Space exploration

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.

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.
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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
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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
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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.
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When will the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies collide?

Every hour, it gets 432,000km closer
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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.
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If everything stopped spinning, would gravity cease to exist?

Yes, including you
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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
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How old is the Universe, really?

We might not know when the Big Bang actually was
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The 17 worst ideas of the 21st century (so far)

Sorry, Google Glass
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This top-secret US space plane could reshape space warfare forever

The X-37B returned to Earth this month, but details of its time in space remain hazy, to say the least.
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10 ingenious inventions about to change our world forever

From nano-medics, to digital twins and space janitors
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Could we really build a space elevator?

It needs to be 50 times stronger than steel
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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.
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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.
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Our chances of finding alien life just skyrocketed. Here’s why

Samples from the asteroid Bennu could not only give us insights into life on Earth but also the potential for more across the Universe.
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We finally know how life on Earth started, staggering new asteroid discovery suggests

A ‘briny broth’ may unlock the secrets of life both on Earth and further afield.
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Fireball meteor shower: How to see the spectacular November Leonids

Known as one of the best meteor shower events, the Leonids are one you won’t want to miss.
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NASA’s bold new mission is our best chance of finding aliens. Here's why

If life exists elsewhere in the Solar System, one of the most likely places is Jupiter's moon Europa.
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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.
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This radical 'dark stars' theory could solve our Universe’s greatest mystery

Massive, invisible stars that formed in the earliest days of the Universe may hold clues to the true nature of dark matter. And we might have found some.
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Rogue worlds: How we could soon unravel the mystery of the Universe’s loneliest planets

Some planets are stuck following the same orbital paths their entire lives. Others break free to wander alone through the vast, empty darkness of interstellar space. And there's a lot more of them than you might think.
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