Gravitational interaction as a research area encompasses the theoretical, computational, and experimental study of how mass-energy curves spacetime and governs the dynamics of astrophysical and cosmological systems. It includes general relativity, tests of the equivalence principle, post-Newtonian approximations, and numerical relativity for compact-object binaries and gravitational-wave sources. The field also investigates modifications of gravity, dark matter and dark energy phenomenology from a gravitational perspective, strong- and weak-field regimes, gravitational lensing, and structure formation. Research involves precision experiments, multi-messenger astronomy, and the development of effective field theories and quantum-gravity–motivated models to probe deviations from classical gravitational dynamics.
UCLA-led astronomers have discovered the first known "disappearing planet" about 1,000 light-years away. The planet, TOI-2535 b, is a "hot Jupiter," a gas giant that orbits extremely close to its host star. TOI-2535 b whips ...
Planetary Sciences
Nov 9, 2026
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Long-period, high-inclination comets of the sort that can cause extinction-level impacts here on Earth have long been thought to originate from a theoretical Oort cloud. That is, a roughly spherical cloud of icy cometary ...
Astronomy
Nov 9, 2026
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113
We typically think of the moon as a static, floating object that has remained the same for basically its entire lifetime, with an occasional asteroid impact serving as an exception. That understanding is grounded in physics—the ...
Planetary Sciences
Nov 7, 2026
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When asteroids travel too close to white dwarfs, the dense remnants of stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel, powerful gravitational forces can tear them apart. However, new research from Planetary Science Institute ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 29, 2026
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The Earth got its moon when a small planet collided with our planet more than 4 billion years ago. This impact hurled molten rock into space, which eventually coalesced to form the satellite we can see every night from across ...
Space Exploration
Oct 15, 2026
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Analyzing a sample of 300 of the best-characterized planetary systems among the more than 1,000 known in the Milky Way, an international research team led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) has discovered ...
Astronomy
Oct 13, 2026
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86
A nearby star system with two suns could potentially support an Earth-sized planet in a region where liquid water could exist, according to a new paper examining the dynamics of the system.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 3, 2026
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153
In some parts of the world, the sea barely rises and falls with the tides. In others, the difference between high and low tide is dramatic. Along Western Australia's Kimberley coast, for example, it can exceed 10 meters (33 ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 24, 2026
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A researcher from Sejong University has used a new theory of gravity proposed by Erik Verlinde to predict the observed central surface density of dark matter. The study was published in Physics of the Dark Universe on Sept. ...
General Physics
Sep 23, 2026
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Unlike electric charge, as far as we know all mass is positive, and positive masses attract one another. Could negative mass exist, and if so, what would be the ramifications?
