Space News & Blog Articles

How could the principle of “radical mundanity” proposed by the Fermi paradox help explain why humans haven’t found evidence of extraterrestrial technological civilizations (ETCs)? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as a lone researcher investigated the prospect for finding ETCs based on this principle. This study has the potential to help scientists and the public better understand why we haven’t identified intelligent life beyond Earth and how we might narrow the search for it.

The Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) hasn't yet begun it's much-anticipated Legacy Survey of Space and Time. But it saw its first light in June 2025, when it captured its Virgo First Look images as part of commisioning its main camera. Those images are a sample of how the observatory will perform the LSST and feature the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

Nature's like a photographer's canvas backdrop, lit up by the different types of electromagnetic radiation. Gamma radiation is the most powerful, strong enough to rip your double helix in two. Radio waves are at the low end. They're generally safe, and are almost omnipresent; we live in a sea of radio waves.

What if I told you that while you can’t see dark matter, maybe you can hear it? I know, I know, it sounds crazy…and it is crazy. But it’s crazy enough that it just might work. It’s a real life experiment, called the…let me see here…the Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers, or CRESST – that’s a double s in case you didn’t catch that. Look it’s not the greatest of acronyms but we’re going to just go with it.

We successfully plugged the hole in the ozone layer that was discovered in the 1980s by banning ozone depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). But, it seems we might be unintentionally creating another potential atmospheric calamity by using the upper atmosphere to destroy huge constellations of satellites after a very short (i.e. 5 year) lifetime. According to a new paper by Leonard Schulz of the Technical University of Braunschweig and his co-authors, material from satellites that burn up in the atmosphere, especially transition metals, could have unforeseen consequences on atmospheric chemistry - and we’re now the biggest contributor of some of those elements.

Why is it important to know about exoplanets having their atmospheres stripped while orbiting F-type stars? This is what a recent study submitted to *The Astronomical Journal* hopes to address as an international team of scientists conducted a first-time investigation into atmospheric escape on planets orbiting F-type stars, the latter of which are larger and hotter than our Sun. Atmospheric escape occurs on planets orbiting extremely close to their stars, resulting in the extreme temperature and radiation from the host star slowly stripping away the planet’s atmosphere.

It's a well-known fact that Jupiter plays a vital role in the dynamics of the Solar System. As the largest planet beyond the "Frost Line," the boundary where volatiles (like water) freeze, Jupiter protects the planets of the inner Solar System from potential impacts by asteroids and comets. In addition to this "guardian" role, Jupiter has also been an "architect" planet that affected the evolution of the early Solar System and the orbits of its planets. According to new research from Rice University, Jupiter reshaped the Solar System by carving rings and gaps in the protoplanetary disk, leading to the formation of late-stage meteorites.

We are truly lucky to live in an age where modern instruments - like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - exist and are pulling back the veil on the period known as the Cosmic Dark Ages (aka. the Epoch of Reionization). Thanks to its sophisticated suite of infrared optics and spectrometers, Webb has observed some of the earliest galaxies in the Universe, shedding new light on the formation history and evolution of the cosmos. Alas, there are still many unanswered questions about the first stars (Population III), galaxies, and black holes formed.