Traveling at the speed of light 300,000 km per second sounds impossibly fast, yet even this ultimate velocity pales against the vastness of space. From reaching nearby stars like Proxima Centauri to ...

Here is a thought experiment for you: imagine shining a powerful laser at the moon, the beam cutting through space until it lands on its dusty grey surface. Now flick the laser so the spot of light ...

Scientists have successfully tested a material design for light sails using photonic crystals that could achieve 20% the speed of light ...

Jarred Roberts receives funding from NASA. My telescope, set up for astrophotography in my light-polluted San Diego backyard, was pointed at a galaxy unfathomably far from Earth. My wife, Cristina, ...

Imagine you’re in a car driving across the country watching the landscape. A tree in the distance gets closer to your car, passes right by you, then moves off again in the distance behind you. Of ...

If there is an absolute law in the universe, it’s that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. For science-fiction enthusiasts, that’s a bit depressing. Space is big, and while the speed of ...

Nearly 60 years ago, the original Star Trek series ignited a dream in the public’s imagination: that one day, people would travel the galaxy in ships propelled by faster-than-light “warp drives.” The ...