the oldest generation of stars and the ones we see near Earth.

Astronomers spot a possible 'future Earth' — 8 billion years into its future
By Ben Turner published
The rocky planet, roughly twice Earth's size, has offered astronomers a glimpse of one of Earth’s possible futures — if it doesn’t get engulfed by our expanding sun.

'We have changed the view of our galaxy forever': Astronomers capture most detailed ever infrared map of the Milky Way
By Ben Turner published
Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory have released the largest infrared map of the Milky Way ever. The enormous dataset contains millions of new objects, and the researchers expect to scour it for discoveries for years to come.

Nuking an asteroid could save Earth from destruction, researchers show in 1st-of-its-kind X-ray experiment
By Ben Turner published
A powerful burst of X-rays from a nuclear explosion could be used to stop Armageddon just in the nick of time, a new experiment suggests.

Mysterious 'horseman' from lead coffin unearthed in Notre Dame Cathedral finally identified
By Ben Turner published
The centuries-old remains at Notre Dame have been identified as Joachim du Bellay, a French Renaissance poet who died at age 37.

Will language face a dystopian future? How 'Future of Language' author Philip Seargeant thinks AI will shape our communication
By Ben Turner published
Philip Seargeant tells us how AI will shape the future of our language use.

1st-ever observation of 'spooky action' between quarks is highest-energy quantum entanglement ever detected
By Ben Turner published
The discovery of two entangled quarks at the large Hadron Collider is the highest-energy observation of entanglement ever made.

'The dystopian possibilities seem endless': How attempts to merge human brains with machines could go disastrously wrong
By Philip Seargeant published
After Philip Seargeant's grandmother suffered a stroke, she lost the ability to speak for several days. The experience made him reflect on brain-computer interfaces — a technology with both positive and dystopian implications.

NASA reveals images of enormous, snowman-shaped asteroid 2024 ON after its ultra-close approach to Earth
By Ben Turner published
New close-up images reveal the surprising snowman shape of "potentially hazardous" asteroid 2024 ON, which tumbled safely past our planet on Sept. 17.

Biggest black hole jets ever seen are as long as 140 Milky Ways
By Ben Turner published
The largest-ever black hole jets ever seen hint that these cosmic monsters may play an even more significant role in shaping galaxies than previously thought.

Earth once wore a Saturn-like ring, study of ancient craters suggests
By Ben Turner published
The ring could be responsible for a prolonged drop in temperatures millions of years ago.

Earth's new 'mini-moon' will orbit our planet for the next 2 months
By Ben Turner published
A tiny asteroid will orbit around our planet for 53 days from the end of September.

Monster black hole is starving its host galaxy to death, James Webb telescope reveals
By Ben Turner published
New observations with JWST have confirmed that supermassive black holes have the power to quench star formation across their surrounding galaxies.

Mysterious 9-day seismic event was caused by a mega tsunami bouncing around inside a fjord, study reveals
By Ben Turner published
In September, a strange nine-day signal rocked our planet and baffled scientists. Now they have finally found the cause.

Physicists unveil 1D gas made of pure light
By Ben Turner published
Physicists have created a one dimensional gas out of light particles for the first time. Studying how the photon gas behaves could help researchers discover some yet-unknown quantum optical effects.

'Potentially hazardous' asteroid the size of a skyscraper to skim past Earth on Tuesday
By Ben Turner published
The gigantic asteroid 2024 ON, about the size of a skyscraper, will fly close to Earth next Tuesday, missing our planet by 2.6 times the distance between Earth and the moon.

The Milky Way's supermassive black hole is spinning incredibly fast and at the wrong angle. Scientists may finally know why.
By Ben Turner published
Observations from the Event Horizon Telescope may reveal a secret merger in our supermassive black hole's past, potentially explaining the cosmic monster's unusual spin.

One of the universe's biggest paradoxes could be even weirder than we thought, James Webb telescope study reveals
By Ben Turner published
New James Webb Space Telescope results have revealed that there may not be a Hubble tension after all. But contradictions within the findings point to a deeper mystery.
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