Space exploration, astronomy, environmental science, climate, biology, physics, and the natural world.
There is an object at the center of our galaxy four million times more massive than the Sun. We photographed it in 2022. Here's what we know.
Alex Chen·10 min read
Science & SpaceFor the first time since 1972, humans have left Earth orbit. The crew includes the first woman, first person of color, and first non-American to travel this far from home.
Alex Chen·13 min read
Science & SpaceGoogle's quantum chip just solved a problem 13,000 times faster than the world's most powerful supercomputer. Microsoft built a processor using a particle that may not even exist. IBM says practical quantum advantage arrives this year. Here's what any of that actually means.
Alex Chen·8 min read
Science & SpaceIn September 2025, NASA published the most compelling evidence ever found suggesting that ancient microbial life may have existed on Mars. A peer-reviewed paper in the journal Nature describes a rock sample containing "potential biosignatures," the chemical and mineral traces that microbes leave behind when they eat, excrete, and die. The discovery was called "the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars." And every scientist involved immediately told the public to slow down.
Alex Chen·8 min read
Science & Space2024 was the hottest year in recorded history: 1.60°C above pre-industrial levels, the first calendar year ever to exceed the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C threshold. 2025 was the third hottest, at roughly 1.44°C, during a La Niña cooling event that should have suppressed temperatures. CO2 concentrations hit 426 parts per million, their highest point in 3 to 5 million years. And renewables just overtook coal as the world's largest source of electricity for the first time ever. The crisis is accelerating. So is the response. Neither is winning.
Alex Chen·8 min read