https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/astronomy/ Astronomy news. New! Earth-like extrasolar planet found; double helix nebula; supermassive black holes, astronomy articles, astronomy pictures. Updated daily. en-us Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:18:12 EDT Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:18:12 EDT 60 https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/scidaily-logo-rss.png https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/astronomy/ For more science news, visit ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260315004348.htm Astronomers have discovered the brightest fast radio burst ever detected and traced it to a nearby galaxy using a new network of CHIME Outrigger telescopes. The flash, nicknamed RBFLOAT, lasted only a fraction of a second but briefly outshone every other radio source in its galaxy. Follow-up observations with the James Webb Space Telescope spotted a faint infrared signal at the same location. The burst’s unusual behavior—showing no signs of repeating—may challenge current ideas about what causes these mysterious cosmic flashes. Sun, 15 Mar 2026 06:57:42 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260315004348.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260315004340.htm New research suggests Mars may have remained habitable much longer than scientists once thought. Ancient sand dunes in Gale Crater appear to have been soaked by underground water billions of years ago, leaving behind minerals that can preserve signs of life. Even after surface water disappeared, subsurface flows may have created protected environments for microbes. These hidden habitats could be key targets in the ongoing search for past life on Mars. Sun, 15 Mar 2026 06:45:30 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260315004340.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260314030452.htm Mars didn’t always look like the barren world we see today. Over billions of years, the Sun’s solar wind stripped away much of its atmosphere, helping transform it from a warmer, wetter planet into a frozen desert. NASA’s twin-spacecraft ESCAPADE mission aims to watch this process in action by measuring how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ fragile magnetic environment. The findings could reveal how Mars lost its habitability—and help prepare humans for future missions there. Sat, 14 Mar 2026 22:31:40 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260314030452.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260314030449.htm NASA’s Curiosity rover is investigating strange spiderweb-like ridges on Mars that may reveal a hidden chapter of the planet’s watery history. These “boxwork” formations likely formed when groundwater flowed through cracks in the rock, leaving minerals that hardened into ridges while surrounding material eroded away. New chemical analyses of drilled rock samples show minerals linked to water activity. Sat, 14 Mar 2026 21:08:34 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260314030449.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260313062543.htm Scientists have uncovered evidence that our Sun may have traveled across the Milky Way as part of a massive migration of Sun-like stars billions of years ago. The journey may have carried the solar system away from the galaxy’s crowded center into a calmer region where life could eventually emerge. Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:49:09 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260313062543.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260312020101.htm Scientists have grown chickpeas in simulated moon soil, offering a promising step toward farming on the lunar surface. Researchers mixed moon-like regolith with worm-produced compost and helpful fungi that protect plants from toxic metals. The combination allowed chickpeas to grow and produce a harvest in soil that normally cannot support plant life. Scientists now need to confirm the crops are safe and nutritious for astronauts. Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:56:39 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260312020101.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260311213432.htm Scientists analyzing a gravitational-wave signal have discovered that a neutron star and black hole spiraled together on an oval-shaped orbit just before merging. This unusual motion, detected in the event GW200105, contradicts the long-held expectation that such pairs settle into nearly perfect circles before collision. The eccentric orbit suggests the system likely formed in a chaotic stellar environment with strong gravitational interactions. Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:13:07 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260311213432.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260311213429.htm Astronomers have caught what may be a rare cosmic catastrophe unfolding 11,000 light-years away. A seemingly ordinary sun-like star suddenly began flickering wildly, puzzling scientists until they realized the strange dimming was caused by vast clouds of hot dust and debris drifting across the star. The most likely explanation is a violent planetary collision—two worlds smashing together and scattering glowing material throughout the system. Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:08:41 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260311213429.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260311213425.htm Astronomers have discovered a strange new signal coming from an exploding star — a “chirp” that speeds up over time, similar to the signals seen when black holes collide. The unusual pattern appeared in a superluminous supernova about a billion light-years away and revealed clues about what’s happening deep inside the blast. Wed, 11 Mar 2026 22:27:48 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260311213425.