Astrophysics

Particle by particle, all matter may eventually disappear, according to new calculations

Researchers still hope to discover hundreds of new binary black hole mergers despite technical setbacks that have sidelined key detectors in Italy and Japan

After years of downtime for upgrades, the world’s premier gravitational-wave observatories are coming back online with big hopes for transformative discoveries

For at least three years, the mysterious blast has shined 10 times brighter than any supernova

Two SciAm editors duke it out to see if wormholes and multiverses could in fact exist.

Laser-based optical frequency combs, originally developed to time atomic clocks, can also perform fast, noninvasive tests for COVID—and potentially other diseases as well

A dying star swallowing a giant planet hints at the fate awaiting our solar system some five billion years from now

The laws of physics allow time travel. So why haven’t people become chronological hoppers?

A candidate “rogue” supermassive black hole may weigh as much as 20 million suns and has sparked a trail of star formation that is 200,000 light-years long

The “mother of dark matter” was a force of nature—and a forceful advocate for other women who wanted to dedicate their career to the cosmos.

A severe geomagnetic storm created auroras that were visible as far south as Arizona in the U.S.

The “absolutely monstrous” cosmic blast is estimated to be a one-in-10,000-year event