NPR's science podcast Short Wave shares how taking a nap can deliver a eureka moment, a new picture of a planet right after it was born, and how wildfires can affect water quality – after the fires ...

In the cold, dark outskirts of planetary systems far beyond the reach of the known planets, mysterious gas giants and planetary masses silently orbit their stars—sometimes thousands of astronomical ...

In the swirling clouds of gas and dust that surround newborn stars, planets begin to form. These planet-forming disks are rich with clues about how worlds like Earth come to be. Until now, scientists ...

A key method of forming planets finally has observational evidence, thanks to a network of radio telescopes in the U.K. that have resolved the existence of a huge abundance of centimeter-sized pebbles ...

How did a planet this big form around a star this small? An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Liège and collaborators in UK, Chile, the USA, and Europe, ...

It’s an unprecedented snapshot of “time zero,” scientists reported Wednesday, when new worlds begin to gel. “We’ve captured a direct glimpse of the hot region where rocky planets like Earth are born ...

It's time for our science news roundup from Short Wave, NPR's science podcast. And joining me this time are Regina Barber and Emily Kwong. Good to have you both back. REGINA BARBER, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.