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260309225236.htm Cosmic voids may seem like the emptiest places in the universe, stripped of matter, radiation, and even dark matter. But they’re far from nothing. Even in these vast empty regions, the fundamental quantum fields that fill all of space remain, carrying a small but real amount of energy known as vacuum energy, or dark energy. While this energy is overwhelmed by matter in galaxies and clusters, in the deep emptiness of cosmic voids it becomes dominant. Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:10:26 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260309225236.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260309225228.htm Scientists studying Mars may have uncovered a brand-new mineral hidden in the planet’s ancient sulfate deposits. By combining laboratory experiments with orbital data, researchers identified an unusual iron sulfate—ferric hydroxysulfate—forming in layered deposits near the massive Valles Marineris canyon system. The mineral likely formed when sulfate-rich deposits left behind by ancient water were later heated by volcanic or geothermal activity, transforming their chemistry. Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:23:47 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260309225228.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260308201613.htm Physicists have long struggled to unite quantum mechanics—the theory governing tiny particles—with Einstein’s theory of gravity, which explains the behavior of stars, planets, and the structure of the universe. Researchers at TU Wien have now taken a new step toward that goal by rethinking one of relativity’s core ideas: the paths particles follow through curved spacetime, known as geodesics. By creating a quantum version of these paths—called the q-desic equation—the team showed that particles moving through a “quantum” spacetime may deviate slightly from the paths predicted by classical relativity. Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:16:40 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260308201613.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260308201557.htm Astronomers have created the largest and most detailed 3D map yet of a glowing signal from the early universe, revealing hidden galaxies and gas from 9-11 billion years ago. By analyzing faint “Lyman-alpha” light emitted by energized hydrogen, scientists used an advanced technique called line intensity mapping to capture not just the brightest galaxies but also the vast cosmic structures surrounding them. Sun, 08 Mar 2026 20:15:57 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260308201557.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260307213238.htm When NASA’s DART spacecraft deliberately crashed into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, it did more than change the asteroid’s local orbit — it slightly shifted the path of the entire asteroid pair around the Sun. The impact blasted debris into space, doubling the force of the spacecraft’s hit and nudging the system’s solar orbit by a tiny but measurable amount. It marks the first time humans have altered the trajectory of a celestial object around the Sun. The result strengthens the case for using spacecraft impacts as a future planetary defense strategy. Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:12:54 EDT https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260307213238.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260307213226.htm Asteroids with tiny moons may be quietly trading material across space. Images from NASA’s DART mission revealed faint streaks on the moon Dimorphos—evidence of slow “cosmic snowballs” drifting from its parent asteroid, Didymos. The discovery provides the first direct visual proof that sunlight can spin asteroids fast enough to shed debris that lands on nearby companions. It also shows that near-Earth asteroids are much more active and constantly reshaped than scientists once believed. Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:07:30 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260307213226.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260305223236.htm For decades, astronomers wondered why most nearby galaxies are speeding away from the Milky Way instead of being pulled in by its gravity. New simulations reveal the answer: our galaxy sits in a gigantic, flat sheet of matter surrounded by huge empty voids. This hidden structure—dominated by dark matter—balances gravitational forces and lets neighboring galaxies drift outward. The discovery finally explains the puzzling motions of galaxies just beyond our Local Group. Fri, 06 Mar 2026 01:55:55 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260305223236.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260305182705.htm A sweeping new ALMA image has peeled back the veil on the Milky Way’s core, exposing a dense network of cold gas filaments near the central black hole. Stretching across 650 light-years, the survey maps the hidden fuel for star formation in remarkable detail and reveals a surprisingly complex chemical brew. This extreme region hosts some of the galaxy’s most massive, short-lived stars. The findings could help explain how stars — and even entire galaxies — formed under the universe’s most chaotic conditions. Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:27:05 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260305182705.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260303145703.htm An international team combining two major neutrino experiments has uncovered stronger evidence that neutrinos and antimatter don’t behave as perfect mirror images. That subtle difference may hold the key to why the universe didn’t vanish in a flash of self-destruction after the Big Bang. Tue, 03 Mar 2026 19:59:36 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260303145703.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260303082606.htm A famously resilient bacterium may be tough enough to survive one of the most violent events imaginable on Mars. In laboratory experiments designed to mimic the crushing shock of a massive asteroid impact, researchers squeezed Deinococcus radiodurans between steel plates and blasted it with pressures reaching 3 GPa (30,000 times atmospheric pressure). Even under these extreme conditions, a significant portion of the microbes survived. Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:53:09 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260303082606.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260303050635.htm Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted the most distant “jellyfish galaxy” ever seen — a cosmic oddity streaming long, tentacle-like trails of gas and newborn stars as it speeds through a dense galaxy cluster. The galaxy appears as it was 8.5 billion years ago, revealing that the early universe may have been far more violent than scientists expected. Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:25:27 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260303050635.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260302030646.htm Icy moons circling the outer planets may be far more dynamic—and explosive—than they appear. New research suggests that when heat from tidal forces melts their ice shells from below, the sudden drop in pressure could cause hidden oceans to boil beneath the surface. On smaller moons like Enceladus, Mimas, and Miranda, this process may help explain strange features such as Enceladus’ tiger stripes and Miranda’s towering cliffs. Mon, 02 Mar 2026 03:54:10 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260302030646.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260228093453.htm Astronomers have long known the universe is expanding—but exactly how fast remains one of the biggest mysteries in cosmology. Different techniques for measuring the Hubble constant stubbornly disagree, creating the so-called “Hubble tension.” Now researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago have unveiled a bold new way to weigh in on the debate using gravitational waves—the faint ripples in spacetime produced by colliding black holes. Sun, 01 Mar 2026 07:55:42 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260228093453.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260228093443.htm Jupiter’s icy moons may have been seeded with the chemical ingredients for life from the very beginning. An international team of scientists modeled how complex organic molecules—essential building blocks for biology—could have formed in the swirling disk of gas and dust around the young Sun and later been carried into Jupiter’s own moon-forming disk. Their results suggest that up to half of the icy material that built moons like Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto may have delivered freshly made organic compounds without being chemically destroyed. Sun, 01 Mar 2026 07:06:01 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260228093443.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260227071945.htm Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, may have been born in a colossal cosmic crash. New research suggests Titan formed when two older moons slammed together hundreds of millions of years ago—an event so violent it reshaped Saturn’s entire moon system and may have indirectly sparked the formation of its iconic rings. Clues come from Titan’s unusual orbit, its surprisingly smooth surface, and the strange behavior of the tumbling moon Hyperion. Fri, 27 Feb 2026 07:19:45 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260227071945.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260227071931.htm Astronomers have spotted what may be one of the universe’s earliest barred spiral galaxies — a striking cosmic structure forming just 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The galaxy, COSMOS-74706, dates back about 11.5 billion years and contains a stellar bar, a bright, linear band of stars and gas stretching across its center, similar to the one in our own Milky Way. Fri, 27 Feb 2026 12:15:06 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260227071931.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260226042445.htm Scientists at the University of Oxford have finally settled a decades-long mystery about the Moon’s magnetic field — and it turns out both sides were right. By reanalyzing Apollo mission rocks, they discovered that the Moon did occasionally generate an incredibly powerful magnetic field, even stronger than Earth’s — but only for fleeting bursts lasting thousands of years or less. Most of the time, the Moon’s magnetic field was weak. Thu, 26 Feb 2026 11:03:17 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260226042445.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260225081147.htm Mars’ frozen ice caps may be time capsules for ancient life. Lab experiments show that key building blocks of proteins can survive tens of millions of years in pure ice, even under relentless cosmic radiation. Ice mixed with Martian-like soil, however, destroys organic material far more quickly. The findings point future missions toward drilling into clean, buried ice rather than studying rocks or dirt. Wed, 25 Feb 2026 09:13:57 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260225081147.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260224023209.htm Scientists have proposed a surprising connection between solar flares and earthquakes. When solar activity disturbs the ionosphere, it may generate electric fields that penetrate fragile fracture zones in Earth’s crust. If a fault is already critically stressed, this extra electrostatic pressure could help trigger a quake. The idea doesn’t claim direct causation, but it offers a fresh way to think about how space weather and seismic events might interact. Tue, 24 Feb 2026 09:09:35 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260224023209.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260224023207.htm Deep inside the Milky Way, an invisible force is quietly holding everything together — its magnetic field. Now, researchers have created one of the most detailed maps ever of this hidden structure, revealing surprising twists in how it flows through our galaxy. Tue, 24 Feb 2026 10:05:10 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260224023207.