From the invisible world of elementary particles to the mysteries of the cosmos, recipients of this prestigious award for early career scientists explore nature at every level.

An analysis of the first three years of Dark Energy Survey data is consistent with predictions from the current best model of the universe. Nevertheless, hints remain from DES and other experiments that matter in the current universe is a few percent less clumpy than predicted.

Rebecca Leane and colleagues showed dark matter could heat planets in our galaxy to incredible temperatures. Here, she explains how that works and how it could pave the way for sensitive new searches for the mysterious substance.

Cui was honored for his work on materials chemistry for energy and the environment, and Wechsler for scientific contributions and leadership of large programs in cosmology.