https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A popular myth about black holes is that they act like giant cosmic vacuum cleaners, sucking in everything around them. But Wladimir Lyra's research found a new mechanism around supermassive black holes that is more like a cosmic nursery, giving birth to planets more massive than Jupiter. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-supermassive-black-holes-massive-planets.html Astronomy Thu, 13 Aug 2026 09:11:08 EDT news705831033 It's common to see images of astronauts on the International Space Station exercising, running on special treadmills and pedaling cycles designed for tight quarters. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-space-doesnt-affect-strength-heart.html Space Exploration Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:20:03 EDT news705759301 Astronomers have captured an unprecedented image of a cosmic recycling project in progress—fragments of a dying star being busted up, stripped and absorbed into interstellar space. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-dying-star-rare-glimpse-universe.html Astronomy Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:00:07 EDT news705759061 The building blocks of rocky planets may have begun forming just 100 million years after the Big Bang—long before the first galaxies even existed—according to new research from the University of Portsmouth. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-supernovae-seeded-rocky-planet-blocks.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:20:03 EDT news705757021 In the image above, a faint trail of stars can be seen stretching across the galaxy. These structures, known as globular cluster stellar streams, are coherent stellar structures that retain a record of their dynamical history and can provide unique insights into the evolution of galaxies and the nature of dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-stellar-stream-milky-tool-dark.html Astronomy Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:20:06 EDT news705755275 More than 70% of massive stars are born in close binary systems, where gravitational tugs and mass transfer between companions dramatically alter their evolution. Yet once the interaction ends—whether through mass transfer, merger or the supernova explosion of one partner—the surviving star often appears as a solitary object, hiding its turbulent past. For decades, astronomers have struggled to detect these hidden histories. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-chemical-fingerprints-reveal-hidden-binary.html Astronomy Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:40:03 EDT news705753601 Little red dots have puzzled astronomers since their discovery in James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) data from the universe's deep past. Their "powering engines" might resemble a newly discovered phenomenon dubbed a "black hole star"—an early, rapidly growing black hole wrapped in dense gas. This object, described in a study published today in Nature by researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and international collaborators, may help explain how billion-solar-mass black holes formed so soon after the Big Bang. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mirage-miracle-jwst-earliest-black.html Astronomy Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:00:08 EDT news705591782 Like a collage made of layered sheets of colored cellophane, a vibrant new image layers observations of a famous star-forming nebula from NASA's space telescopes. The resulting cosmic "craft" reveals new details about the star-forming region known as 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-energy-loss-routes-tarantula-nebula.html Astronomy Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:50:01 EDT news705681362 University of Missouri researchers have uncovered evidence that challenges one of astronomy's most trusted assumptions, a breakthrough that could reshape how scientists measure galaxies and reconstruct the history of the universe. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-star-cluster-discovery-scientists-universe.html Astronomy Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:40:07 EDT news705668701 Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) is a partner, have captured the first direct, high-resolution images of a magnetic field wrapped tightly around the outflow of gas streaming away from a forming star—evidence that solves a decades-old puzzle about how young stars sculpt the powerful jets that form them. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-magnetic-field-newborn-star-decades.html Astronomy Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:20:07 EDT news705666421 Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered that dust and water can form and survive surprisingly close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The observations reveal that the evolved star IRS 3 continues to enrich its surroundings with newly formed material despite the intense radiation environment around Sagittarius A*. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-webb-reveals-oxygen-rich-surviving.html Astronomy Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:00:02 EDT news705665284 Hold on to your telescopes: The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team has released the largest-ever 2D color map of the universe. The 5.6-trillion-pixel map contains nearly 4 billion celestial objects, primarily stars and galaxies. The data is available for all to use and publicly view through the Legacy Survey Sky Viewer. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-desi-biggest-2d-universe.html Astronomy Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:00:05 EDT news705582662 Hundreds of Venus-like planets could soon help determine why some worlds become sweltering greenhouse hellscapes while others remain capable of supporting life. But before answering that question, scientists first need to know how fast those planets are spinning. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-planets-hellish.html Astronomy Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:00:01 EDT news705573181 The Perseid summer light show is back—and viewing conditions are especially promising for the Northern Hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-perseid-meteor-shower-summer-dazzle.html Space Exploration Sun, 09 Aug 2026 14:52:39 EDT news705505929 The origin of spin in spiral and elliptical galaxies has posed a long-standing puzzle for astronomers. One idea, known as tidal torque theory, proposes that galaxies' spins are an imprinted record of the early universe, imparted by gravity long before galaxies first formed and still detectable in galaxies today. