Photo of the Day #699: Layers

Driving a spacecraft around a planet isn’t anything like driving on a planet. A physicist explains orbital navigation.

“Anomalous” heat flow, which at first appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics, gives physicists a way to detect quantum entanglement without destroying it.

Unusually warm ocean temperatures fueled one of the worst hurricanes on record. New research finds climate change increased the storm’s likelihood.

The storm, which is set to make landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, has stunned meteorologists with its intensity and the speed at which it built.

The interstellar comet 3I/Atlas reached its closest point to the sun. Here's how to follow the rest of its journey away from our solar system.

The same pulling force that causes “tears” in a glass of wine also shapes embryos. It’s another example of how genes exploit mechanical forces for growth and development.

A Trump administration pilot program aims for three nuclear startups to reach a key milestone by July 4, 2026. Valar Atomics says it’s the first to do so—but it had some help.

By shifting water to a higher elevation, the giant Three Gorges Dam caused the Earth to spin more slowly.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito that can carry dengue, yellow fever, and Zika was thought to be too reliant on a hot and wet climate to survive in the Mountain West. But now, a population is thriving in Western Colorado.

The proof, known to be so hard that a mathematician once offered 10 martinis to whoever could figure it out, uses number theory to explain quantum fractals.

Two mathematicians have proved that a straightforward question—how hard is it to untie a knot?—has a complicated answer.

What sneaky invisible forces enable these instruments to locate buried treasure?