In Historic First, Einstein’s Gravitational Waves Detected DirectlyWASHINGTON – Gravitational waves, the cosmic ripples that distort space-time itself, have been directly detected for the first time. In a highly anticipated announcement today (Feb. 11), researchers affiliated with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) reported the detection of gravitational waves.

Discovery of a new class of particles at the LHCThe LHCb experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has reported the discovery of a class of particles known as pentaquarks. The collaboration has submitted today a paper reporting these findings to the journal Physical Review Letters. “The pentaquark is not just any new particle,” said LHCb spokesperson Guy Wilkinson.

Young black hole had monstrous growth spurtZhaoyu Li/SHAO A black hole that grew to gargantuan size in the Universe’s first billion years is by far the largest yet spotted from such an early date, researchers have announced. The object, discovered by astronomers in 2013, is 12 billion times as massive as the Sun, and six times greater than its largest-known contemporaries.

Europe’s Rosetta Spacecraft Makes Historic Arrival at CometAfter a decade in space and 4 billion miles, Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft has made history: For the first time ever, a robotic probe from Earth is flying with a comet and will soon enter orbit. The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft arrived at its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, today (Aug.

Big Bang breakthrough announced; gravity waves detected(CNN) — There’s no way for us to know exactly what happened some 13.8 billion years ago, when our universe burst onto the scene. But scientists announced Monday a breakthrough in understanding how our world as we know it came to be.

Huge Asteroid to Fly Safely By Earth Monday: Watch It LiveAn asteroid the size of three football fields is set to make a close brush of Earth on Monday (Feb. 17), and you can watch the flyby live in a webcast. Near-Earth asteroid 2000 EM26 poses no threat of actually hitting Earth, but the online Slooh Space Cam

Exploding Star: New Supernova Discovery Is Closest in YearsEditor’s Update for Jan. 23: Skywatchers around the world are taking a look at the new supernova in galaxy M83. To see their new photos and impressions, read: New Supernova in Night Sky Captivates Amateur Astronomers: Photos An exploding star has suddenly appeared in the night sky, dazzling astronomers who haven’t seen a new supernova so close to our solar system in more than 20 years.

Rare Solar Eclipse Wows Skywatchers Across Atlantic, Africa (Photos)A rare solar eclipse that began as a “ring of fire” and transformed into a spectacular total eclipse of the sun amazed skywatchers from North America to Africa today (Nov. 3), and they captured the photos to prove it.

Antarctic Experiment Possibly Detects Particles from Another GalaxyI don’t get to write hyperbolic science fiction titles very often, but I couldn’t resist this one. Even if it’s not entirely accurate; in reality the experiment only most likely saw invading neutrinos from another galaxy. But it seems like they probably did. And they used faster-than-light travel to find…

Sun’s almost perfectly round shape baffles scientistsThe sun is nearly the roundest object ever measured. If scaled to the size of a beach ball, it would be so round that the difference between the widest and narrow diameters would be much less than the width of a human hair.