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Astrophysics

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Tiny Galaxies Reveal Secrets of Supermassive Black Holes

March 14, 2022

Dwarf galaxies weren’t supposed to have big black holes. Their surprise discovery has revealed clues about how the universe’s biggest black holes could have formed.

Four Years On, New Experiment Sees No Sign of ‘Cosmic Dawn’

February 28, 2022

When astronomers tried to confirm a signal from the birth of the first stars after the Big Bang, they saw nothing.

Any Single Galaxy Reveals the Composition of an Entire Universe

January 20, 2022

In computer simulations of possible universes, researchers have discovered that a neural network can infer the amount of matter in a whole universe by studying just one of its galaxies.

The Year in Physics

December 22, 2021

Puzzling particles, quirky (and controversial) quantum computers, and one of the most ambitious science experiments in history marked the year’s milestones.

The Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works.

December 3, 2021

The James Webb Space Telescope has the potential to rewrite the history of the cosmos and reshape humanity’s position within it. But first, a lot of things have to work just right.

A Hint of Dark Matter Sends Physicists Looking to the Skies

October 19, 2021

After a search of neutron stars finds preliminary evidence for hypothetical dark matter particles called axions, astrophysicists are devising new ways to spot them.

Neither Star nor Planet: A Strange Brown Dwarf Puzzles Astronomers

August 4, 2021

Brown dwarfs such as “The Accident” are illuminating the murky borderlands that separate planets from stars.

Brighter Than a Billion Billion Suns: Gamma-Ray Bursts Continue to Surprise

June 30, 2021

These ultrabright flashes have recently been tracked for days, upending ideas about the cataclysms that create them.

Astronomers Find Secret Planet-Making Ingredient: Magnetic Fields

June 7, 2021

Scientists have long struggled to understand how common planets form. A new supercomputer simulation shows that the missing ingredient may be magnetism.

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