Jul 14th, 2025 - The Milky Way may be surrounded by dozens of yet-to-be-detected satellite galaxies, scientists claim. Using the highest-resolution simulation of our galaxy's dark matter — an invisible entity that shapes the large-scale structure of the universe — and new mathematical models, cosmologists predict that more than 100 additional satellite galaxies beyond the ones already cataloged may be swirling around our own. If those galaxies are spotted by telescopes, they could offer support for the standard model of cosmology — the dominant model of our universe that explains how ... [Read More]

Jul 13th, 2025 - The probe captured images and other data from within the sun's corona during a record-breaking approach last year. NASA's Parker Solar Probe made history with the closest-ever approach to the sun last December , and we're finally getting a look at some of the images it captured. The space agency released a timelapse of observations made using Parker's Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) while it passed through the sun's corona (the outer atmosphere) on December 25, 2024, revealing up close how solar wind acts soon after it's released. The probe captured these images at just 3.8 million ... [Read More]

Jul 12th, 2025 - A dead Mars may have been inevitable – and the Sun is to blame New discoveries by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover may not only explain why the Red Planet is a dry, lifeless desert, but that it may have been on an inevitable path to being a dead world despite being so similar to Earth. And the Sun is to blame. Though Mars may seem like a very alien world, it is still the most Earth-like planet known. Its size, composition, and distance from the Sun are remarkably similar to Earth, but over the past two billion years it went down a very different path. Where the Earth has a dense atmosphere, ... [Read More]

Jul 12th, 2025 - By A joint team of archaeologists, chronologists, geologists, and paleontologists have successfully dated a hoard of wooden tools recovered nearly a decade ago, Ancient Origins reported. The ancient tools were originally found in two separate excavations at an archaeological site in Gantangqing, southwestern China, between 2015–2016 and 2018–2019. They were found nestled with a variety of plant and animal fossils as well as stone artifacts in low-oxygen, clay-heavy sediment, which kept the wood intact over thousands of years. New dating has shown the tools to be around 300,000 ... [Read More]

Jul 12th, 2025 - They're the boogeymen of science fiction, a paradox of science and quite possibly a key to understanding the universe. Scientists have been scrambling to understand the mysterious forces of black holes for decades, but so far it seems they've found more existential questions than answers. We know a black hole is so heavy that its gravity creates a kind of divot in the geometry of the universe, said Priyamvada Natarajan, a theoretical astrophysicist at Yale University. "A black hole is so concentrated that it causes a little deep puncture in space/time. At the end of the puncture you have a ... [Read More]

Jul 12th, 2025 - Ticks and the diseases they carry are only becoming more common. But new treatments and vaccines might not be too far off. Summer in the U.S. is now in full swing. That means plenty of outdoor fun, Sun, and, unfortunately, for many of us, tiny eight-legged ticks to avoid. Ticks and the many illnesses they carry, like Lyme disease, are a growing public health threat. Just this week, for instance, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 2025 so far has seen the highest number of tick-related emergency room visits recorded since 2019. And though the worst ... [Read More]

Jul 12th, 2025 - Western Xia imperial burial site recognised for history of cultural fusion is China's 60th landmark to earn UN cultural agency designation Reading Time: 4 minutes The Western Xia Imperial Tomb complex in northwest China has been designated as a Unesco World Heritage site – a recognition of the site's importance as a centre of cultural fusion and commercial activity on the ancient Silk Road . The group of burial sites , also known as the Xixia Imperial Tombs, officially received the designation from the United Nations cultural body on Friday, according to Chinese state news agency ... [Read More]

Jul 11th, 2025 - For decades, Pluto remained one of the most mysterious objects in our solar system, until July 14, 2015, when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft became the first mission to visit it up close, capturing breathtaking images of the distant world. It took over nine years for New Horizons to reach Pluto after blasting off atop an Atlas 5 rocket on Jan. 19, 2006. After traveling billions of miles through the solar system, New Horizons sent home stunning images of Pluto and its moons, making headlines around the world. It took more than 15 months for the spacecraft to send all of the 6.25 gigabytes of ... [Read More]