Universe
Dispatches from the edges of space and time
NASA’s New Dark Universe Telescope Sets Off to Map the Hidden Cosmos
The new telescope just began a three–month cruise to a quiet perch a million miles from Earth, preparing to chart dark matter, track dark energy, and sweep the sky for hidden worlds orbiting distant stars.
By Nate Gesar • Aug 31, 2026
Lunar Customs: Why Some Scientists Want a Port of Entry on the Moon
To guard Earth from alien microbes hitchhiking home on Mars rocks, researchers are proposing a biocontainment base on the moon. A planetary firewall for the new space age.
By Serrae Bell • Aug 12, 2026
Astronomers detected a powerful cosmic 'UFO'. It’s not what you think
It's called an ‘ultra-fast outflow,’ and it's exactly as dramatic as it sounds: multiple layers of wind blasting out 20 suns' worth of gas every year at extreme speed.
By Cambrie Juarez • Aug 4, 2026
AI Just Found 118 Hidden Worlds in NASA’s Data
Trained on hundreds of thousands of simulations, an algorithm called RAVEN has uncovered ultra‑short‑period worlds and rare Neptunian “desert” planets that could force a rewrite of planetary formation theory.
By Sarah Simon • Jul 29, 2026
On a Planet With No Sunrises & No Sunsets, Scientists Hunt Life in the Twilight
By modeling heat flow beneath a fixed-sun super-Earth, physicists show its mid-latitudes could stay temperate as livable pockets even as one face burns and the other freezes.
By Jeff Kent • Jul 20, 2026
Humanity Just Found the Milky Way’s Edge And Earth’s Closer Than We Thought
By tracking ancient giant stars, astronomers have traced a fuzzy, long‑hidden boundary where the Milky Way’s star‑forming disc ends that is only tens of thousands of light‑years beyond our own Sun.
By Marc Alexander • Jun 26, 2026
Do Aliens Think We’re Ghosting Them?
A new SETI Institute study suggests the cosmic silence isn't proof we're alone, it's proof we've been listening for the wrong shape of signal.
By Jeff Kent • Jun 18, 2026
27 Tatooines: Astronomers Spot New Worlds With Double Suns in Our Own Galaxy
Luke Skywalker’s home planet may be fictional, but Earth's scientists recently identified several planets in the Milky Way galaxy with Tatooine-like sunsets.
By Serrae Bell • Jun 17, 2026
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Lost in Space: Microgravity Makes Sperm Lose Their Sense of Direction
Scientists just discovered that microgravity turns sperm into aimless wanderers, threatening humanity's plans for off-world colonies before they even begin.
By Ethan Denma • May 31, 2026
Alien Space Weather Stations Orbiting Distant Stars Could Tell Us Where Life Exists
Massive plasma rings around young M dwarf stars are giving astronomers their first real look at the invisible particle storms shaping exoplanet habitability.
By Ethan Denma • May 6, 2026
‘Forbidden’ Black Holes: How the Biggest Stars Die Without a Trace
Scientists have found the clearest evidence yet of a 'forbidden gap' in black hole masses, where the biggest stars don't collapse—they detonate into nothing.
By Milky Way News Editorial • Apr 24, 2026
“Ancient Immigrant”: The Cosmic Time Capsule Drifting Through Our Galaxy
The star born near the dawn of the universe migrated from a neighboring galaxy into the Milky Way billions of years ago. College students found it on Spring Break.
By Milky Way News Editorial • Apr 14, 2026
Mars Kept Its Water Hidden for Billions of Years. Humans May Have Discovered Its Hiding Spot.
New findings suggest the Martian underground harbored flowing water and life-friendly conditions long after the surface went silent. The race to dig deeper is on.
By Milky Way News Editorial • Mar 23, 2026
A Massive Star Vanished Without a Trace. Astronomers Finally Know Why.
One of the Andromeda Galaxy’s brightest stars collapsed quietly into a black hole—no explosion, no supernova. Just gone.
By Milky Way News Editorial • Feb 25, 2026
Betelgeuse Has a Lydia Too: Hubble Just Discovered the Red Supergiant's Secret Companion Star
A newly discovered stellar partner, swirling through Betelgeuse’s vast clouds, could hold the key to the giant star’s strange behavior as seen from Earth.
By Milky Way News Editorial • Feb 2, 2026