Feature

Mission: reveal the secrets of the universe

The Objective For millennia, people have turned to the heavens in search of clues to nature’s mysteries. Truth seekers from ages past to the present day have found that the Earth is not the center of the universe, that countless galaxies dot the abyss of space, that an unknown form of matter and dark forces […]

Tools for the mission

Hunting data A number of instruments now operating or proposed can troll the skies or otherwise help to answer some of the most puzzling questions about the universe. Planck  A European Space Agency observatory launched in 2009, Planck is recording a more detailed picture of the cosmic microwave background, the relic radiation left over from […]

Hanging in the balance

What is the fate of the universe?

Out of the fabric

Are space and time fundamental?

Strung together

Is there a theory of everything?

In the dark

What is the universe made of?

Pre-Bang branes and bubbles

What happened before the big bang?

Cosmic questions, answers pending

Special section

Big Fishing Yields Small Fish

Researchers map predator loss and predict unstable oceans.

Star Cents

How the cost of NASA’s next big space telescope skyrocketed.

Backup Bees

Luring and taming wild pollinators for help on the farm.

Better by Design

Avoiding undesirable traits from the start could help chemists make molecules less meddlesome.