Two broad wedges made of thousands of tiny dots in colorful bands on a black background.

Shifting Forces: The Evolving Debate Around Dark Energy

New evidence suggests the universe might not behave as expected, raising questions about the costs of being wrong.
These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface.

The Mystery of Mercury’s Missing Meteorites

And how we may have finally found some.
Illustration of space junk orbiting the Earth.

Garbage on the Final Frontier

We’ve trashed Earth, so let’s trash space… Oh, wait, we already have!
Illustration of Skylab with deployed parasol, ca. 1973

Skylab, Sealab, and the Psychology of the Extreme

During the Cold War, small groups of Americans lived together in space and at the bottom of the sea, offering psychologists a unique study opportunity.
Artist’s conception of early star formation:

When Everything in the Universe Changed

The revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope and next-gen radio telescopes are probing what’s known as the epoch of reionization.
A detail from the Arecibo message as sent 1974 from the Arecibo Observatory

The Arecibo Message Fifty Years Later

In November 1974, astronomers used the radio telescope at Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory to send a hello to the universe.
A view of Europa captured by JunoCam, the public engagement camera aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft, 2022

NASA’s Europa Clipper

The spacecraft will investigate whether an icy moon of Jupiter can support alien life.
An artist's representation of the Earth during Huronian Glaciation

Snowball Earth

How scientists discovered that unique Scottish rocks record when Earth was first encased in ice.
The main mass of the Nqweba meteorite showing the black fusion crust and brecciated interior (light grey) with broken mineral and rock fragments.

Meteorite Strike in South Africa

Scientists offer clues about what it is and where it came from.