Breaking · Oct 12, 2026
From super-greenhouse gases to an artificial magnetosphere, here is the actual engineering sequence scientists have proposed to make Mars habitable — and how long each step would take.
Fresh off the wire
Cosmic MysteriesIn 1960, Freeman Dyson described how to find giant alien civilizations: look for the waste heat of star-sized machines. Sixty-six years later, astronomers are still looking — and the hunt just got interesting.
Cosmic MysteriesThe galaxy should be crawling with civilizations. Seventy-five years after Enrico Fermi asked the question over lunch, the silence is still deafening — and the possible answers keep getting stranger.
Cosmic MysteriesFRB 20180916B keeps firing on schedule from a spiral galaxy 500 million light-years away. New data rules out the simplest explanations.
Cosmic MysteriesFresh transmission data tightens constraints on methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the sub-Neptune 124 light-years away.
Cosmic MysteriesHubble glimpsed geysers on Jupiter’s icy moon, then lost them. Europa Clipper’s instruments are now calibrated to catch one in the act.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Towering columns of cool interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula glow in this near-infrared view. New stars forming inside the pillars appear as bright red orbs at their tips.
NASA's APOD ArchiveNews Wire
Fresh imagery from NASA and live launch data from agencies worldwide, pulled live on every visit.
Gallery
Key frames from our long-form stories — each one opens the full article.
How to Turn Mars Into Earth: The Step-by-Step Blueprint
Dyson Spheres: Have We Already Spotted an Alien Megastructure?
The Biggest Black Holes in the Universe, Ranked
The Fermi Paradox: Where Is Everybody?
Project Starshot: Sailing to Alpha Centauri at 20% Light Speed
What’s Inside a Black Hole? The Singularity Problem
EHT Films a Hot Spot Orbiting Sagittarius A*
Fast Radio Burst Repeats Every 16 Days, Stumping Astronomers
A Sharper Spectrum of K2-18 b Reopens the Ocean World Debate
JWST Reveals Hidden Star Nurseries in Carina’s Cosmic Cliffs
JWST Spots "Naked" Black Hole Seeds That Skipped Stellar Birth
Are Europa’s Water Plumes Real? Clipper Is Built to Find Out
Ship-to-Ship Refueling: the Key to the Moon and Mars