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Earth’s mantle may have hidden plumes venting heat from its core

Earth

Earth’s mantle may have hidden plumes venting heat from its core

A ‘ghost plume’ identified deep in the mantle beneath Oman suggests there may be more heat flowing out of Earth’s core than previously thought

News

2M7PPCR HMS EREBUS trapped in the ice in 1846 during the third Franklin expedition to find a Northwest Passage .Painting byFrancois Musin about 1850

Physics

Fabulous time travel novel is part-thriller and part-romance

Culture

2RNRCMD Spacecraft on alien planet, illustration

Comment

The best new science fiction books of June 2025

Culture

The eye is first drawn, in this new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month, to the central mega-monster that is galaxy cluster Abell S1063. This behemoth collection of galaxies, lying 4.5 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Grus (the Crane), dominates the scene. Looking more closely, this dense collection of heavy galaxies is surrounded by glowing streaks of light, and these warped arcs are the true object of scientists??? interest: faint galaxies from the Universe???s distant past. Abell S1063 was previously observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope???s Frontier Fields programme. It is a strong gravitational lens: the galaxy cluster is so massive that the light of distant galaxies aligned behind it is bent around it, creating the warped arcs that we see here. Like a glass lens, it focuses the light from these faraway galaxies. The resulting images, albeit distorted, are both bright and magnified ??? enough to be observed and studied. This was the aim of Hubble???s observations, using the galaxy cluster as a magnifying glass to investigate the early Universe. The new imagery from Webb???s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) takes this quest even further back in time. This image showcases an incredible forest of lensing arcs around Abell S1063, which reveal distorted background galaxies at a range of cosmic distances, along with a multitude of faint galaxies and previously unseen features. This image is what???s known as a deep field ??? a long exposure of a single area of the sky, collecting as much light as possible to draw out the most faint and distant galaxies that don???t appear in ordinary images. With 9 separate snapshots of different near-infrared wavelengths of light, totalling around 120 hours of observing time and aided by the magnifying effect of gravitational lensing, this is Webb???s deepest gaze on a single target to date. Focusing such observing power on a massive gravitational lens, like Abell S1063, therefore h

Space

Peer into the early universe as light bends around huge galaxy cluster

News

Astronaut Sally Ride, mission specialist on STS-7, monitors control panels from the pilot's chair on the Flight Deck. Floating in front of her is a flight procedures notebook. (Credit: NASA)

Space

Life of first US woman in space Sally Ride makes a moving documentary

Culture

Space

Why it's taking a century to pin down the speed of the universe

News

Our verdict on Ringworld by Larry Niven: Nice maths, shame about Teela

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Our verdict on Ringworld by Larry Niven: Nice maths, shame about Teela

Culture

Across the universe. Traveling in space. Time travel. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.; Shutterstock ID 200832383; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Physics

Read an extract from time-travel novel The Ministry of Time

Culture

Time glitch concept. Hypnotising watch on a chain swinging above clouds.; Shutterstock ID 1121133503; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Comment

'Time travel was just a metaphor for controlling a narrative'

Culture

Technology

Trump's Golden Dome defence project could spur a space arms race

US President Trump has proposed a Golden Dome defence system that includes missile interceptors in space. But the idea would cost hundreds of billions of dollars – and could accelerate the weaponisation of space

News

Technology

See the robot that may one day search for life on Jupiter's icy moon

News

Comment

An interview with Larry Niven – Ringworld author and sci-fi legend

Culture

Physics

Physicists reveal the secret to chopping onions without crying

News

Space

A doe-eyed look at space exploration is inadequate for the zeitgeist

Culture