Space exploration
Ever since Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, space exploration has captivated the minds of both the scientific world and the general public. To this day there have been hundreds of manned space flights from all around the globe and even more probes sent to explore our Solar System. With the dawn of private space flight through companies such as SpaceX and the continued desire to find another inhabitable planet, the incentive to probe the edges of the Solar System only grows.
The new mystery hidden inside the Universe's biggest ever black hole
Black holes are big. Very big. But physics makes it almost impossible for them to grow. Here’s how one black hole defied the odds to swell to gargantuan proportions.
10 times space missions went hilariously wrong
From dropped tool bags to farting astronauts, spaceflight has had its fair share of amusing mistakes and embarrassing oversights
A top secret US spacecraft takes flight tonight – and it could rewrite the rules of future warfare
The X-37B returned to Earth this month, but details of its time in space remain hazy, to say the least.
Something is wrong with our understanding of the Universe and the closer we look the weirder it gets
Our picture of the cosmos is incredibly detailed. But it's by no means complete. There are crucial pieces missing in the cosmic jigsaw. And without them the picture just doesn't make sense.
Here's how astronauts will soon solve murders in space
Houston, we have a homicide
The six little red dots that nearly broke the Universe
The discovery of these unidentifiable objects threatened to break our understanding of the cosmos
We may finally have an easy way to make water on the Moon
Lunar dust could one day quench astronauts’ thirst – and help make their fuel
The first commercial space station is nearly here. And it could change space forever
Next year, a team of astronauts will enter a new kind of space station – not built by a nation, but by a startup
Why does Mars have such a weird shape?
It might have something to do with a missing, ancient moon named Nerio
Have we ever intercepted anything from aliens?
We’ve detected strange things in space – just not aliens. Yet
End of the Universe: 4 ways our cosmic apocalypse could unfold
A supercollider may one day help us predict the fate of the Universe. Scientists will use it to find a hidden instability built into the fabric of existence… one that could destroy everything.
Strange signals are reaching us from a dead galaxy. Here's what we know...
New discoveries are shaking up what little we thought we knew about fast radio bursts
We may finally know what happened to the missing water on Mars
A new study may have uncovered the Red Planet’s long-lost water – and a fresh lead in the search for life
Scientists may have just solved one of space’s biggest mysteries
Why carbon-rich asteroids rarely reach the ground may hold the key to our cosmic origin story.
When will the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies collide?
Every hour, it gets 432,000km closer
How old is Jupiter's Great Red Spot, really?
How old is Jupiter's Great Red Spot? Recent research suggests it may not be as old as you thought.
If everything stopped spinning, would gravity cease to exist?
Yes, including you
A 'Bermuda Triangle of Space' has created a no-go region above Earth. Here's how
Above Earth, there is a void, a no-go zone that spacecraft enter at their own peril
How old is the Universe, really?
We might not know when the Big Bang actually was
The 17 worst ideas of the 21st century (so far)
Sorry, Google Glass
10 ingenious inventions about to change our world forever
From nano-medics, to digital twins and space janitors
Could we really build a space elevator?
It needs to be 50 times stronger than steel
Alien life on Mars: Ancient beach discovery may offer clearest proof yet
It's no Greek island, but the red planet's beaches may still have attracted microbial vacationers.
Beyond the speed of light: The strange particle that could reshape the laws of the Universe
As much as we want to tell Mr Sulu to “Take us to warp factor five”, dangerous causality problems, tricky maths and negative energy could get in the way.