What a Supermoon Is and Why It Looks Bigger As December evenings approach, skywatchers have a celestial treat: the last supermoon of the year. The phenomenon occurs because the moon’s orbit around Earth is elliptical — at certain points it comes closer to our planet. When a full moon aligns with that near-Earth point, the result is a “supermoon”: a…
The National Institutes of Health has halted funding for hundreds of clinical studies, affecting more than 74,000 people enrolled in experiments across the country. A new report shows how deeply the cuts disrupted medical research, delaying treatments, stopping trials and creating uncertainty for patients who rely on new scientific progress. A Major Setback Across the Research Landscape Between the end…
Rare Cosmic Event Follows Close Encounter With the Sun Astronomers have recorded spectacular footage of Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) disintegrating in space after a close pass by the sun earlier this year. The breakup, observed on the nights of November 11–12, marks a dramatic end to one of 2025’s most closely watched celestial visitors. First discovered in May 2025, the…
Famous “Seven Sisters” Revealed to Have a Vast Stellar Family Astronomers have uncovered that the iconic Pleiades star cluster — long known as the “Seven Sisters” — is home to thousands more stars than previously believed. Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the European Space Agency’s Gaia observatory, researchers found that the cluster contains around 20…
James Dewey Watson, the co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA, has died at the age of 97. His work transformed science forever, shaping how we understand heredity, genetics, and the very essence of life. Yet his later years were marked by controversy, leaving behind a legacy that blends brilliance with controversy. The Discovery That Changed Biology In 1953, a…
A burst of solar energy may light up the skies over parts of the United States this week. Space weather experts say a geomagnetic storm could create dazzling northern lights visible far beyond the usual Arctic regions. Solar Energy Sparks the Glow A powerful coronal mass ejection, or CME, recently erupted from the sun and is racing toward Earth. The…
The Closest Full Moon in Six Years If you look toward the eastern sky after sunset this week, you’ll see the moon shining brighter and larger than usual. This is the 2025 Beaver Moon — and it’s not just any full moon. It’s the largest and closest supermoon in years, reaching its nearest point to Earth at just under 222,000…
