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Europa’s buried ocean has made it one of the most exciting places to search for life beyond Earth. However, new calculations suggest its seafloor may be calm, cold, and largely inactive, with little energy to support living organisms. Unlike Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, Europa experiences weaker tidal forces that fail to drive underwater geology. The ocean may exist, but it could be a very quiet place.

Researchers have built a new platform that produces ultrashort UV-C laser pulses and detects them at room temperature using atom-thin materials. The light flashes last just femtoseconds and can be used to send encoded messages through open space. The system relies on efficient laser generation and highly responsive sensors that scale well for manufacturing. Together, these advances could accelerate the development of next-generation photonic technologies.

Researchers have built a new platform that produces ultrashort UV-C laser pulses and detects them at room temperature using atom-thin materials. The light flashes last just femtoseconds and can be used to send encoded messages through open space. The system relies on efficient laser generation and highly responsive sensors that scale well for manufacturing. Together, these advances could accelerate the development of next-generation photonic technologies.

Researchers at TU Wien have discovered a quantum system where energy and mass move with perfect efficiency. In an ultracold gas of atoms confined to a single line, countless collisions occur—but nothing slows down. Instead of diffusing like heat in metal, motion travels cleanly and undiminished, much like a Newton’s cradle. The finding reveals a striking form of transport that breaks the usual rules of resistance.

A new video shows the evolution of Kepler’s Supernova Remnant using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured over more than two and a half decades.

A comprehensive review confirms the benefits of exercise for treating depression, even if the exact reasons remain unclear

So let’s say you set up an experiment to measure a quantum property of subatomic particles. Like, I don’t know, spin.

All of physics rests on causal determinism. It’s like…how we do physics. It IS physics.

New research shows that Jupiter's moon Europa, one of the prime targets in the search for life, may not have the conditions required after all. The research shows that the moon lacks the type of active seafloor faulting needed to create habitability. Deep sea vents created by the faulting introduce nutrients into the water that organisms use to harness energy, and without those nutrients, the moon's subsurface ocean is likely dead.

Tessellations aren’t just eye-catching patterns—they can be used to crack complex mathematical problems. By repeatedly reflecting shapes to tile a surface, researchers uncovered a method that links geometry, symmetry, and problem-solving. The technique works in both ordinary flat space and curved hyperbolic worlds used in theoretical physics. Its blend of beauty and precision could influence everything from engineering to digital design.

Drugs like Ozempic have transformed how we treat obesity, but a review of almost 40 studies shows it doesn't take long for people to regain weight if they come off them

Around the bright star Fomalhaut, astronomers spotted glowing clouds of debris left behind by colossal collisions between large space rocks. One of these clouds was even mistaken for a planet before slowly fading away. Seeing two such events in just two decades hints that violent impacts may be surprisingly common in young star systems. It’s like watching planets-in-the-making collide before our eyes.

A study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters demonstrates that decaying dark matter (DDM) can potentially be detected in unidentified X-ray emission lines in the spectra of galaxy clusters.

A new survey of K-type stars in the Sun's neighbourhood reveals important information about their ability to sustain their habitable zones. These stars are less massive, cooler, and dimmer than the Sun, but stay on the main sequence for many tens of billions of years. Their long lives can create the stable conditions necessary for life to develop on exoplanets.

A collection of arrow points excavated in South Africa has provided the oldest direct evidence of hunters deploying plant-based poisons on their weapons, a practice that has continued into modern times in some traditional cultures

While US President Donald Trump and his administration are making false and debunked claims about the causes of autism, real research is improving our understanding of the condition

After finding success with last year's New Year's resolution, health reporter Grace Wade has grand plans for 2026 – and the science to back them up

With a new 28 Days Later movie and a new Dune, not to mention films from Stephen Spielberg and Ridley Scott, this is shaping up to be a vintage year for sci-fi, says Simon Ings

The Nesin Mathematics Village in western Turkey was dreamed up by award-winning mathematician Ali Nesin to engage his students

We are going to be getting a lot of exciting new information about galaxies in 2026, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who can't wait to see what it can tell us