The dark side of online space disinformation | Science

Theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack spends a lot of time on Twitter. Mack, at North Carolina State University, joined the platform to talk about science under the moniker “Astro Katie” more than a decade ago. Since then, her fun and informative posts about space have earned her nearly half a million followers. Unfortunately, she says, there … Read more

The World’s ‘Happiest’ Countries Harbor a Dark Side, Wellbeing Study Reveals

Have you looked at the international rankings of the world’s happiest countries lately? Measuring a country’s subjective levels of happiness has become something of an international sport. People look with interest (and a little jealousy) to nations such as Denmark, which consistently tops the world’s happiness rankings.   It has also led to Danish practices … Read more

Cosmic robbery: New study explains how smaller galaxies lose their dark matter

Large galaxies may steal dark matter from smaller galaxies they nearly collide with, new research suggests.  Scientists from the University of California, Irvine and Pomona College used computer models to simulate the evolution of a corner of the universe about 60 million light-years across. The new computer models, which weren’t designed to do so, created … Read more

Behold, The Most Accurate Virtual Simulation of Our Universe to Date

In the Cosmic Calendar, which maps the chronology of the Universe across a single Earth year, modern humans don’t appear until the very last minute of December 31. Everything we understand about the evolution of the Universe, we’ve had to piece together. We simply haven’t been around for pretty much any of the 13.7 billion-year … Read more

Arctic Sponges Survive Dark, Hostile Conditions by Feasting on The Extinct

The bottom of the Arctic Ocean, below the permanent sea ice, is not a friendly place for life. Down there in the cold dark, nutrients and vegetation are sparse; it’s expected that any life that does manage to eke out an existence under these conditions would be likewise thin on the ground.   Scientists were … Read more

DNA Shed by Deep-Sea Organisms Reveals a Dark Abyss Teeming With Tiny Life Forms

Sweeping the ocean floor at hundreds of points throughout the world, researchers have revealed an astonishing diversity of microscopic life thriving in the deepest and darkest parts of our planet.   The sediment collected at each spot was analyzed for environmental DNA (eDNA), which marine animals shed as they go about their lives. While sea … Read more

NASA prepares for moon’s dark south pole in eerie lights-out ‘spacewalk’ (photo)

NASA is preparing for the day its astronauts explore the south pole of the moon by heading underwater with the lights out. NASA has long used a vast swimming pool dubbed the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory to prepare for spacewalks, since the underwater work experience is the closest they can get to reduced-gravity environments before blasting … Read more

Uranus And Neptune Aren’t The Same Color. A New Study Could Finally Explain Why

Uranus and Neptune are the most twin-like of all the planets in the Solar System. They are almost the same size and mass, have similar compositions and structures, even similar rotation rates.   Which makes one glaring difference quite perplexing. Neptune is a fetching shade of azure, with visible swirling storms. Uranus is more of … Read more

What is Dark Matter? | Space

Roughly 80% of the mass of the universe is made up of material that scientists cannot directly observe. Known as dark matter, this bizarre ingredient does not emit light or energy. So why do scientists think it dominates? Since at least the 1920s, astronomers have hypothesized that the universe contains more matter than seen by … Read more