What Is the Big Bang Theory?

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What was the Big Bang? The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation for how the universe began. Simply put, it says the universe as we know it started with an infinitely hot and dense single point that inflated and stretched — first at unimaginable speeds, and then at a more measurable rate — over … Read more

JWST: James Webb Space Telescope has finished unfolding its massive mirror

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The space telescope has successfully completed a series of crucial steps to achieve full deployment, and will now continue to its final destination 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth Space 10 January 2022 By Alex Wilkins An artist’s impression of the full deployed James Webb Space Telescope NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez The James Webb Space … Read more

ArXiv.org Reaches a Milestone and a Reckoning

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What started in 1989 as an e-mail list for a few dozen string theorists has now grown to a collection of more than two million papers—and the central hub for physicists, astronomers, computer scientists, mathematicians and other researchers. On January 3 the preprint server arXiv.org crossed the milestone with a numerical analysis paper entitled “Affine … Read more

Lego Star Wars AT-AT review

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We enjoyed building the Lego Star Wars AT-AT far more than we thought we would. While you expect detail and authenticity from a $160 kit, the actual finished model doesn’t look all that exciting – it’s a large, gray mechanical space-horse noted for the fact it falls over relatively easily in the Star Wars movies. … Read more

NASA’s new astronaut candidates report to Houston to begin training

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HOUSTON — One month after being announced to the world, NASA’s ten new astronaut candidates are reporting to work to begin two years of training. The four women and six men, who were chosen from a pool of more than 12,000 applicants, are starting their new careers as future space station crew members and possible … Read more

Yes, there is really ‘diamond rain’ on Uranus and Neptune

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This illustration shows the diamond rain on Neptune.  (Image credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) The ice giants Uranus and Neptune don’t get nearly enough press; all the attention goes to their larger siblings, mighty Jupiter and magnificent Saturn.  At first glance, Uranus and Neptune are just bland, boring balls of uninteresting molecules. But hiding … Read more

Physicists crack unsolvable three-body problem using drunkard’s walk

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A physics problem that has plagued science since the days of Isaac Newton is closer to being solved, say a pair of Israeli researchers. The duo used “the drunkard’s walk” to calculate the outcome of a cosmic dance between three massive objects, or the so-called three-body problem. For physicists, predicting the motion of two massive … Read more

Remember That Weird ‘Cube’ on The Moon? Yutu-2 Finally Took Closer Pictures

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China’s mysterious “Moon cube” is a mystery no longer. The big reveal: It’s a rock that’s not even shaped like a cube. The nation’s Yutu-2 rover discovered the object – which appeared to be a gray cube looming on the lunar horizon – in early December. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) dubbed it ‘mysterious hut’, playfully … Read more