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We have spent centuries being knocked off our pedestal. Earth isn't the centre of the Solar System, the Sun isn't the centre of the Galaxy, and we are not the point around which everything else turns. Now two philosophers want to take the demotion one step further and apply it to the thing we hold most precious of all, our own conscious minds. If they're right, awareness may be far more widespread, and far stranger, than we ever dared imagine.

For three years they've been one of the strangest puzzles in astronomy. Tiny, mysterious red dots scattered across the early universe, so abundant and so bright that some researchers wondered if they had "broken" cosmology itself. Now the James Webb Space Telescope has captured the most detailed look yet at one of them, and the answer it reveals is as exotic as the name suggests: a star sized object that is, in fact, a black hole wearing a disguise.

We are used to thinking of gravitational waves as messengers from catastrophes in space, the ringing of spacetime after black holes collide for example. But our own Galaxy hums with a fainter, steadier signal, a chorus of millions of unseen binary stars. A new study has found that this hum carries a hidden fingerprint of the Milky Way's spin, and that if a future space mission ignores it, our picture of the Galaxy itself could come out subtly wrong.

This young researcher’s unlikely journey into academia will change the way you think about science, failure and belonging

If the supernova remnant is confirmed, it would be one of the closest to the supermassive black hole that lies in the center of the Milky Way

Somewhere in the plane of the Milky Way, a dead star is spinning 220 times a second, and it's circling its companion in almost the most perfect orbit astronomers have ever measured. China's giant FAST radio telescope has just found it, and the shape of that orbit is a near flawless record of a billion year relationship between two stars.

Galaxies and their supermassive black holes evolve together, but which came first is an ongoing question. Now we may finally have an answer, says columnist Leah Crane

Galaxies and their supermassive black holes evolve together, but which came first is an ongoing question. Now we may finally have an answer, says columnist Leah Crane

Earth Observatory

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Earth Observatory

1. Science
2. Earth Observatory
3. Pumice Rafts Encroach on…

• Earth
• Earth Observatory
• Image of the Day
• EO Explorer
• Topics
• More Content
• About

In a recent NASA-supported study, researchers assessed Titan's resource base and how it could be leveraged for ISRU. Compared with other locations under study (the Moon, Mars, etc.), they concluded that there is unrivaled potential for human exploration and settlement.

Venus’ extraordinarily slow retrograde rotation was likely caused by a chance encounter with a moon-sized impactor. One that some 4.5 billion years ago likely slammed into our sister planet at a high angle and high velocity.

What happens to a comet as it leaves our inner Solar System?

Fossilized poo harbors remains from mammoths, bison and big cats, including some of the oldest DNA ever reconstructed

As Ebola rages, Moderna and others are racing to develop an mRNA vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo virus driving the current outbreak

It’s 2134, and humanity has finally embraced green technologies while ridding the Earth of harmful fossil-burning technologies, most notably gasoline, wood, coal, and oil. As a result, soot has been rendered obsolete, and all commercial products from soot, including shoes, wires, computer products, and eye products, are now produced from eco-friendly technologies. However, the uber-rich who still fancy non-eco-friendly products are willing to pay soot’s weight in gold for it. Therefore, the Exoplanet Research Corporation outfits its best ship to search for soot-enriched exoplanet atmospheres.

The first participant has been treated in a landmark clinical trial of cellular reprogramming, which aims to rejuvenate aging cells

Tungsten is a coveted metal for military uses. Restoring domestic supply could help with ongoing munitions shortages