Space and time from Science Daily Feed

Every galaxy is thought to form at the center of a dark matter halo. Stars are formed when gravity within dark matter halos draws in gas, but astrophysicists don't know whether star-free dark matter halos exist. An Diego astrophysicist has calculated the mass below which halos fail to form.

Despite its uniquely rich inventory of organic molecules, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, may be able to support only a minuscule amount of biomass, if life exists on the moon, according to a study using bioenergetic modeling.

What if we spend decades building advanced telescopes to search for life on other planets and come up emptyhanded? A recent study exploring what we can learn about life in the universe -- even if we don't detect signs of life or habitability. Using advanced statistical modeling, the research team sought to explore how many exoplanets scientists should observe and understand before declaring that life beyond Earth is either common or rare.

Astronomers have discovered an extremely rare, high mass, compact binary star system only ~150 light years away. These two stars are on a collision course to explode as a type 1a supernova, appearing 10 times brighter than the moon.

A solar wind event from 2017 that hit Jupiter and compressed its magnetosphere created a hot region spanning half Jupiter's circumference.

The same dirt that clings to astronauts' boots may one day keep their lights on. Researchers created solar cells made out of simulated Moon dust. The cells convert sunlight into energy efficiently, withstand radiation damage, and mitigate the need for transporting heavy materials into space, offering a potential solution to one of space exploration's biggest challenges: reliable energy sources.

World leaders should look to existing international law on the use of force to address the threat of space becoming ever more militarized, a new study shows.

For a long time, scientists thought that only actively star-forming galaxies should be observed in the very early Universe. The James Webb space telescope now reveals that galaxies stopped forming stars earlier than expected. A recent discovery deepens the tension between theoretical models of cosmic evolution and actual observations. Among hundreds of spectra obtained with the Webb program RUBIES, the team has found a record-breaking galaxy that had already stopped forming stars during an epoch where galaxies are normally growing very rapidly.

An international team is currently closely tracking the near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4. The impact probability estimates for the year 2032 has been reduced from a peak of 3 percent to below 0.001 percent.

In new images, scientists have gotten the closest look yet at Sagittarius C -- a 'stellar nursery' where clouds of gas and dust have collapsed to form thousands of new stars.

Miso is a traditional Japanese condiment made by fermenting cooked soybeans and salt. Researchers successfully made miso on the International Space Station (ISS). They found that the miso smelled and tasted similar to miso fermented on Earth -- just with a slightly nuttier, more roasted flavor. The team hopes this research will help broaden the culinary options available to astronauts, improving the quality of life for long-term space travelers.

Researchers interrogated the 'sounds' of a cluster of stars within the Milky Way, uncovering a new technique for astrophysicists to probe the universe and learn more about its evolution.

Inhaling dust particles from the Red Planet over long periods of time could put humans at risk of developing respiratory issues, thyroid disease and other health problems.

Deep below the Earth's surface, rock and mineral formations lay hidden with a secret brilliance. Under a black light, the chemicals fossilized within shine in brilliant hues of pink, blue and green. Scientists are using these fluorescent features to understand how the caves formed and the conditions for supporting life in extreme, and even extraterrestrial, environments.

The longest organic molecules identified to date on Mars have recently been detected. These long carbon chains, containing up to 12 consecutive carbon atoms, could exhibit features similar to the fatty acids produced on Earth by biological activity. The lack of geological activity and the cold, arid climate on Mars have helped preserve this invaluable organic matter in a clay-rich sample for the past 3.7 billion years. It therefore dates from the period during which life first emerged on Earth.

To mitigate global climate change, emissions of the primary culprit, carbon dioxide, must be drastically reduced. A newly developed process helps solve this problem: CO2 is directly split electrochemically into carbon and oxygen. Oxygen could also be produced in this way under water or in space -- without requiring stringent conditions such as pressure and temperature.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument used millions of galaxies and quasars to build the largest 3D map of our universe to date. Combining their data with other experiments shows signs that the impact of dark energy may be weakening over time -- and the standard model of how the universe works may need an update.

Astronomers have detected oxygen in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0. This record-breaking detection is making astronomers rethink how quickly galaxies formed in the early Universe.

On 19 March 2025, the European Space Agency's Euclid mission releases its first batch of survey data, including a preview of its deep fields. Here, hundreds of thousands of galaxies in different shapes and sizes take center stage and show a glimpse of their large-scale organization in the cosmic web.

Physicists have measured a nuclear reaction that can occur in neutron star collisions, providing direct experimental data for a process that had previously only been theorised. The study provides new insight into how the universe's heaviest elements are forged -- and could even drive advancements in nuclear reactor physics.