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-galactic-fingerprints-primordial-universe.html Astronomy Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:20:03 EDT news705314778 Astronomers have found evidence that one of the most massive white dwarfs known has an oxygen-neon core instead of the more common carbon-oxygen core. The finding is important because the composition of a white dwarf's core determines how it will evolve. A paper outlining this discovery was published in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ultramassive-white-dwarf-earth-size.html Astronomy Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:00:01 EDT news705228617 The Sloan Digital Sky Survey V (SDSS-V) has announced its 20th public data release (DR20), delivering a dramatic expansion of the Milky Way Mapper (MWM) scientific survey—the most detailed spectroscopic map yet assembled of stars in and around our home galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-galaxy-milky-mapper-survey-latest.html Astronomy Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:30:01 EDT news705257521 A team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has captured a massive stream of gas—one trillion miles, or 0.2 light-years, long—feeding the young triple-star system GW Orionis. These new observations provide the clearest evidence yet for how such "streamers" can tilt and twist the disks where planets are born. The findings are published in The Astronomical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-trillion-mile-gas-streamer-tilt.html Astronomy Thu, 06 Aug 2026 17:00:07 EDT news705248521 Understanding the formation and evolution of the centers of galaxies is one of the most intriguing challenges in astrophysics. The new study aims to unveil the physical processes that led to the formation of two striking features surrounding the black holes at the centers of most galaxies: nuclear star clusters and nuclear stellar disks. Only in the last decade have such galactic structures been observed in the Milky Way and extragalactic systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-milky-simulation-reveals-central-galactic.html Astronomy Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:40:01 EDT news705248221 A new study analyzing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spectra of more than 1,400 galaxies suggests a surprisingly small group of "leaky" galaxies was responsible for cosmic reionization. The paper outlining this work was posted to the arXiv preprint server on July 24. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-jwst-leaky-galaxies-reionized-early.html Astronomy Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:40:04 EDT news705228602 Astronomers may have just confirmed one of the quirkiest aspects of quantum mechanics: that seemingly empty space can alter the behavior of light. This phenomenon, called "vacuum birefringence," was first predicted nearly 90 years ago by Werner Heisenberg, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. He suggested that even a perfect vacuum should be teeming with "virtual particles" that rapidly pop in and out of existence. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-rare-ultra-magnetic-star-key.html Astronomy Thu, 06 Aug 2026 10:20:06 EDT news705226981 Researchers from Kyushu University have discovered that diffuse gas surrounding dense filaments in a nearby stellar nursery plays a much larger role in star formation than previously recognized. By tracking the movement of gas in the Monoceros R2 hub–filament system, the team found that low-density gas contributes to hub growth both through direct inflow and by replenishing nearby dense filaments. Their findings show that overlooking this diffuse gas could substantially underestimate the amount of material available to build massive stars. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-diffuse-inter-filament-gas-key.html Astronomy Wed, 05 Aug 2026 17:20:04 EDT news705159122 In early 2025, special signals wended their way through a fiber-optic highway strung above the streets and sidewalks of the Maryland suburbs. The arrival of those signals at their destination marks a significant step toward a long-held dream of building a "quantum network." Researchers believe that this emerging technology could someday link quantum devices in ways that supercharge scientific research, enable ultrasecure communications and boost the power of future quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-spooky-particles-transit-dc-suburbs.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:30:01 EDT news705164821 Astronomers have speculated about the mysterious "little red dots" seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's images of the early universe: They could be galaxies, black holes, quasi-stars, starbursts ... or something else entirely. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-red-dots-pulsating-monster-stars.html Astronomy Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:40:01 EDT news705151083 Using observations from multiple powerful telescopes, a team of astronomers studied a red quasar nicknamed "the Hatchling" at redshift 3.7. They may have identified one of the clearest examples yet of a quasar caught in transition between a heavily obscured and fully exposed phase. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-astronomers-hatchling-quasar-dusty-cocoon.html Astronomy Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:20:04 EDT news705154659 In March 2026, the Einstein Probe detected a brief flash of soft X-rays emitted from a galaxy about 500 million light-years away. The flash, dubbed EP260321a, immediately triggered a worldwide observing campaign. Within an hour, ground-based telescopes began monitoring the source, revealing a rapidly brightening supernova, later designated SN 2026gzf. Two teams of scientists used several NSF NOIRLab facilities to observe the event and monitor its evolving light profile. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-astronomers-massive-star-death-explosive.html Astronomy Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:40:01 EDT news705057700 Researchers from the U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory (NSF NSO), the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, and the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) in the U.S. have made a discovery in solar physics. New images of the sun's surface taken with the world's largest solar telescope, the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and operated by the NSO in Hawaii, along with sophisticated computer simulations, reveal tiny plasma vortices that had never before been visible. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tiny-vortices-sun-surface.html General Physics Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:00:01 EDT news705066601 Scientists plan to use a total solar eclipse that will be visible in Spain next week as a rare chance to learn more about the stormy, unpredictable nature of our star. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-total-eclipse-scientists-chance-probe.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 05 Aug 2026 07:00:02 EDT news705116543 Data released by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) marks a landmark expansion in the study of accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs). As part of the fifth generation of the survey (SDSS-V), the Black Hole Mapper (BHM) program is providing unprecedented insights into the masses, growth and physics of quasars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) across cosmic time. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-monsters-unveils-sky-views-supermassive.html Astronomy Tue, 04 Aug 2026 13:00:05 EDT news705061622 Using a combination of laser cooling techniques and strong magnetic fields, researchers at Colorado State University have for the first time created an ultracold neutral plasma with electrons cooled to temperatures measured to be within one degree Kelvin. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-boundaries-ultracold-neutral-plasmas.html General Physics Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:20:06 EDT news705061261