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. The first few billion years of Earth's history saw the rise of life, the atmosphere and the oceans. Still, that time is shrouded in mystery: Not many rocks remain that preserve a record of those early iterations of our modern world. Dynamic geologic processes like erosion, subduction and burial mean the surface is constantly being reshaped, and older rocks aren't very common. But that time period is critical to understanding our own origins and how catastrophic events like asteroid impacts might have affected early life on the planet. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-billion-year-asteroid-impact.html Earth Sciences Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:00:06 EDT news700233527 A sonic boom shook Boston and the larger New England area with the force of 230 tons of TNT. The source came from outer space. The Saturday afternoon event triggered shock waves online, with thousands inquiring what could have caused houses to shake and a sound heard as far away as New Hampshire and Rhode Island. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-meteors-extremely-common-england-rare.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:20:03 EDT news699785941 MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters. The system could enable the design of nimbler, more flexible small satellites, which could perform both fast, powerful maneuvers and slower, precise adjustments, depending on the mission and moment at hand. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-satellites-small-briefcase-space-lot.html Space Exploration Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:00:01 EDT news699610981 SpaceX seems to have mistaken shooting for the moon with shooting at the moon. Forecast to occur on Aug. 5, a five-story-long piece of a rocket from one of the private space exploration company's recent lunar missions is expected to hit the moon at around 5,400 miles per hour, around 24 times the speed of a Formula 1 racecar. As it currently stands, projections put the rocket's crash course with the moon at 2:44 a.m. Eastern Time. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-spacex-rocket-moon-space-private.html Space Exploration Wed, 20 May 2026 08:40:01 EDT news698479668 Earth has a group of cosmic stalkers. Known as "co-orbitals," these small bits of rock have a 1:1 mean motion resonance with Earth. Basically, they take the exact same amount of time to orbit the sun as we do. Astronomers have long believed these objects wandered in from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but recent spectral analysis suggests they better match the space-weathered lunar silicates that make up the moon's surface. As such, there has been an ongoing debate about whether these cosmic stalkers are actually visitors from the belt or blasted pieces of the moon. A new study, published in Icarus, from researchers Elisa Alessi and Robert Jedicke provides strong hints that the belt is the more likely source—but pretty soon we'll get a definitive answer from a spacecraft. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-earth-constant-companion-stray-asteroid.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 18 May 2026 16:40:01 EDT news698331253 A NASA spacecraft chasing a rare metal asteroid swings past Mars this week for a gravity boost, snapping thousands of pictures as practice for the main encounter in 2029. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-nasa-psyche-spacecraft-mars-rare.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 14 May 2026 13:13:00 EDT news697983111 If you've ever taken an introductory astronomy class, you've probably seen the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. This graph maps out the life cycle of stars by plotting their temperature against their luminosity, and has been a "cheat sheet" for stellar astrophysics for over a century. But the universe is full of more than just stars, and a new paper in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific by Gabriel Steward and Matthew Hedman of the University of Idaho, attempts to do for the density and mass of all objects what the HR diagram did for the lifecycle of stars—provide a coherent, visual map to represent them. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-graph-universe.html Astronomy Tue, 12 May 2026 18:20:03 EDT news697810264 A great Tyrannosaurus rex strides through the conifer trees of her territory, sniffing the air. She picks up the scent from the carcass of a dead horned dinosaur, Triceratops, that she was feeding on yesterday. She walks over and strips off some more shreds of meat, but the smell is foul even for her. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dinosaurkilling-asteroid-armageddon-blowbyblow-account.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 11 May 2026 18:00:01 EDT news697724041 NASA's Psyche spacecraft will get a boost from Mars on Friday, May 15, passing just 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from the planet's surface at some 12,333 mph (19,848 kph). The spacecraft will harness the planet's gravitational pull to speed up and adjust its trajectory toward the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, one of the more unusual objects in our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mars-reshape-nasa-psyche-journey.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 09 May 2026 08:48:13 EDT news697535243 Using preliminary data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists have discovered over 11,000 new asteroids. The data were confirmed by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC), making this the largest single batch of asteroid discoveries submitted in the past year. The discoveries were made using data from Rubin's early optimization surveys and offer a powerful preview of the observatory's transformative impact on solar system science. