Scientists studying a mysterious effect called cosmic birefringence—a subtle twist in the polarization of the universe’s oldest light—have developed a new way to reduce uncertainty in how it’s ...

The ancient and rare star PicII-503 is helping astronomers understand how carbon became so abundant in the universe.

Six thousand eight hundred feet below the floor of an active nickel mine in northern Ontario, something has gone extremely ...

An international collaboration, including Northwestern University, has reached a critical milestone in the search for dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up about 85% of all matter in the ...

The local universe may be expanding more slowly than previously thought, scientists have found. The discovery, made in two separate pieces of research, could relieve one of the most troubling ...

Researchers created a technique to reduce uncertainty in cosmic birefringence measurements, resolving a key phase ambiguity and improving future studies of fundamental physics.

A simulation of the cosmic sheet as seen from the side, with voids above and below. (Wempe et al., Nat. Astron., 2026) The Milky Way isn't just drifting through a giant void in space untethered, but ...

This also means that there could be hidden curvatures of space-time or gravitational fields, which could explain a fundamental issue in physics: the hierarchy problem. There are several ongoing ...

An international team involving Northwestern University​ announced Tuesday that it has reached a major milestone in its quest ...

Plastered across screens in offices, schools and homes globally, Bliss is one of the most well-known images in the world.

Astronomers have uncovered a hidden cosmic web of galaxies and gas by mapping hydrogen light from the early universe.

A blazar is an active galactic nucleus, essentially a galaxy with a supermassive black hole at its heart, devouring ...