Astronomy

NASA described the planets as "scorching" and "bathed" in heat emitted by a distant host star.

For the first time, astronomers have created a data-driven estimate for how many black holes are in our Universe: more than anyone expected.

Our Universe appears to be expanding and cooling, having originated some 13.8 billion years ago in a hot Big Bang. However, it's plausible that what we see from inside our Universe is simply the result of being inside a black hole that formed from some parent Universe. If the black holes that form in our cosmos give birth to baby Universes, perhaps we arose from the formation of a black hole ourselves.

If you said "with the Big Bang," congratulations: that was our best answer as of ~1979. Here's what we've learned in all the time since.