Rahul Rao

Rao is a freelance science journalist based in New York and is a contributor to Live Science’s sister site Space.com, as well as Popular Science, EEE Spectrum and Gizmodo. Rao has a bachelor’s degree in Physics and English from Vanderbilt University, and a master’s degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting from New York University.

Articles by: Rahul Rao

NASA's Parker Solar Probe makes 1st-of-its-kind observation within a coronal mass ejection.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe makes 1st-of-its-kind observation within a coronal mass ejection

By Rahul Rao published

NASA's sun-kissing Parker Solar Probe peered into the depths of a coronal mass ejection (CME) for the first time, revealing new details within the violent solar phenomenon.

A photograph of the moon's surface.

The moon is shrinking, causing landslides and moonquakes exactly where NASA wants to build its 1st lunar colony

By Rahul Rao published

The moon has been slowly shrinking for millions of years. Now, as Artemis 3 nears its 2026 launch date, geologists worry about whether moonquakes and lunar landslides will impact landing.

This artistic rendering shows ice plumes being ejected from Enceladus at major speeds.

Signs of life shooting from Saturn's moon could be collected with spacecraft, scientists say

By Rahul Rao published

Possible amino acids spewing from Enceladus' subsurface ocean can survive impact with a spacecraft, lab experiments show.

The NISAR satellite enters the thermal vacuum chamber at an ISRO facility in Bengaluru on Oct. 19. It emerged three weeks later having met all requirements of its performance under extreme temperatures and space-like vacuum.

NASA and India's debut climate satellite to launch in 2024. Here's what it'll do.

By Rahul Rao published

The NISAR satellite, a collaboration between NASA and India's space agency ISRO, will help scientists monitor how climate change is affecting Earth's varied landscapes.

Artist's impression of the Psyche spacecraft.

Earth receives laser-beam message from 10 million miles away in new NASA experiment

By Rahul Rao published

Earth successfully received a message beamed from NASA's Psyche spacecraft, located some 10 million miles away.

An artist's depiction of colliding black holes causing ripples in the fabric of space-time.

Curvature of space-time measured using 'atomic fountain'

By Rahul Rao published

A group of physicists has measured gravity using the effects of time dilation — the slowing of time imparted by increased velocity or gravitational force — on atoms.

This radio band composite image of Arp 187, obtained by the VLA and ALMA telescopes (blue: VLA 4.86 GHz, green: VLA 8.44 GHz, red: ALMA 133 GHz), shows clear bimodal jet lobes. But the central nucleus (center of the image) is dark.

Astronomers spot 3,000 light-year 'light echo' of dying supermassive black hole

By Rahul Rao published

The "active galactic nucleus" phase of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy Arp 187 has apparently just ended.

ultra-diffuse galaxy NGS 1052-DF2

Already-weird galaxy found to have oddly little dark matter

By Rahul Rao published

Astronomers may not know what dark matter is, but they do know that galaxies are supposed to contain a lot of the shadowy, invisible substance.