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This image from ESO?s VISTA telescope captures a celestial landscape of vast, glowing clouds of gas and tendrils of dust surrounding hot young stars. This infrared view reveals the stellar nursery known as NGC 6357 in a new light. It was taken as part of the VISTA Variables in the V?a L?ctea (VVV) survey, which is currently scanning the Milky Way in a bid to map our galaxy?s structure and explain how it formed.

Physics

Why this is a golden age for life to thrive across the universe

Almost all the stars that will ever exist have already been born, and they have been around long enough for life to evolve on planets that orbit them

Features

HY0AKX Little green alien and welcome sign welcomes visitors to a business in Roswell, New Mexico

Space

Why our location in the Milky Way is perfect for finding alien life

Features

Life

Why herbs evolved to smell and taste so delicious

News

Johnson's abyssal seadevil (Melanocetus johnsonii) portrait, cleared and stained by scientists, showing cartilage in blue and bones in red. Clearly visible in this picture are the pharyngeal jaws, which are like small forks that work like a second set of jaws that can pull prey items further into its mouth. The gill arches and gill rakers are also on full display. RV Sonne, Cruise SO285, South Atlantic, Benguela upwelling region off the coast of South Africa and Namibia. Captive..

Life

Striking image lets you see inside a deep-sea anglerfish's killer jaws

Regulars

Life

Don't forget birds and bats when renovating or building new homes

News

Onion cells at the microscope; Shutterstock ID 1037260501; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Life

Quantum biology: New clues on how life might make use of weird physics

Features

2CA2RF4 meadow with a lot of colorful flowers

Environment

To rescue biodiversity, we need a better way to measure it

Features

Space

Dozens of stars show signs of hosting advanced alien civilisations

News

Illustration of life forms on a hypothetical planet with a slightly lower mass than the Earth. It has shallow seas and extreme tides due to its large moon (thin crescent at left). The vegetation is translucent which allows the light to shine through, so it seems to be glowing, due to it being backlit in this image.

Comment

The hunt for alien planets and extraterrestrial life

Culture

Eruption of Strokkur Geysir in Iceland

Life

Protocells on early Earth may have been formed by squeezing geysers

Simulations of the crust of early Earth show that cycles of pressure caused by geysers or tidal forces could have generated cell-like structures and even very simple proteins

News

Space

Planets that look alike might be a sign of spacefaring aliens

News

Life

Life’s vital chemistry may have begun in hot, cracked rock

News

Space

Europa’s seafloor may be impenetrable and inhospitable to life

News

Space

Europa may have less oxygen to fuel life in its seas than we thought

News