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Articles by Science News Today

A graphic showing how ligands (circled) attached to the metallic (green sphere) center of a catalyst drive the selective conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to formate (HCO2-). This ligand-based reaction maximizes the yield of this industrially important product by preventing unwanted side reactions. Credit: Andressa Müller/Brookhaven National Laboratory

Scientists Harness Light to Turn Carbon Dioxide into Valuable Fuel

White diamonds show the locations of 20 of the 83 young, low-mass, starburst galaxies found in infrared images of the giant galaxy cluster Abell 2744. This composite incorporates images taken through three NIRCam filters (F200W as blue, F410M as green, and F444W as red). The F410M filter is highly sensitive to light emitted by doubly ionized oxygen — oxygen atoms that have been stripped of two electrons — at a time when reionization was well underway. Emitted as green light, the glow was stretched into the infrared as it traversed the expanding universe over billions of years. The cluster’s mass acts as a natural magnifying glass, allowing astronomers to see these tiny galaxies as they were when the universe was about 800 million years old. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/Bezanson et al. 2024 and Wold et al. 2025

Webb Telescope Uncovers Small Galaxies That Transformed the Cosmos Forever

1.3 mm (Left panels) and 12CO (2-1) moment zero images (Right panels) of the AGE-PRO sample. Credit: arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2506.10719

Baby Stars Reveal the Secret Life of Planets

Projected DM density maps at z = 0 for a subset of the high-resolution beyond-CDM simulations of an MW-like system (Halo004). For each simulation, the visualization is centered on the host halo and spans 1.5 times its virial radius. The half-mode scale is the same for every model within each column, except for the IDM models in the left column, which correspond to envelope cross sections for mIDM = 10−2 GeV with n = 2 (third row) and n = 4 (fourth row). The mWDM = 6.5 keV visualization is highlighted as a reference model used throughout the paper. Note that the mWDM = 10 keV and mFDM,22 = 490 density maps are visually similar to CDM. Visualizations were created using meshoid (https://github.com/mikegrudic/meshoid). Credit: The Astrophysical Journal (2025). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/adceef

New Supercomputer Galaxies Could Explain What Dark Matter Really Is

This artist's conception depicts a bright pulse of radio waves (the FRB) on its journey through the fog between galaxies, known as the intergalactic medium. Long wavelengths, shown in red, are slowed down compared to shorter, bluer wavelengths, allowing astronomers to "weigh" the otherwise invisible ordinary matter. Credit: Melissa Weiss/CfA

Astronomers Finally Find the Universe’s Missing Matter with Mysterious Radio Signals

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Secrets of the Grave Unearthed Across Medieval Europe

Pulse profiles of IGR J19294+1816 obtained from Insight-HXMT data in different energy bands. Credit: arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2506.05771

Astronomers Detect Mysterious X-ray Heartbeat from Distant Star System

Snapshot of the system at 1.3 seconds after the binary neutron star merger. The density (blue and green contour), magnetic field lines penetrating the black hole (magenta lines), and magnetically driven jet (green arrows) are depicted. The bottom left panel shows a zoomed-in view of the region near the black hole. Credit: Kota Hayashi / Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)

Scientists Simulate a Neutron Star Collision and Watch a Black Hole Jet Emerge

$Artistic depiction of spatial and spectral engineering of 3D point-spread-functions using diffractive optical processors. Credit: Ozcan Lab / UCLA$

Scientists Create Optical Processor That Sees in Three Dimensions and Color

Adult polyp of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Credit: Grigory Genikhovich

Sea Anemones Reveal a 600-Million-Year-Old Secret About Animal Evolution

Comparison of HDO/H2O ratios measured in various primitive solar system objects and toward protostars in both ices and the gas phase. The ice HDO/H2O ratio of L1527 measured in this work using JWST data is indicated with the large orange hexagon. Credit: arXiv: DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2505.14686

Water Older Than the Sun Found Around a Baby Star

What Are the Main Causes of Earth’s Climate Variability?

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What Are the Main Causes of Earth’s Climate Variability?

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What Are the Effects of Solar Wind on Earth’s Atmosphere?

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Understanding Earth’s Carbon Footprint and How to Reduce It

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The Role of Earth’s Lithosphere in Plate Tectonics

The History of Earth’s Geological Evolution

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Why Earth’s Biodiversity Is Essential for Ecosystem Health

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The Geological Forces Behind Earthquakes and Volcanoes

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Spinning Skies: How Earth’s Rotation Shapes Our Weather Systems

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The Breath of the Blue Planet: The Role of Earth’s Surface Water in the Global Climate System

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What Is Earth’s Ozone Layer and Why Is It Important?

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Exploring the Concept of Earth’s “Critical Zone”

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What Would Happen If Earth Stopped Rotating?

The shape of the sea: waves crashing

How Earth’s Oceans Help Regulate the Global Climate

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The Future of Earth’s Natural Resources: Are We Running Out?

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How Earth’s Atmosphere Protects Us from the Sun’s Radiation

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The Science Behind Earth’s Seasons: Why We Have Four

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What Makes Earth Unique Among the Planets?

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How Soil Erosion Impacts Earth’s Ecosystems