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

This illustration shows what the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b could look like. TRAPPIST-1 b is the innermost of seven known planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. TRAPPIST-1 is an ultracool red dwarf star. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA and Joseph Olmsted (STScI).

Searching for Life Around Dying Stars: Caldon Whyte’s Bold Exploration of White Dwarfs and Habitable Worlds

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3C 315: Unlocking the Mysteries of an X-Shaped Radio Galaxy

An artist's concept of the famous Wolf-Rayet 104 "pinwheel star," previously nicknamed the "Death Star." New research conducted from Maunakea, Hawaiʻi using three Keck Observatory instruments reveals the orbit of the two stars are angled 30 or 40 degrees away from us, sparing Earth from a potential gamma-ray burst (GRB). Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

WR 104: The Spinning Pinwheel Star That Defied Expectations

Image showing mPFC axons in blue (axons in magenta, presynaptic boutons in yellow, neuronal nuclei in blue). Credit: Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-01890-w

Understanding the Developing Brain: How Neural Circuits Shape Threat Responses

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Interstellar Travel: How Far Can We Go?

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Auroras on Jupiter: The Giant Planet’s Dazzling Light Show

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Cosmic Rays: The Universe’s High-Energy Particles

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Saturn’s Moons: Enceladus and Titan’s Hidden Oceans

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The Great Attractor: What’s Pulling Our Galaxy?

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Why Do Stars Twinkle? The Science Behind the Sparkle

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The First Stars: Population III and the Dawn of Light

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Terraforming Mars: Making a Red Planet Green

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Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts: Signals from Deep Space

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The Drake Equation: Estimating Alien Civilizations

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Space Weather: How the Sun Affects Our Lives

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Chasing Comets: Missions to Ancient Space Travelers

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The Fascinating World of Dwarf Planets

This image of the sky around the bright star Alpha Centauri AB also shows the much fainter red dwarf star, Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. The picture was created from pictures forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. The blue halo around Alpha Centauri AB is an artifact of the photographic process, the star is really pale yellow in colour like the Sun. Proxima Centauri appears as a faint red star towards the lower-right of the picture, a labelled version is available here.

Can Humans Survive a Journey to Alpha Centauri?

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Stellar Nurseries: Where Stars Are Born

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How Gravity Shapes the Universe

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Mars Rovers: Robotic Explorers of the Red Planet

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Life on Europa: Oceans Beneath the Ice

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Cosmic Microwave Background: Echoes of Creation

The clearest look in the infrared yet at the iconic multi-planet system HR 8799. Colors are applied to filters from Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera). A star symbol marks the location of the host star HR 8799, whose light has been blocked by the coronagraph. In this image, the color blue is assigned to 4.1 micron light, green to 4.3 micron light, and red to the 4.6 micron light. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, W. Balmer (JHU), L. Pueyo (STScI), M. Perrin (STScI)

James Webb Space Telescope Captures Direct Carbon Dioxide Images in Distant Planetary System HR 8799

This 25-arcsecond-wide, enhanced RGB image showcases the "Big Wheel" galaxy at redshift 3.25, a cosmic giant whose light has travelled over 12 billion years to reach us. In striking contrast, the bright blue galaxy at the upper right is a nearby object (z≈0.1), only about 1.5 billion light years away, making the Big Wheel roughly 50 times further away. Although both appear similar in angular size on the sky, the enormous distance of the Big Wheel reveals its truly colossal physical scale, underscoring the remarkable growth of galaxies in the early universe. Credit: James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Astronomers Unveil Colossal Spiral Galaxy From the Early Universe, Defying Cosmic Expectations

OAM-dependent ionization in atoms. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57618-8

Researchers Control Atomic Ionization Using Optical Vortex Beams

Researchers at Wuhan University have observed amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from a degenerate electron-hole plasma in suspended bilayer tungsten disulfide (WS₂), marking a groundbreaking discovery in 2D optoelectronic materials. This phenomenon could pave the way for next-generation quantum light sources and ultra-efficient photonic devices.

Amplified Spontaneous Emission Discovered in 2D Electron-Hole Plasma

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Ancient Sculptures: More Than Meets the Eye (And Nose!)

Iron shackles on the floor of Room 44.15 (photo by B. Redon). Credit: Antiquity (2025). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2025.39

Shackles in the Sand: Unearthing the Harsh Truth of Ptolemaic Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt

Multi-angle views of the stained teeth of 07TSM11:B. Credit: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s12520-025-02188-5

First Case of Cinnabar-Stained Teeth Found in Ancient Burial