COSMIC

Astrophysicist Charles Liu joins StarTalk to explain why the observational evidence for the Big Bang could one day vanish from our view. As the universe's expansion accelerates, distant light may eventually become unreachable, potentially erasing the cosmic microwave background and other key clues that support the Big Bang theory for future observers. The discussion has drawn significant attention from audiences interested in cosmology.

System76's COSMIC desktop environment project has introduced a new policy requiring contributors to confirm that their pull requests contain no code, comments, or descriptions generated by large language models. The move makes COSMIC one of the more explicit open-source projects in pushing back against AI-generated submissions, and it is drawing attention in the Linux and open-source communities as debates continue over AI content quality in collaborative development.

An artist is taking part in multiple October drawing challenges, posting a day-two piece of a space pirate character that also fits cosmic, cute girl and pretty boy prompt lists. The creator says the lighting and perspective did not turn out as intended and that piercings on the character's cat ears were missing, while sharing the work publicly anyway.

Discussion is circulating about the Book of Enoch, the ancient Jewish text that was excluded from most biblical canons. Commenters argue it was deliberately set aside not because it was irrelevant, but because its content—descriptions of fallen angels, cosmic secrets and prophecies—was considered too controversial. The topic is drawing attention among readers fascinated by marginalised religious texts and what mainstream tradition chose to omit.

Researchers have put forward an explanation for how a photon with an energy of 300 teraelectronvolts — among the most energetic gamma rays ever detected — could have travelled to Earth. The finding addresses a long-standing puzzle, since such high-energy photons should be destroyed by interactions with background light on their way through the universe, and the proposed mechanism sheds light on extreme cosmic accelerators.

A leak about the iPhone 18 Pro's color lineup suggests Cosmic Orange, introduced with the iPhone 17 Pro, could be dropped when the new model arrives. Reports point to a fresh set of finishes for Apple's next flagship, fueling speculation about which shades Apple will keep or retire.

An artist taking part in the CosmicTober daily drawing challenge has posted their day three entry on the theme of black holes. They said the piece did not go as expected but that they enjoyed experimenting, while expressing some frustration over construction lines left in the wrong places.

An artistic image of the GRAPES-3 muon telescope alongside lightning is circulating in science news. GRAPES-3 is a cosmic ray experiment in Ooty, India, whose muon telescope has been used to study how thunderstorms and lightning affect atmospheric muon flux. The image is drawing attention to the facility's ongoing work on particle physics and extreme weather phenomena.

The COSMIC desktop project, developed by System76, has announced that it will no longer accept content generated by large language models in pull requests, including code, comments and PR descriptions. An exception applies to the cosmic-Flatpak repository. The move has drawn attention in the Linux community, with contributors asking how the policy affects them.

A science news release carrying the headline 'From the cosmos to thunderstorms' has been issued through EurekAlert, a service for research announcements. The phrasing suggests research linking physics processes across vastly different scales, from cosmic phenomena to atmospheric events like thunderstorms, but no further details about the study, researchers, or findings are available at this time.

The question of whether hypernovas are real is circulating in science coverage. Hypernovas are extremely energetic supernova explosions, typically linked to the collapse of massive stars, and astronomers widely accept them as real events observed through gamma-ray bursts and bright stellar explosions. The current discussion appears to reflect general public interest in confirming the science behind these cosmic phenomena rather than a specific new discovery.

Scientists report that the long-debated haze observed in Venus' upper atmosphere is caused by cosmic dust rather than previously suspected chemistry. The finding, covered by Ars Technica, resolves a persistent puzzle in observations of the planet, where an unexplained ultraviolet-absorbing layer has puzzled astronomers for decades. Researchers say the discovery refines understanding of Venus' atmosphere and the role interplanetary dust plays in planetary environments.

The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics honoured the work that turned cosmology into a precision science, recognising measurements of the cosmic microwave background that confirmed the Big Bang model and revealed tiny temperature fluctuations seeding galaxy formation. Commentators note the prize marked a shift for cosmology from speculative theory to data-driven, exacting measurement.

The University of Minnesota hosted a Van Vleck Lecture exploring how humanity came to exist, framed as a question that physics rather than biology or philosophy can answer. The talk, covered by the Minnesota Daily, examines cosmology and the physical origins of matter and life.

Scientists have produced the largest three-dimensional map of the universe, and its findings are being described as shaking cosmology to its foundations. The map charts cosmic structure on an unprecedented scale, and measurements drawn from it reportedly diverge from established models of how the universe evolves. Astronomers and science commentators are weighing whether the results point to new physics or limitations in current theories.

A new physics study reports that decoherence — the process by which quantum systems lose coherence through interaction with their environment — suppresses quantum tunneling in a cosmological context. The finding suggests tunneling effects may be far weaker in the early universe than idealized quantum models predict, with potential implications for theories of cosmic inflation and phase transitions in the early cosmos.

Curious Archive has released a new documentary on Nebula examining what it calls the scariest type of cosmic horror, the branch of science fiction built on humanity's insignificance in a vast, indifferent universe. The piece is part of Nebula's first-run originals lineup. Viewers are sharing the release and debating which stories best capture existential dread on this scale.

A Halloween 2026 horror short story contest has opened its call for entries, welcoming terror in all its forms, from cosmic to psychological. Writers may submit one work each, with a maximum length of 3,500 words, during October from the 1st to the 31st. The announcement is drawing attention from Spanish-speaking horror and book communities looking to take part.

New ultra-precise mirror coatings are being developed to improve the sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO, allowing them to detect fainter cosmic events like black hole and neutron star mergers. Reducing thermal noise in these coatings is a key challenge for upcoming detector upgrades, and researchers report progress in materials that could extend the reach of gravitational wave astronomy.

Scientists have spotted ancient hydrogen in the early universe, a discovery that could open a new way of studying the baffling expansion of space. The finding gives researchers a fresh observational tool for probing how the universe grew in its earliest epochs, and it is drawing attention as a potential step toward resolving tensions in measurements of cosmic expansion.

The Lovecraftian fishing adventure Cthulhu's Reach: Devil Reef has received a new update adding achievements. Players of the cosmic horror title can now pursue fresh goals in the game, and the patch is being picked up by gaming news outlets. Details on additional changes in the update remain limited.

A new article argues that even the most powerful telescopes have blind spots that limit our maps of the universe, and describes a proposed fix that could help astronomers chart cosmic structures more accurately. Science communicators are sharing the piece widely, with readers discussing how correcting these observational gaps could improve our understanding of the universe's large-scale structure.

Astronomers report that Earth and Mars did not form from the same mix of cosmic material, suggesting the two planets were built from distinct regions of the early solar nebula. Differences in their composition challenge the idea that rocky planets formed from a homogeneous soup of dust and gas.

Astronomers may have picked up radio emissions from Beta Pictoris b, a young gas giant orbiting a star about 63 light-years from Earth. If confirmed, it would be the first time radio waves have been detected from an exoplanet, offering a new way to study planets beyond the solar system. Scientists are urging caution until independent observations verify the signal.

New research suggests the powerful jets launched by supermassive black holes may play a decisive role in a galaxy's destiny, potentially heating or expelling gas and shutting down star formation. The findings add to growing evidence that black holes do not merely inhabit galaxies but actively shape how they evolve over cosmic time.

Researchers have offered an explanation for how a photon with an energy of 300 teraelectronvolts, one of the highest-energy photons ever detected, could have travelled to Earth. Such extreme gamma rays are expected to be absorbed or degraded over interstellar distances, so the finding has drawn attention from physicists discussing the mechanisms that could allow it to survive the journey and what it reveals about cosmic accelerators.