Earth
Some of 2025’s scientific discoveries broke records
Longest lightning, the first AI-generated genomes and biggest black hole smashup were among this year’s top science superlatives.
Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Space
- Space
These space stories made us look up in 2025
Space is always inspiring and 2025 was no exception, with finding Betelgeuse’s buddy, debuting a prolific survey telescope and more.
- Planetary Science
An asteroid could hit the moon in 2032, scattering debris toward Earth
Researchers are keeping an eye on the building-sized asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a 4 percent chance of hitting the moon seven years from now.
- Astronomy
New Hubble images may solve the case of a disappearing exoplanet
A massive collision between two asteroid-sized bodies around a nearby star offers a rare look at the violent process of planetary construction.
- Astronomy
A new hunt for an Earth analog begins
The Terra Hunting Experiment will track the wobbles of dozens of stars nightly for years in the most focused hunt yet for an Earth twin.
- Astronomy
Dark matter ‘nuggets’ could explain the Milky Way’s mysterious glow
A mysterious excess of far-ultraviolet light seen across the Milky Way could come from the annihilation of clumpy dark matter.
- Life
How these strange cells may explain the origin of complex life
The tiny pantheon known as the Asgard archaea bear traits that hint at how plants, animals and fungi emerged on Earth.
- Planetary Science
Listen to the crackle of Martian ‘mini-lightning’
A microphone on NASA’s Perseverance rover recorded the sounds of electrical discharges generated by dusty gusts.
- Planetary Science
Boiling oceans may sculpt the surfaces of small icy moons
Simulations show that subsurface oceans on small moons may hit boiling conditions, potentially creating features like Miranda’s distinctive ridges.
- Space
America risks losing its role as a space science pioneer
Funding uncertainties are pushing U.S. space scientists out of the field and putting existing and future space missions on the chopping block.