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-early-vera-rubin-observatory-reveals.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:40:04 EDT news694359721 When we think of asteroids, we almost immediately think of giant rocks bouncing around like the iconic chase scene in "The Empire Strikes Back," and we often hear how they are remnants from the birth of the solar system. While the asteroids that comprise the Main Asteroid Belt of our solar system are not only spread far apart from one another, they are also not all made of rock. One asteroid approximately the size of the state of Massachusetts called 16 Psyche is made of metal, which planetary scientists hypothesize could be the remnants of a protoplanet's core that didn't build into a full-fledged planet. But how did such a unique asteroid form? https://phys.org/news/2026-03-giant-craters-reveal-psyche-lost.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 28 Mar 2026 10:00:01 EDT news693570548 New observations by a team of US astronomers have cast fresh doubt on whether the lunar surface could host abundant water ice. Publishing their results in Science Advances, a team led by Shuai Li at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has shown that relatively pure ice (making up more than about 20–30% of the surface material) is likely absent from the moon's permanently shadowed regions. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-shadowcam-abundant-lunar-ice.html Astronomy Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:20:03 EDT news693221849 The European Space Agency's (ESA's) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) probe is on its (very long) way to Jupiter, and will finally arrive at the King of Planets in 2031. Its primary mission is to focus on the "big three" icy moons—Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. But while JUICE is busy mapping Ganymede's magnetic field, it will also be keeping a sharp eye on the other 94 moons in the Jupiter system. A recent paper published in Space Science Reviews by Tilmann Denk of DLR, Germany's space research association, and his co-authors showcases just how much "bonus science" JUICE is expected to squeeze out of these other targets. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-juice-science-jupiter-minor-moons.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 19 Mar 2026 12:40:06 EDT news693141721 Even 200 years after asteroid 16 Psyche was discovered, astronomers continue to puzzle over its formation. Psyche is the 10th-most massive asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the largest known metallic asteroid, at 140 miles in diameter. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-large-craters-clues-asteroid-psyche.html Astronomy Tue, 17 Mar 2026 07:00:02 EDT news692946841 A thick layer of haze around the ultra-low-density planet Kepler-51d likely obscures not only the strange planet's composition, but also its origin, according to a new study. A team led by Penn State researchers used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a deeper look at the "super-puff" planet that defies planetary formation models. However, the thickest layer of haze found on a planet yet makes discerning the chemical elements in the planet's atmosphere—and any clues to the planet's formation—challenging. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-lowest-density-super-puff-planet.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 16 Mar 2026 14:40:01 EDT news692884502 When people think of asteroids, they tend to picture rare, civilization-ending impacts like those depicted in movies such as "Armageddon." In reality, the asteroids most likely to affect modern society are much smaller. While kilometer-scale impacts occur only every tens of millions of years, decameter-scale (building-sized) objects strike Earth far more frequently: roughly every couple decades. As astronomers develop new ways to detect and track these smaller asteroids, planetary defense becomes increasingly relevant for protecting the space-based infrastructure that underpins modern life, from GPS navigation to global communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-astronomers-discuss-fortifying-planetary-defenses.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:16:42 EDT news692529327 Anyone familiar with the search for alien life will have heard of the "Goldilocks Zone" around a star. This is defined as the orbital band where the temperature is just right for liquid water to pool on a rocky planet's surface—a good approximation for what we thought of as the early conditions for life on Earth. But what happens if that life doesn't stay on an Earth analog? If they, like we, start to move toward their neighboring planets, the idea of a habitable zone becomes much more complicated. A new paper from Dr. Caleb Scharf of the NASA Ames Research Center, and one of the agency's premier astrobiologists, tries to account for this possibility by introducing the framework of an Interplanetary Habitable Zone (IHZ). The work is published on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-interplanetary-habitable-zone.html Astrobiology Thu, 05 Mar 2026 11:30:01 EST news691932301 Asteroid mining companies are finally getting off the ground, and that is raising some concerns about the impact those activities will have on the space environment. A new paper published in Acta Astronautica by Anna Marie Brenna of the University of Waikato in New Zealand discusses a framework that she thinks might work to solve the legal challenges facing those who want to protect the space environment and those who want to exploit it. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-legal-void-asteroid-gold.html Space Exploration Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:00:04 EST news691159512 Astronomers have long debated why so many icy objects in the outer solar system look like snowmen. Michigan State University researchers now have evidence of the surprisingly simple process that could be responsible for their creation. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-space-snowmen-gravitational-collapse-contact.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Feb 2026 14:00:15 EST news690567661 The United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday that it would extend its Mars probe mission, now in its fifth year, for an additional three, underlining the oil-rich state's space ambitions. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-uae-mars-probe-mission.html Space Exploration Tue, 17 Feb 2026 10:30:01 EST news690546317 Most near-Earth asteroids are thought to drift in from the main asteroid belt. But a small subset may have a much closer origin: the moon. One intriguing example is 469219 Kamoʻoalewa (2016 HO3), an Earth quasi-satellite whose reported spectrum resembles lunar material and which is a target of China's Tianwen-2 sample-return mission. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-rubin-survey-underway-simulations-lunar.html Astronomy Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:18:07 EST news689256956 Betelgeuse is the star that everybody can't wait to see blow up, preferably sooner rather than later. That's because it's a red supergiant on the verge of becoming a supernova and there hasn't been one explode this close in recorded human history. It's been changing its brightness and showing strange surface behavior, which is why astronomers track its activity closely. Are these changes due to its aging process? Do they mean it's about to blow up? Probably not. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-siwarha-betelgeuse.html Astronomy Wed, 14 Jan 2026 08:19:33 EST news687601142 Astronomers analyzing data from Vera C. Rubin Observatory have discovered the fastest-ever spinning asteroid with a diameter over half a kilometer—a feat uniquely enabled by Rubin. The study provides crucial information about asteroid composition and evolution, and demonstrates how Rubin is pushing the boundaries of what we can discover within our own solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-vera-rubin-observatory-asteroid-pre.html Astronomy Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:28:23 EST news687018482 The giant planets weren't always where we find them today. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed in a more compact configuration and later underwent a violent reshuffling that scattered them to their current positions. Exactly what triggered this chaos remains uncertain, but researchers at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux and the Planetary Science Institute now propose a close encounter with a wandering substellar object during the sun's youth. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-rogue-planet-reshape-solar.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 15 Dec 2025 11:04:25 EST news685019042 Much remains to be known about the chemical composition of small asteroids. Their potential to harbor valuable metals, materials from the early solar system, and the possibility of obtaining a geochemical record of their parent bodies makes them promising candidates for future use of space resources. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-feasibility-asteroid.html Space Exploration Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:38:24 EST news684592668 Observations with the instrument SPHERE at ESO's Very Large Telescope have produced an unprecedented gallery of "debris disks" in exoplanetary systems. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-debris-disk-gallery-tale-asteroids.html Astronomy Wed, 03 Dec 2025 03:00:02 EST news683911862 When a meteor streaks across the sky, it's not just beautiful. It's nature's way of delivering a time capsule to Earth. Contained within are hints about the very beginning of the solar system and how planets, including our own, formed. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-meteorite-samples-capsules-early-solar.html Astrobiology Thu, 27 Nov 2025 11:20:02 EST news683212821 In 1949, famed mathematician and physicist John von Neumann delivered a series of addresses at the University of Illinois, where he introduced the concept of the "universal constructor." The theory was further detailed in the 1966 book, "Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata," a collection of von Neumann's writings compiled and completed by a colleague after his death. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-replicating-probes-solar.html Space Exploration Wed, 05 Nov 2025 07:56:06 EST news681551762 In the distant past, the solar system was rife with impacts and collisions. Millions of rocky objects zoomed chaotically through the system, smashing into each other in collisional cascades. Over time, many of them eventually became part of the rocky planets. What's left of the space rocks are mostly gathered in the main asteroid belt. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-hidden-sun-glare-asteroid-uncomfortably.html Astronomy Wed, 22 Oct 2025 13:30:04 EDT news680358499 The China National Space Administration's (CNSA) Tianwen-2 probe is currently at a distance of about 43 million km (26.7 million mi) from Earth. This places it in a stable geosynchronous orbit (GSO) and almost halfway between its first destination, the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 469219 Kamo'oalewa, which is still 45 million km (~28 million mi) away. As is customary for interplanetary missions, its controllers are using the flight phase to test the spacecraft's instruments and make sure they are in working order. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-tianwen-probe-selfie-earth-china.html Space Exploration Wed, 08 Oct 2025 10:03:03 EDT news679136582