Science News Today

Science News Today produces evidence-based reporting on discoveries and developments in biology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, health and medicine, Earth sciences, archaeology, and technology. Our reporting draws on peer-reviewed research, original scientific studies, and other reliable scientific sources. Articles published under this byline reflect a collaborative editorial process that may include research, source verification, fact-checking, writing, and editing, rather than the work of a single author. Science News Today takes editorial responsibility for content published under this byline. For more information about our standards and practices, please see our Editorial Policy.

Articles by Science News Today

Water overflowing the spillway at Canyon Dam in Texas in 2002. Credit: US Army Corps of Engineers

America’s Aging Dams Are Running Out of Time

Winter Vanished in the Arctic and the World Is Changing Forever

Quantum teleportation from telecom photons to erbium-ion ensembles. Credit: Group of Prof. Xiao-Song Ma at Nanjing University.

They Teleported Light Without Moving It and It Could Change the Internet Forever

Artist's impression of a "hot jupiter" transiting its star. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

The Silent Shields Protecting Worlds Beyond Our Solar System

Using the 'Alopeke instrument on the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, astronomers have discovered a companion star in an incredibly tight orbit around Betelgeuse. This discovery answers the millennia-old question of why this famous star experiences a roughly six-year-long periodic change in its brightness, and provides insight into the physical mechanisms behind other variable red supergiants. The companion star appears blue here because, based on the team's analysis, it is likely an A- or B-type star, both of which are blue-white due to their high temperatures. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. Processing: M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

The Star That Was Never Alone

Southwest Research Institute experiments offer a new view on a hydrogen peroxide chemical cycle on Europa. Carbon-bearing species rising to Europa's icy surface from a subsurface ocean are irradiated by Jupiter's energetic plasma, synthesizing peroxide that may be cycled back down to the ocean, releasing chemical energy that may contribute to the ocean's habitability. These findings are detailed in a new article published in the July 2025 issue of the Planetary Science Journal. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DLR

Europa’s Hidden Ocean Sends a Mysterious Signal Through the Ice

A star being torn apart by a black hole. Credit: Ignacio de la Calle—Quasar Science Resources for ESA

The Star That Wouldn’t Die

In 2011, a sky survey captured a Type Ia supernova, SN 2011fe, in the Pinwheel Galaxy about 21 million light years away. Credit: B. J. Fulton/Palomar Transient Factory

Is Dark Energy Fading Away? A Cosmic Mystery Deepens

A variety of galaxies are seen in this JWST image. Astronomers are hunting for ancient pristine galaxies that confirm our understanding of the universe and the Big Bang. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Kristen McQuinn (STScI)

The Galaxy That Holds the Universe’s First Secrets

Illustration of three-proton emission from aluminium-20. Credit: Xu Xiaodong

The Mysterious Aluminum That Vanishes by Sending Three Protons Flying

Both a wildfire and activity of digital "neurons" exhibit a phase transition from an active to an absorbing phase. Once a system reaches an absorbing phase, it cannot escape from it without outside help. Credit: Tamai et al 2025

The Physics Secret Hidden Inside Artificial Intelligence

Researchers have now developed an efficient technique for integrating quantum dot lasers within silicon chiplets for scalable practical applications. Credit: karlsbad at Openverse https://openverse.org/image/baf603fd-a4c8-49f8-9b89-667a56ab21e7?q=silicon+chip&p=17

Tiny Lasers on Chips Could Make Your Devices Blazing Fast

TESS target pixel file image of TOI-2431 in Sector 31. Credit: Taş et al., 2025.

The Molten Planet That Orbits Its Star in Just Five Hours

The image to the left, taken with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows a possible planet being born around the young star HD 135344B. This star, located around 440 light-years away, is surrounded by a disk of dust and gas with prominent spiral arms. Theory predicts that planets can sculpt spiral arms like these, and the new planet candidate is located at the base of one of the arms, just as expected. The image was captured with a new VLT instrument: the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS). The central black circle corresponds to a coronagraph––a device that blocks the light of the star to reveal faint details around it. The white circle indicates the location of the planet. The image to the right is a combination of previous observations taken with the SPHERE instrument also at the VLT (red) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, orange and blue). These and other previous studies of HD 135344B did not find signatures of a companion, but ERIS may have finally unveiled the culprit responsible for the star's spiral disk. Credit: ESO/F. Maio et al./T. Stolker et al./ ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/N. van der Marel et al.

The Cosmic Moment When a Planet Is Born Before Our Eyes

Characterization of cortical organoids cultured with xanthan gum. Credit: Nature Biomedical Engineering (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41551-025-01427-3

Growing Tiny Brains in the Lab Unlocks Secrets of Human Mind

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Will the Magnetic Poles Flip? What Earth’s History Reveals

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Is Earth Running Out of Resources? What Geology Tells Us

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From Dust to Life: How Earth Formed and Why It’s Unique

The shape of the sea: waves crashing

How Oceans Control the Climate and the Future of the Planet

Typhoon, storm, windstorm, superstorm

Can We Predict Natural Disasters? What Earth Science Says

Earth’s layers

What’s at the Earth’s Core? Scientists Dig into the Unknown

A major earthquake disaster occurred in Kahramanmaras, Turkey.

What Causes Earthquakes? The Science Behind Earth’s Sudden Shaking

Two tectonic divergent plates boundaries that are moving away from each other.

The Mystery of Plate Tectonics: Why Continents Move

Huge Forest Fire in Red Pine Forests

How Climate Change Is Reshaping Our Planet in Real Time

Exploding Activity With Lava – Natural Phenomenon – Illustration

Inside Volcanoes: How Earth’s Fury Shapes the Surface

Artificial Intelligence Brain

From Sci-Fi to Reality: How Technology Is Making the Impossible Possible

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The Dark Side of Technology: Are We Sacrificing Privacy for Convenience?

Artificial Intelligence Brain

The Future of Technology: What Will the Next 10 Years Look Like?

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Will Robots Replace Humans? What Automation Means for Jobs

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How Smart Is Too Smart? The Truth About AI and Human Control