Worldviews

Night sky tonight — See the Orion Nebula shine after dark on Dec. 18 - Space

The night sky is full of wonder. Here's what to look out for tonight.

The discovery of aeonophiles expands our definition of life - Aeon

The discovery of organisms that have been alive for many thousands of years requires a revolution in how we understand life

Science in 2026: the events to watch for in the coming year - Nature

The rise of AI scientists, missions to explore the moons of Earth and Mars and a massive ocean-floor drill are among the developments set to shape research in 2026.

Mysterious, irradiated 'scar' in our galaxy points to 2 stars that almost hit the sun - Live Science

Astronomers traced a mysterious 'scar' of ionized gas around the solar system to two stars that had a close flyby with our sun millions of years ago.

JWST Confirms: First Runaway Supermassive Black Hole Tearing Through Space - ScienceAlert

Every now and again, a stellar object is caught zooming across space like a white rabbit, extremely late for a very important date.

James Webb Space Telescope confirms 1st 'runaway' supermassive black hole rocketing through 'Cosmic Owl' galaxies at 2.2 million mph: 'It boggles the mind!' - Space

"The forces that are needed to dislodge such a massive black hole from its home are enormous."

Vesuvius Exploded in August—So Why Were Pompeii Victims Wearing Heavy Clothing? - Gizmodo

Despite the fact that Mount Vesuvius triggered one of the most infamous ancient tragedies, not everyone agrees on exactly when it took place.

America’s Dirtiest Carbon Polluters, Mapped to Ridiculous Precision - Gizmodo

“The U.S. taxpayers have a right to this data.”

When You Hear What Happens When They Put Lab Mice in Nature, You Might Rethink Your Entire Life - Futurism

Researchers found that lab mice that were released into a large, enclosed field were almost immediately less anxious.

Kīlauea Volcano Update for Wednesday, December 17 - Big Island Video News

HAWAIʻI VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK - Scientists say the onset of the next high lava fountaining episode is likely to occur between December 22 and 27.

Spatiotemporal cellular map of the developing human reproductive tract - Nature

A detailed spatiotemporal roadmap of the human female and male reproductive tracts during key periods of sexual differentiation provides new cellular and molecular insights into how early axial gradients lead to specific cell lineages and tissue structures.

Surprise! Saturn's huge moon Titan may not have a buried ocean after all - Space

"We're not certain if having widespread liquid pockets instead of a global ocean makes Titan more or less habitable."

The next revolution in neuroscience is happening outside the lab - Big Think

By tracking brain activity as primates move freely in the wild, neuroethology could reshape what we think we know about our own minds.

Year-Ender 2025: Top 7 scientific discoveries that shook the world - WION

From Quantum‑centric supercomputing to AI Boost Sperm Selection, there have been multiple scientific discoveries in 2025 spanning space, medicine, and quantum tech. Let's have a look at the top 7 scientific discoveries in the world that shocked humankind.

Physicists push superconducting diodes to high temperatures - Phys.org

For the first time, researchers in China have demonstrated a high-temperature superconducting diode effect, which allows a supercurrent to flow in both directions. Published in Nature Physics, the team's result could help address the noisy signals that pose a…

Latest Comet 3I/ATLAS news: Closest approach to Earth this week - Space

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025: Your daily feed for the holiday flyby of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS by Earth.

SpaceX flies Starlink mission using Falcon 9 booster flying for a 30th time - Spaceflight Now

Astronomers May Have Finally Solved the Mystery of These Freaky Blue Cosmic Flashes - Gizmodo

Astronomers call them LFBOTs—rare and powerful bursts of blue light that shine across billions of light-years and then vanish in just a few days.

Column | My ex-wife tracks our teens by their phones — even when they’re with me - The Washington Post

Can the letter writer find middle ground with ex-wife who tracks their teen boys’ locations?

A Siberian Snowman in Billings - NASA Science (.gov)

Winds, waves, and ice near a remote town on the Chukchi Peninsula have sculpted a series of coastal inshore lagoons that resemble an icon of winter.