New research from the University of Rochester suggests that molten rock deep inside so-called super-earths may generate powerful magnetic fields necessary for sustaining life.

Researchers at Aarhus University have demonstrated that peptides – key precursors to proteins and life – can form spontaneously in interstellar space. By simulating the extreme conditions of cold, vacuum and radiation found in cosmic dust clouds, the team showed that simple amino acids readily bond into more complex molecules. The findings suggest that essential building blocks of life may be far more widespread in the universe than previously believed.

New research shows how Jupiter and Saturn developed dramatically different vortices at their north poles. The findings may elucidate not only the planets’ surface weather patterns but also what lies beneath the clouds, within the planetary interiors. 

An international team from Kanazawa University (Japan), Tohoku University (Japan), LPP (France), and partners has demonstrated that chorus emissions, natural electromagnetic waves long studied in Earth’s magnetosphere, also occur in Mercury’s magnetosphere exhibiting similar chirping frequency changes. Using the Plasma Wave Investigation instrument aboard BepiColombo’s Mercury orbiter Mio, six Mercury flybys between 2021 and 2025 detected plasma waves in the audible range. Comparison with decades of GEOTAIL data confirmed identical instantaneous frequency changes. This provides the first reliable evidence of intense electron activity at Mercury, advancing understanding of auroral processes across the solar system.

An international team of astronomers, including researcher from the Department of Physics at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has uncovered the first decisive evidence that at least some fast radio burst (FRB) sources—brief but powerful flashes of radio waves from distant galaxies—reside in binary stellar systems. This means the FRB source is not an isolated star, as previously assumed, but part of a binary stellar system in which two stars orbit each other.

Radio telescopes are instruments that capture faint radio signals from space and convert them into images of celestial bodies. To observe distant black holes clearly, multiple radio telescopes must capture cosmic signals at exactly the same time, acting as a single unit. Research teams at KAIST have developedr a new reference signal technology that uses laser light to precisely synchronize the observation timing and phase of these telescopes.

A mysterious bar-shaped cloud of iron has been discovered inside the iconic Ring Nebula by a European team led by astronomers at Cardiff University and University College London (UCL).