In a new study, University of Washington researchers show that an Earth-sized planet likely needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth’s oceans to maintain a critical natural cycle that keeps water on the surface. These new parameters could exclude many exoplanets in the so-called habitable zone.

Astronomers are puzzled by the existence of extremely massive black holes—up to a billion times the mass of the Sun—forming less than a billion years after the Big Bang, far earlier than current theories predict. Standard models of black hole growth cannot explain how they became so large so quickly. New research suggests that energy from decaying dark matter may have altered early galaxies’ chemistry, allowing some to collapse directly into massive black holes instead of forming stars.

Astronomers at The University of New Mexico have recently published new research confirming three bodies orbiting the dynamic exoplanet system TOI-201. They include a super-earth (TOI-201 d), a warm Jupiter (TOI-201 b) and a brown dwarf (TOI-201 c). Ismael Mireles, a PhD candidate in the UNM Department of Physics and Astronomy advised by Professor Diana Dragomir, led the research. The paper titled, “Uncovering the Rapidly Evolving Orbits of the Dynamic TOI-201 System” is published in Science Advances.

Penn physicist Patricio Gallardo and collaborators tracked the speeds of distant galaxy clusters to test the strength of gravity across hundreds of millions of light-years. The verdict? Gravity neatly matches the classic equations written by Newton and Einstein. By proving the fundamental laws of physics span these massive cosmic scales, the results leave little doubt that invisible dark matter exists.

A new study published in Big Earth Data systematically evaluates the data quality of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in ecological conservation applications. Focusing on red-crowned crane habitats in Hokkaido, Japan, the research compares VGI data from eBird and OpenStreetMap (OSM) against authoritative datasets from GBIF and CASEarth. The findings indicate that while VGI demonstrates higher thematic accuracy and broader spatial coverage for vector-based species distribution data, OSM exhibits significant classification errors and coverage gaps in raster-based land use data, particularly for croplands and grasslands. This study underscores the critical need for tailored validation strategies across different VGI types to enhance their utility in ecological research.