Comparative Reality

I used to believe that almost every creature in Australia was venomous. The few that aren't made out of poison have razor-sharp claws and/or fangs. Apparently, even the very, very small number of Australian creatures that don't poison you or tear yo… more »

Or, "Our world may be a giant hologram." Because string theory didn't have a high enough SAN loss value: The idea that we live in a hologram probably sounds absurd, but it is a natural extension of our best understanding of black holes, and somet… more »

Please take a break from making the universe seem bigger and cooler than it already is. It's getting tough to keep up. WASHINGTON -- NASA's Swift satellite has found the most distant gamma-ray burst ever detected. The blast, designated GRB 080913, ar… more »

Brightest gamma-ray burst was aimed at Earth The blast, dubbed GRB 080319B, came from 7.5 billion light years away, more than halfway across the universe. Despite the immense distance, it would have been visible with the naked eye at dark sites on… more »

Our galaxy has lost two of its arms. At least, it has according to the latest map of the Milky Way. And although we're not way, way out on the edge of the galaxy, we're not in one of the arms. Of which there are only two, apparently. No, we're off i… more »