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260222092329.htm A Martian volcano once thought to be the result of a single eruption turns out to have a much more complex past. Orbital imaging and mineral data show it developed through multiple eruptive phases, all powered by the same evolving magma system underground. Shifts in mineral composition reveal the magma changed over time, hinting at different depths and storage histories. Mars’ interior was far more active than previously believed. Mon, 23 Feb 2026 01:19:47 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260222092329.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260222085206.htm Far beyond Neptune, in the frozen depths of the Kuiper Belt, many ancient objects oddly resemble giant snowmen made of ice and rock. For years, scientists wondered how these delicate two-lobed shapes could form without violent collisions tearing them apart. Now researchers at Michigan State University have recreated the process in a powerful new simulation, showing that simple gravitational collapse can naturally produce these cosmic “snowmen.” Mon, 23 Feb 2026 02:47:10 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260222085206.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260221000307.htm Astronomers have uncovered one of the most mysterious galaxies ever found — a dim, ghostly object called CDG-2 that is almost entirely made of dark matter. Located 300 million light-years away in the Perseus galaxy cluster, it was discovered in an unusual way: not by its stars, but by four tightly packed globular clusters acting like cosmic breadcrumbs. Sat, 21 Feb 2026 01:57:52 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260221000307.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260221000303.htm For the first time, scientists have mapped Uranus’s upper atmosphere in three dimensions, tracking temperatures and charged particles up to 5,000 kilometers above the clouds. Webb’s sharp vision revealed glowing auroral bands and unexpected dark regions shaped by the planet’s wildly tilted magnetic field. Sat, 21 Feb 2026 02:31:36 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260221000303.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260218031532.htm Researchers have uncovered more than a thousand previously unknown tectonic ridges across the Moon’s dark plains, showing the Moon is still contracting and reshaping itself. These features are among the youngest geological structures on the lunar surface. Because they form through the same forces linked to past moonquakes, they could signal new seismic hotspots. Wed, 18 Feb 2026 07:49:00 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260218031532.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260217005751.htm Scientists scanning the heart of the Milky Way have spotted a tantalizing signal: a possible ultra-fast pulsar spinning every 8.19 milliseconds near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at our galaxy’s core. Pulsars act like incredibly precise cosmic clocks, and finding one in this extreme environment could open a rare window into how space-time behaves under intense gravity. Tue, 17 Feb 2026 06:15:42 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260217005751.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260215225537.htm New data from major dark-energy observatories suggest the universe may not expand forever after all. A Cornell physicist calculates that the cosmos is heading toward a dramatic reversal: after reaching its maximum size in about 11 billion years, it could begin collapsing, ultimately ending in a “big crunch” roughly 20 billion years from now. Mon, 16 Feb 2026 03:26:44 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260215225537.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260213223857.htm Astronomers have uncovered a distant planetary system that flips a long-standing rule of planet formation on its head. Around the small red dwarf star LHS 1903, scientists expected to find rocky planets close in and gas giants farther out — the same pattern seen in our own Solar System and hundreds of others. And at first, that’s exactly what they saw. But new observations revealed a surprise: the outermost planet appears to be rocky, not gaseous. Fri, 13 Feb 2026 22:38:57 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260213223857.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260213223855.htm A massive star 2.5 million light-years away simply vanished — and astronomers now know why. Instead of exploding in a supernova, it quietly collapsed into a black hole, shedding its outer layers in a slow-motion cosmic fade-out. The leftover debris continues to glow in infrared light, offering a long-lasting signal of the black hole’s birth. The finding reshapes our understanding of how some of the universe’s biggest stars meet their end. Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:42:40 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260213223855.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212234205.htm A dazzling new Hubble image peels back the layers of the mysterious Egg Nebula, a rare and fleeting phase in a Sun-like star’s death just 1,000 light-years away. Hidden inside a dense cocoon of dust, the dying star blasts twin beams of light through a polar opening, carving glowing lobes and delicate ripples into the surrounding cloud. These striking, symmetrical arcs hint that unseen companion stars may be shaping the spectacle from within. Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:48:37 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212234205.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212025607.htm A newly identified planet candidate, HD 137010 b, looks strikingly Earth-like in size and orbit — but it may be colder than Mars due to its dimmer star. If it has a thick enough atmosphere, though, this icy world could still surprise us. Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:32:43 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212025607.