This illustration of the large GRB ring, and the inferred underlying large-scale structure, shows what might be responsible for the pattern we've observed. However, this may not be a true structure, ...

Earth-centered models of the universe did not require stars to be at the vast distances needed by the Copernican model. Lesser distances translated into lesser sizes. In Earth-centered models, stars ...

PART I: When Giordano Bruno promoted the idea of a Plurality of Worlds, science was clearly against it, as Johannes Kepler took pains to point out. LEFT: “Portrait of Johannes Kepler,” 1620. RIGHT: ...

Humans, says astrophysicist Scharf (Gravity’s Engines), are torn between two philosophical extremes: either we—ourselves and our planet—are unique and rare or we are simply “as dull as they come,” our ...

The classic image of Galileo Galilei has the 16th century Italian scientist dropping two balls of differing weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and observing them hitting the ground at the same ...

Humans like to think by analogy, and this method often works well for advancing knowledge. For instance, when Galileo first turned his new telescope towards the heavens in 1609–10, he quickly noted ...