There is an important and unresolved tension in cosmology regarding the rate at which the universe is expanding, and resolving this could reveal new physics.  Astronomers constantly seek new ways to measure this expansion in case there may be unknown errors in data from conventional markers such as supernovae. Recently, researchers including those from the University of Tokyo measured the expansion of the universe using novel techniques and new data from the latest telescopes. Their method exploits the way light from extremely distant objects takes multiple pathways to get to us. Differences in these pathways help improve models on what happens at the largest cosmological scales, including expansion.

Recently reported methane signatures detected by the James Webb Space Telescope could be a hint to it potentially harboring life, but a University of Arizona researcher urges caution. Sukrit Ranjan argues that it is not clear whether TRAPPIST-1e has an atmosphere at all and whether the methane signature could originate from its host star instead.

Using sound measurements from NASA’s Mars missions to the best extent possible requires an accurate understanding of how sound propagates on the red planet. Focusing on the Jezero crater, the 2021 landing and exploration site of NASA’s Perseverance rover and its attached Ingenuity helicopter, Charlie Zheng and Hayden Baird have simulated how sound moves through and scatters off the region’s complex terrains, whether it comes from a moving or stationary source. They hope their model will help identify signals and patterns that indicate specific Martian atmospheric events.

In the leading model of cosmology, most of the universe is invisible: a combined 95 percent is made of dark matter and dark energy. Exactly what these dark components are remains a mystery, but they have a tremendous impact on our universe, with dark matter exerting a gravitational pull and dark energy driving the universe’s accelerating expansion. What scientists know about dark matter and dark energy comes from observing their effects on the visible universe. Astrophysicists from the University of Chicago measured those effects on a new patch of sky to illuminate the invisible cosmos.