Cosmology
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Cosmology is a branch of physics that grapples with the big questions on the nature of our universe, including where it came from and what will happen to it next. At Live Science, we make this complex and sometimes mind-bending science accessible, explaining everything from the speed of light to the multiverse theory, and describing all of the wild theories about the universe.
Our expert writers and editors also break down new developments in the field, whether it's how "Dark sirens" could solve one of the greatest mysteries in cosmology or why the launch of the Euclid space telescope is groundbreaking, with the latest cosmology news, features and articles.
Discover more about cosmology
—5 fascinating facts about the Big Bang, the theory that defines the history of the universe
—The James Webb telescope has broken cosmology. Can it be fixed?
Latest about Cosmology
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Most powerful cosmic rays in the universe start shockingly close to Earth, paper claims
By Paul Sutter published
The most powerful cosmic rays in the universe currently have no explanation. New research suggests that exotic, self-annihilating particles in our own galaxy may hold the answer.
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Euclid telescope spots rare 'Einstein ring' hiding near Earth — and an ancient, unnamed galaxy behind it
By Ben Turner published
Einstein predicted the existence of gravitationally-warped rings of light in 1915. Now, a new one has been discovered just a cosmic stone's throw from our own planet.
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A cosmic 'CT scan' shows the universe is far more complex than expected
By Robert Lea published
"This process is like a cosmic CT scan, where we can look through different slices of cosmic history and track how matter clumped together at different epochs."
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1st supernovas may have flooded the early universe with water — making life possible just 100 million years after the Big Bang
By Harry Baker published
A new study suggests that the explosive deaths of the universe's earliest stars created surprising quantities of water that may have sparked extraterrestrial life in the very first galaxies.
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'Herculean' 2.5-billion-pixel mosaic shows our closest galactic neighbor like never before — and took more than a decade to create
By Harry Baker published
The new composite image, which combines hundreds of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the Andromeda Galaxy with more than 200 million individually resolved stars.
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'Our model of cosmology might be broken': New study reveals the universe is expanding too fast for physics to explain
By Ben Turner published
Astronomers have been confounded by recent evidence that the universe expanded at different rates throughout its life. New findings risk turning the tension into a crisis, scientists say.
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Rare string of 'cosmic pearls' dance together in the universe
By Robert Lea published
A rare group of aligned, star-birthing dwarf galaxies resemble a cosmic string of pearls.
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Most of the atoms in your body left the Milky Way on a 'cosmic conveyor belt' long before you were born, new study reveals
By Harry Baker published
New research suggests that most of the atoms within the human body likely spent part of their lives drifting beyond the Milky Way on a cosmic "conveyor belt," before eventually returning to our galaxy.
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James Webb telescope spies record-breaking hoard of stars hiding in a warped 'dragon' galaxy
By Harry Baker published
Photos from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed more than 40 stars within the gravitationally lensed "Dragon Arc" galaxy, 6.5 billion light-years from Earth. It is the largest group of individually imaged stars ever seen at such a distance.
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'There's no real competitor': Theoretical physicist Marika Taylor on how black holes could help us to find a theory of everything
By Ben Turner published
String theory remains our best candidate for a theory of everything, but where can it be tested? By studying black holes, says Marika Taylor.
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