Story at a glance Scientists from the University of Florida have been able to successfully grow small plants in lunar soil. Researchers were only able to use a tiny amount of lunar soil, which was brought back to Earth from the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions. Scientists still need to do more work in … Read more
The plants after 16 days of growth, with clear differences seen between plants grown in simulated lunar soil (left) and plants grown in actual lunar regolith. Photo: Tyler Jones, UF / IFAS For the first time ever, scientists have grown plants in lunar soil returned from the Apollo missions. But given the degree of stress … Read more
An image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way has been captured, giving the first direct glimpse of the “gentle giant” at the center of our galaxy. The black hole itself, known as Sagittarius A *, cannot be seen because no light or matter can escape its gravitational grip. But … Read more
Scientists have begun to piece together what happened during the January 15 eruption of the undersea Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Tonga’s capital that killed at least three people. The eruption has defied easy explanation and upended scientists’ understanding of this type of volcano. The volcanic eruption sent rarely … Read more
Astronomers in Germany have spotted a fiery ‘nova explosion’ from a white dwarf for the very first time. Researchers observed the event, thanks to data from the joint German-Russian eROSITA X-ray telescope, which is stationed in space about 900,000 miles away. The X-ray flash – dubbed YZ Reticuli – completely overexposed the center of eROSITA’s … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN – For the first time, astronomers have captured an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. It’s the first direct observation confirming the presence of the black hole, known … Read more
But the experiments also reveal just how stressful it is for plants to grow in lunar regolith, or soil, which is wildly different from natural habitats on Earth. Different types of plants, including food crops, have flown on the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Plant samples have even been used to prove that … Read more
An image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way has been captured, giving the first direct glimpse of the “gentle giant” at the center of our galaxy. The black hole itself, known as Sagittarius A *, cannot be seen because no light or matter can escape its gravitational grip. But … Read more
Placeholder while article actions load Astronomers on Thursday unveiled the first image of a supermassive black hole that roils the center of our galaxy, its gravity so powerful that it bends space and time and forms a glowing ring of light with eternal darkness at the core. The black hole, seen from Earth near the … Read more
A mixed-up region of sunspots pointed almost directly at Earth has just emitted a major solar flare, which could cause havoc with power grids and communication networks over the next few days. NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) first detected the sunspot area designated AR3006 (“AR” stands for “active region”) several days ago; now the region … Read more