Where neutrinos come from

Russian astrophysicists have come close to determining the origin of high-energy neutrinos from space. The team compared data on the elusive particles gathered by the Antarctic neutrino observatory IceCube and on long electromagnetic ...

Lunar and solar eclipses make animals do strange things

For most animals, the structure of their day—and indeed their year—depends on the light-dark cycle. These regular and rhythmic cycles in the length of days tell animals when they should be foraging, when they should be ...

Cosmic filament probes our galaxy's giant black hole

The center of our Galaxy has been intensely studied for many years, but it still harbors surprises for scientists. A snake-like structure lurking near our galaxy's supermassive black hole is the latest discovery to tantalize ...

2016—the year in space and astronomy

The achievements of astrophysicists this year were as groundbreaking as they were varied. From reuniting a lander with a mothership on a comet, to seeing the most extreme cosmic events with gravitational waves, 2016 was truly ...

How cold are black holes?

The very idea that a black hole could have a temperature strains the imagination. I mean, how can something that absorbs all the matter and energy that falls into it have a temperature? When you feel the warmth of a toasty ...

A cataclysmic event of a certain age

At the end of the Pleistocene period, approximately 12,800 years ago—give or take a few centuries—a cosmic impact triggered an abrupt cooling episode that earth scientists refer to as the Younger Dryas.

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