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212025604.htm Scientists studying a rock sample collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover have uncovered something tantalizing: the largest organic molecules ever detected on Mars. The compounds — decane, undecane, and dodecane — may be fragments of fatty acids, which on Earth are most often linked to life. While non-living processes like meteorite impacts can also create such molecules, researchers found those sources couldn’t fully explain the amounts detected. Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:17:53 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212025604.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212023024.htm Dust from asteroid Bennu is revealing a surprising origin story for life’s building blocks. New research suggests some amino acids formed in frozen ice exposed to radiation, not warm liquid water as scientists long believed. Isotopic clues show Bennu’s chemistry differs sharply from well-studied meteorites, pointing to multiple pathways for creating life’s ingredients. Thu, 12 Feb 2026 22:31:14 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212023024.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212023020.htm Scientists have uncovered evidence of a massive underground lava tube hidden beneath the surface of Venus, revealing a new layer of the planet’s volcanic history. By reexamining radar data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft, researchers identified what appears to be a huge empty conduit near the volcanic region Nyx Mons. The structure could be nearly a kilometer wide and extend for dozens of kilometers below the surface. Thu, 12 Feb 2026 21:46:52 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260212023020.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260211073047.htm For millions of years, a frozen wanderer drifted between the stars before slipping into our solar system as 3I/ATLAS—only the third known interstellar comet ever spotted. When scientists turned NASA’s Swift Observatory toward it, they caught the first-ever hint of water from such an object, detected through a faint ultraviolet glow of hydroxyl gas. Even more surprising, the comet was blasting out water at a rate of about 40 kilograms per second while still far from the Sun—much farther than where most comets “switch on.” Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:08:24 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260211073047.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260211073026.htm Deep inside a nearby galaxy cloaked in thick clouds of gas and dust, astronomers have uncovered a surprising treasure trove of organic molecules using the James Webb Space Telescope. Peering through the cosmic veil in infrared light, researchers detected an extraordinary mix of carbon-rich compounds — including benzene, methane, and even the highly reactive methyl radical, never before seen outside the Milky Way. Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:48:01 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260211073026.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260211073019.htm A distant star system with four super-sized gas giants has revealed a surprise. Thanks to JWST’s powerful vision, astronomers detected sulfur in their atmospheres — a chemical clue that they formed like Jupiter, by slowly building solid cores. That’s unexpected because these planets are far bigger and orbit much farther from their star than models once allowed. Wed, 11 Feb 2026 07:30:19 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260211073019.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260208233821.htm Baker’s yeast isn’t just useful in the kitchen — it may also be built for space. Researchers found that yeast cells can survive intense shock waves and toxic chemicals similar to those on Mars. The cells protect themselves by forming special stress-response structures that help them endure extreme conditions. This resilience could make yeast a powerful model for astrobiology and future space missions. Sun, 08 Feb 2026 23:38:21 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260208233821.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260208011014.htm A colossal ancient impact may have reshaped the Moon far more deeply than scientists once realized. By analyzing rare lunar rocks brought back by China’s Chang’e-6 mission from the Moon’s largest crater, researchers found unusual chemical fingerprints pointing to extreme heat and material loss caused by a giant impact. The collision likely stripped away volatile elements, reshaped volcanic activity, and left a lasting chemical signature deep below the surface. Sun, 08 Feb 2026 07:04:07 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260208011014.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260206012217.htm Voyager 2’s flyby of Uranus in 1986 recorded radiation levels so extreme they baffled scientists for nearly 40 years. New research suggests the spacecraft caught Uranus during a rare solar wind event that flooded the planet’s radiation belts with extra energy. Similar storms have been seen near Earth, where they dramatically boost radiation levels. The discovery reshapes how scientists think about Uranus—and why it deserves another visit. Sat, 07 Feb 2026 11:41:34 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260206012217.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260206012206.htm Astronomers propose that an ultra-dense clump of exotic dark matter could be masquerading as the powerful object thought to anchor our galaxy, explaining both the blistering speeds of stars near the center and the slower, graceful rotation of material far beyond. This dark matter structure would have a compact core that pulls on nearby stars like a black hole, surrounded by a broad halo shaping the galaxy’s outer motion. Sat, 07 Feb 2026 11:26:18 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260206012206.