Jan 9th, 2026 - Supermassive black holes are notorious for gobbling up young stars and burping out powerful jets of gas as they finish the snack. Scientists call this mechanism "jet precession." Typically, only two types of jet streams are observed by the astronomers during this process. One is the radiative mode where a white-hot incandescent accretion disk heats up the gassy material, and the superheated gas pushes out the cooler gas outwards. Another mode, as Scientific American describes, sees firehose-like jets of gassy particles trundling from the black hole's edges and shooting outwards, creating ... [Read More]

Jan 9th, 2026 - Earth's ancient nuclear reactors were a freakish natural accident Two billion years before we made history and split the atom, the Earth had already accomplished it and was running its own nuclear reactors. And they operated for hundreds of thousands of years, as the first signs of multicellular life emerged. In 1972, engineers at the Eurodif uranium processing plant in Pierrelatte, France, were inspecting uranium ore shipped from natural-resource-rich Gabon in western Africa, when they noticed something peculiar. The uranium-235 (U-235) content was lower than expected, and not just in some ... [Read More]

Jan 8th, 2026 - A bipartisan group of United States senators introduced a bill Thursday (Jan. 8) that would extend the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) by five years and expand its activities. The NQI was enacted in 2018 and has supported the U.S. quantum ecosystem, the emergence of dozens of venture-backed quantum startups and the growth of a broader national industry that spans quantum computing, networking and sensing, according to a press release issued Thursday by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation . Quantum computing harnesses the properties of quantum mechanics to perform ... [Read More]

Jan 8th, 2026 - There will be plenty of chances to spot shooting stars throughout 2026, with meteor showers putting on a show nearly every month. The two biggest showers of the year are expected to have excellent viewing conditions, while others may produce unusually bright meteors known as fireballs. A single bright meteor from the Geminid meteor shower of December 2017. Photo by VW Pics/Contributor) Here are the top meteor showers of 2026 to mark on your calendar: Lyrid meteor shower: April 21-22 Winter is a slow season for skywatching due to the lack of major meteor showers, as well as the often cold, ... [Read More]

Jan 8th, 2026 - The updated bill text adds multiple federal hubs to fund workforce growth and quantum technology research and development, as industry leaders hope for swift passage. On Thursday, Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., introduced the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act to praise from industry leaders. The National Quantum Initiative Act was initially signed into law by President Donald Trump during his first term in office in 2018. It expired in 2023, and efforts to reauthorize the program have since fallen short of passage. The new legislation would extend the ... [Read More]

Jan 8th, 2026 - New research gives us the answer many have been long wondering. Astronomers have cataloged thousands of exoplanets, and a pattern keeps showing up: Around most stars, the most common planets are bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. They're often called super-Earths and sub-Neptunes , and dominate the statistics. But are these really the most common types of planets? Now, a new Nature study points to an answer by catching four planets at a stage most systems never show us: The awkward, oversized "baby" phase. The planets orbit a young Sun-like star called V1298 Tau , and the ... [Read More]

Jan 8th, 2026 - Looking up at the night sky feels like you're seeing the universe. But physicists say most of it is missing from view. Not missing as in far away, but missing as in invisible. Scientists there is about five times as much dark matter as normal matter. That huge unknown is why Dr. Rupak Mahapatra and his team at Texas A&M University are building detectors sensitive enough to spot extremely rare signals, sometimes only once a year or even once in a decade. Their research is featured in the prestigious journal Applied Physics Letters. Will we finally be able to answer one of astronomy's hardest ... [Read More]

Jan 8th, 2026 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter A shock wave, far away in space, might be the telltale sign of the first confirmed "runaway" supermassive black hole , escaping its host galaxy at 2.2 million miles per hour (3.6 million km/h). The potential confirmation by the James Webb Space Telescope ( ... [Read More]