Peking University, October 22, 2025: A research team led by Prof. Tian Hui  and his Ph.D. student Zhang Jiale  from the School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, has made significant progress in studying stellar magnetic activity. Using observations taken from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), known as the “China Sky Eye”, the team uncovered a new type of millisecond-scale radio bursts from an M-type star AD Leo. By combining these observations with surface magnetic field measurements, they confirmed that the radio signals originate from small-scale magnetic structures in the starspot regions. This work fills a long-standing gap in our understanding of small-scale magnetic fields on stars beyond the solar system and provides new insights into the mechanisms behind their coronal eruptions and space weather phenomena. The result was recently published in Science Advances.

A new study led by UNLV scientists sheds light on how planets, including Earth, formed in our galaxy – and why the life and death of nearby stars are an important piece of the puzzle. 

Frozen in time, ancient microbes or their remains could be found in Martian ice deposits during future missions to the Red Planet. By recreating Mars-like conditions in the lab, a team of researchers from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Penn State demonstrated that fragments of the molecules that make up proteins in E. coli bacteria, if present in Mars’ permafrost and ice caps, could remain intact for over 50 million years, despite harsh and continuous exposure to cosmic radiation. In the study, published in Astrobiology, the researchers encouraged future missions searching for life on Mars to target locations with pure ice or ice-dominated permafrost for exploration, as opposed to studying rocks, clay or soil.

A mysterious diffuse glow of gamma rays near the center of the Milky Way has stumped researchers for decades, as they’ve tried to discern whether the light comes from colliding particles of dark matter or quickly spinning neutron stars. Both theories are equally likely, according to new research. Maps generated by supercomputers confirm that the glow could come from dark matter.