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The Milky Way may be wider, heavier, and more lopsided than we realizedNew measurements suggest that two of the Milky Way's spiral arms are around 10% farther away from Earth than we thought. The findings may require experts to revise estimates of the total size of our home galaxy.
2 Commentsastronomy -
Secretive Chinese probe snaps first photo of Earth's mysterious 'quasi-moon' — and it may pose a big problemChina's Tianwen-2 spacecraft has captured the first close-up photo of one of Earth's "quasi-moons," Kamo'oalewa. However, the image and the timing of its release suggest that it may be harder for the probe to collect samples from the space rock than originally planned.
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'What we found was striking': Scientists detect new kind of signal from a black hole's 'point of no return'Physicists isolated the "last sound" of an enormous black hole collision, providing an unprecedented glimpse of the region next to the event horizon.
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Euclid telescope discovers the 2 most ancient monster black holes in the universe — each brighter than a trillion sunsA collection of newfound objects discovered by the Euclid telescope more than doubles the number of known quasars from the universe's first billion years.
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'It's more than a hope, it's a guarantee': The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's 10-year movie of the universe is about to 'blow our minds,' chief scientist saysInterview The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has begun its Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a 10-year mission to map the entire southern sky many times over. Chief Scientist Tony Tyson tells us why the survey could be remembered 100 years from now, if bright corporate satellites don't ruin the view.
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James Webb telescope reveals largest-ever map of the universe's megastructuresUsing the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have created the most detailed map of the cosmic web ever.
4 Commentsastronomy -
Superintelligent AI in space could explain the Fermi ParadoxWhy haven't we found evidence of advanced aliens? It could be that they've outsourced cosmic exploration to superintelligent AI, a new paper suggests.
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NASA celebrates America's 250th birthday with red, white and blue snaps of the cosmosSpace photo of the week NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory celebrates the Fourth of July with a dazzling array of red, white and blue space phenomena.
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JWST finds unknown substance, China's 'Great Green Wall' grows faster than normal trees, a Medici murder mystery solved, and what the US can learn from Japan's 'silent pandemic'Science news this week July 4, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
Science news this week
