A 'Dark Big Bang' may have flooded the universe with invisible matter, new study proposes By Paul Sutter published 22 March 23 Within a month of the Big Bang, a second cosmic explosion may have given the universe its dark matter, new research suggests.
Key building block for life discovered on distant asteroid Ryugu — and it could explain how life on Earth began By Ben Turner last updated 21 March 23 Scientists have found uracil, one of the key building blocks for RNA, on the 200 million-mile-distant asteroid Ryugu
The universe might be shaped like a doughnut, not like a pancake, new research suggests By Paul Sutter last updated 21 March 23 The universe may be flat, but could still be shaped like a doughnut, weird patterns in leftover light from the Big Bang suggest.
Skyscraper-size asteroid will get closer to Earth than the moon on Saturday By Stephanie Pappas published 21 March 23 Asteroid 2023 DZ2 will zip between Earth and the moon's orbit on March 25 and may be visible with the right telescope.
How many moons does Earth have? By Donavyn Coffey last updated 21 March 23 To the naked eye, the night sky reveals only one moon. But how many moons have ever orbited Earth?
How do flat-Earthers explain the equinox? We investigated. By Brandon Specktor last updated 20 March 23 Equinoxes would be physically impossible over a flat Earth, but that doesn't stop conspiracy theorists from trying to explain them.
What is the moon phase today? By Colin Stuart last updated 20 March 23 Reference A look at the phases of the moon, from new moon to full moon, including's tonight's lunar phase.
1st evidence of recent volcanic activity on Venus detected in groundbreaking study By Sascha Pare published 16 March 23 Scientists have analyzed 30-year-old data from NASA's Magellan mission to Venus and detected the first-ever signs of volcanic activity on the planet, emanating from a giant crater called Maat Mons.
James Webb Space Telescope captures star going supernova in a dazzling cloud of dust By Sascha Pare published 16 March 23 NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has snapped a picture of WR 124, a rare Wolf-Mayet star 30 times the size of our sun, ejecting a luminous cloud of cosmic dust.
2 pairs of gigantic runaway black holes spotted on collision course, and they're bringing four entire galaxies with them By Ben Turner published 16 March 23 Astronomers used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to spot two pairs of gigantic black holes set for two separate, first-of-their-kind collisions.
Asteroid feared to hit Earth in 2046 will almost certainly miss, NASA says By Ben Turner published 15 March 23 An asteroid that was initially given 1-in-600 chance of wiping out an entire city on Valentine's Day 2046 is now expected to almost definitely whizz past us without incident.
60,000-mile-tall 'plasma waterfall' snapped showering the sun with impossibly fast fire By Harry Baker published 15 March 23 A massive wall of falling plasma, known as a polar crown prominence, was recently captured in a stunningly-detailed new photo of the sun.
'Unstable' moons may be obliterating alien life across the universe By Briley Lewis published 15 March 23 Simulations show that collisions between moons and planets may be a regular danger for possible extraterrestrial life.
Bizarre sand dunes on Mars are 'almost perfectly circular,' and scientists don't know why By Sascha Pare published 14 March 23 A high-resolution camera mounted on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has snapped pictures of unusual, almost perfectly circular sand dunes on the Red Planet's surface.
10 discoveries that prove Einstein was right about the universe — and 1 that proves him wrong By Brandon Specktor published 14 March 23 Albert Einstein's theories of relativity have been proven to be true time and again in the more than 100 years following their publication.
12 numbers that are cooler than pi By Live Science Staff last updated 14 March 23 To celebrate Pi Day, we asked several mathematicians to tell us their favorite non-pi numbers. Here are some of their answers.
What is space junk? By Brandon Specktor published 10 March 23 Thousands of pieces of space debris, also known as space junk, are orbiting Earth — posing a significant threat to satellites, spacecraft and astronauts.
Stunning plasma-winged 'butterfly' coronal mass ejection erupts from the sun's farside By Ben Turner published 10 March 23 Astronomers spotted a massive coronal mass ejection (CME) expanding its ethereal wings as it barrelled out of the sun and toward Mercury.
Rare galaxy with three black holes leads astronomers to the most massive objects in the universe By Robert Lea published 10 March 23 Scientists watched as a three-quasar system merged in a supercomputer simulation of the universe to birth a black hole 300 billion times as massive as the sun.
Monster black hole may have killed this galaxy's star-forming power, James Webb Telescope reveals By Ben Turner published 10 March 23 New James Webb Space Telescope observations reveal that the galaxy GS-9209 had its star-forming power abruptly "quenched" by mysterious forces after millions of years of productivity.