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European Space Agency unveils first images from Earth-observation ‘sounder’ satellite

Uranus and Neptune may be more rocky than icy, say astrophysicists

Novel modelling approach suggests that the traditionally ice-rich image of these planets may be skewed

Images of Uranus, a turquoise-coloured world with a large white spot at the top, and Neptune, which is a slightly darker blue and has a smaller white spot. They're both floating against a black sky.

Cosmic time capsules: the search for pristine comets

Ancient icy wanderers like comet 3I/ATLAS, spotted in July 2025, can reveal secrets of our cosmic origins

Latest news

Astronomer Daniel Jaffe named president of the Giant Magellan Telescope project

Light pollution from satellite mega-constellations threaten space-based observations

China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft return delayed by space debris impact

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Research headlines

Hot ancient galaxy cluster challenges current cosmological models

Artist’s impression of the SPT2349–56 galaxy cluster

Gravitational lensing sheds new light on Hubble constant controversy

A montage of eight time-delay gravitational lens systems. There is an entire galaxy at the centre of each image, and bright points in rings around them.

Solar storms could be forecast by monitoring cosmic rays

CERN team solves decades-old mystery of light nuclei formation

ALICE collaboration identifies three-phase process that allows particles to form despite energetically unfavourable conditions

Motion through quantum space–time is traced by ‘q-desics’

Subtle quantum effects could be observed in how particles traverse cosmological distances

Components of RNA among life’s building blocks found in NASA asteroid sample

Samples from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu found to contain molecules and compounds vital to the origin of life

Astronomers observe a coronal mass ejection from a distant star

Burst from M-dwarf star could be powerful enough to strip the atmosphere of any planets that orbit it, with implications for the search for extraterrestrial life

Galactic gamma rays could point to dark matter

Spectrum from the Milky Way’s halo matches WIMP annihilation

Did cannibal stars and boson stars populate the early universe?

Objects formed by exotic particles could have created primordial black holes

Explore more in astronomy and space

Mission to Mars: from biological barriers to ethical impediments

Emma Chapman reviews Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds by Scott Solomon

Two adults and a child wearing spacesuits on a red planet with biodomes in the background

Quantum information theory sheds light on quantum gravity

Our podcast guest is Alex May of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Bring gravity back down to Earth: from giraffes and tree snakes to ‘squishy’ space–time

Emma Chapman reviews Crush: Close Encounters with Gravity by James Riordon

child sat cross legged on grass with a book on their lap and windfall apples by their feet

Quantum gravity: we explore spin foams and other potential solutions to this enduring challenge

Bianca Dittrich of the Perimeter Institute is our podcast guest

Photograph of Bianca Dittrich at the Perimeter Institute

Accelerator experiment sheds light on missing blazar radiation

Measurement discounts loss from plasma instabilities

The Fireball experiment installed in the HiRadMat irradiation area at CERN

Plasma bursts from young stars could shed light on the early life of the Sun

New multi-temperature coronal mass ejection observations might help us better understand how life emerged and evolved on Earth

Flattened halo of dark matter could explain high-energy ‘glow’ at Milky Way’s heart

Finding brings us a step closer to solving the mystery of dark matter, say astronomers

Cosmic dawn: the search for the primordial hydrogen signal

Sarah Wild talks to astronomers across the world who are on a hunt for a subtle hydrogen signal that could confirm or disprove our ideas on the universe’s evolut...

A radio antenna shaped like a table in remote tundra

Classical gravity may entangle matter, new study claims

Surprising result could guide searches for quantum gravity

Rapidly spinning black holes put new limit on ultralight bosons

Gravitational waves confirm predictions of Einstein and Kerr

Artist’s impression of the merger of two black holes

Young rogue planet grows like a star

Telescope observations reveal material accreting onto the planet Cha1107-7626 in a way that resembles the infancy of stars

Artist's impression of a rogue planet surrounded by a disk of gas and dust. The planet and its surrounding dust glow red-orange against the blackness of space

New adaptive optics technology boosts the power of gravitational wave detectors

FROnt Surface Type Irradiator, or FROSTI, will allow future detectors to run at higher laser powers, reducing noise and expanding capabilities

Photo of two researchers in a clean room with the components of the prototype. They're wearing white bunny suits, gloves, and masks over their noses and mouths. The components are shiny and gold and laid out on a bench

‘Science needs all perspectives – male, female and everything in-between’: Brazilian astronomer Thaisa Storchi Bergmann

Meghie Rodrigues talks to Brazilian astronomer Thaisa Storchi Bergmann about curiosity, black holes and current challenges in research funding

Astronauts could soon benefit from dissolvable eye insert

A solution to microgravity-related vision problems is the topic of this week's podcast

Photographs of Diána Balogh-Weiser and Zoltan Nagy

Phase shift in optical cavities could detect low-frequency gravitational waves

Global network could pinpoint astronomical sources

Schematic of the gravitational-wave detector

Optical gyroscope detects Earth’s rotation with the highest precision yet

With further improvements, the instrument could enable direct tests of relativistic effects

A photograph of the ring laser at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell in Bavaria. It's mounted on a circular platform, which is itself mounted on a chunky-looking metal dais. There's a person in black clothing working on the laser at the back of the room, but most other things in the room are grey or white.

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The top five physics Nobel prizes of the 21st century revealed

Matin Durrani counts down the five most signifiicant physics Nobels since 2000

NASA criticized over its management of $3.3bn Dragonfly mission to Titan

Cost overruns and delays have hit the drone-like rotorcraft mission

Artist's impression of Dragonfly mission

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Mathematics and computation | Workshop Nonlinear and Complex Physics: Emergence Workshop 29 January 2026 | London, UK
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