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260204121552.htm Scientists have found that ancient Martian lakes could have survived for decades despite freezing air temperatures. Using a newly adapted climate model, researchers showed that thin, seasonal ice could trap heat and protect liquid water beneath. These lakes may have gently melted and refrozen each year without ever freezing solid. The idea helps solve a long-standing mystery about how Mars shows so much evidence of water without signs of a warm climate. Fri, 06 Feb 2026 01:21:29 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260204121552.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260203020205.htm Astronomers have produced the most detailed map yet of dark matter, revealing the invisible framework that shaped the Universe long before stars and galaxies formed. Using powerful new observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the research shows how dark matter gathered ordinary matter into dense regions, setting the stage for galaxies like the Milky Way and eventually planets like Earth. Tue, 03 Feb 2026 03:48:13 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260203020205.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260201231259.htm Hidden lava tunnels on the Moon and Mars could one day shelter human explorers, offering natural protection from radiation and space debris. A European research team has unveiled a bold new mission concept that uses three different robots working together to explore these extreme underground environments autonomously. Recently tested in the volcanic caves of Lanzarote, the system maps cave entrances, deploys sensors, lowers a scout rover, and creates detailed 3D maps of the interior. Mon, 02 Feb 2026 03:43:49 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260201231259.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260201231224.htm A newly detected gravitational wave, GW250114, is giving scientists their clearest look yet at a black hole collision—and a powerful way to test Einstein’s theory of gravity. Its clarity allowed scientists to measure multiple “tones” from the collision, all matching Einstein’s predictions. That confirmation is exciting—but so is the possibility that future signals won’t behave so neatly. Any deviation could point to new physics beyond our current understanding of gravity. Sun, 01 Feb 2026 23:12:24 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260201231224.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260201231213.htm NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 team has entered a carefully controlled two-week quarantine as the countdown begins for their journey to the International Space Station. The four astronauts—representing NASA, the European Space Agency, and Roscosmos—are isolating at Johnson Space Center before heading to Florida for final launch preparations. The mission could lift off as early as February 11, with multiple backup launch windows lined up. Mon, 02 Feb 2026 04:48:56 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/02/260201231213.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260131084555.htm NASA’s Perseverance rover has just made history by driving across Mars using routes planned by artificial intelligence instead of human operators. A vision-capable AI analyzed the same images and terrain data normally used by rover planners, identified hazards like rocks and sand ripples, and charted a safe path across the Martian surface. After extensive testing in a virtual replica of the rover, Perseverance successfully followed the AI-generated routes, traveling hundreds of feet autonomously. Sat, 31 Jan 2026 08:45:55 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260131084555.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260131084138.htm Jupiter’s swirling storms have concealed its true makeup for centuries, but a new model is finally peeling back the clouds. Researchers found the planet likely holds significantly more oxygen than the Sun, a key clue to how Jupiter—and the rest of the solar system—came together. The study also reveals that gases move through Jupiter’s atmosphere much more slowly than scientists once thought. Together, the findings reshape our understanding of the solar system’s largest planet. Sat, 31 Jan 2026 10:28:57 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260131084138.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260131084135.htm A young star called V1298 Tau is giving astronomers a front-row seat to the birth of the galaxy’s most common planets. Four massive but extremely low-density worlds orbiting the star appear to be inflated precursors of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. By watching how the planets subtly tug on one another, scientists measured their masses and confirmed they are far puffier than expected. The system reveals how these planets dramatically shrink and transform as they age. Sat, 31 Jan 2026 10:16:06 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260131084135.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260128075355.htm JWST has revealed a strange early universe filled with ultra-bright “blue monster” galaxies, mysterious “little red dots,” and black holes that seem far too massive for their age. A new study proposes that dark stars—hypothetical stars powered by dark matter—could tie all these surprises together. These exotic objects may have grown huge very quickly, lighting up the early cosmos and planting the seeds of supermassive black holes. Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:05:20 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260128075355.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260128075341.htm Low-Earth orbit is more crowded—and fragile—than it looks. Satellites constantly weave past each other, burning fuel and making dozens of evasive maneuvers every year just to stay safe. A major solar storm could disable navigation and communications, turning that careful dance into chaos. According to new calculations, it may take just days—not decades—for a catastrophic chain reaction to begin, potentially choking off humanity’s access to space for generations. Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:38:41 EST https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260128075341.htm