Nuclear power is considered one of the ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, but how to deal with nuclear waste products is among the issues surrounding it. Radioactive waste products can be turned into more stable elements, but this process is not yet viable at scale. New research led by physicists from the University … Read more
A dipole magnetic field, created by a ring current, is the most fundamental type of magnetic field that is found both in laboratories and in space. Planetary magnetospheres, such as Jupiter’s, effectively confine plasma. The RT-1 project aims to learn from nature and create a magnetosphere-type high-performance plasma to realize advanced fusion energy. Simultaneously, the … Read more
For a long time, our understanding of the universe’s first galaxies leaned heavily on theory. The light from that age only reached us after traveling for billions of years, and on the way, it was obscured and stretched into the infrared. Clues about the first galaxies are hidden in that messy light. Now that we … Read more
Using nonstick cookware to fry your bacon and eggs can make your life easier at that moment, but scientists believe there may be long-term consequences because the chemicals used to make it nonstick are so difficult to destroy. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—commonly known as PFAS and often called forever chemicals—are everywhere. PFAS, a suite of … Read more
Researchers from Zhejiang University, China, led by Jiaxin Gao, have shed light on the remarkable ability of the human brain to untangle speech from echoes, a feat that continues to baffle engineering solutions. In their study published in PLOS Biology, they investigated how our brains effortlessly decipher direct speech amidst echoing reverberations, a common occurrence … Read more
Researchers can engineer cells to express new genes and produce specific proteins, giving the cells new parts to work with. But, it’s much harder to provide cells with instructions on how to organize and use those new parts. Now, new tools from University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers offer an innovative way around this problem. Their research … Read more
Ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism have long been known to scientists as two classes of magnetic order of materials. Back in 2019, researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) postulated a third class of magnetism, called altermagnetism. This altermagnetism has been the subject of heated debate among experts ever since, with some expressing doubts about its existence. … Read more
At the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University, an international research team has achieved a significant milestone by creating five new isotopes, effectively bringing celestial phenomena closer to Earth. Reported in Physical Review Letters, these isotopes—thulium-182, thulium-183, ytterbium-186, ytterbium-187, and lutetium-190—mark the inaugural batch of new isotopes synthesized at FRIB, a … Read more
New revelations from the depths of space have shaken the foundations of our understanding of galaxy formation and dark matter, thanks to groundbreaking observations of a colossal stellar population dating back more than 11 billion years—a phenomenon that defies existing models. Today’s publication in Nature unveils startling findings from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), … Read more
A recent study led by astrobiologist Catherine Neish from the Western Institute for Earth and Space Exploration has dealt a blow to hopes of finding life in the outer solar system, particularly on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Neish’s team found that the subsurface ocean on Titan, though vast, is likely a non-habitable environment, dashing the … Read more
The Oort Cloud is a fascinating and mysterious region of our solar system, situated far beyond the orbit of Neptune, extending to the fringes of the sun’s gravitational influence. It is a vast and diffuse cloud of icy objects, remnants from the early days of the solar system, which offers insights into the formation and … Read more
Stars are celestial bodies that emit light and heat, providing the energy that sustains life and drives the processes occurring throughout the universe. At the heart of a star lies a complex and fascinating process known as nuclear fusion, which powers the star and produces the radiant energy that we observe from Earth. Understanding how … Read more
In autumn 2021, geologists discovered an unusual row of stones, almost 1 km long, at the bottom of Mecklenburg Bight. The site is located around 10 kilometers off Rerik at a 21-meter water depth. The approximately 1,500 stones are aligned so regularly that a natural origin seems unlikely. A team of researchers from different disciplines … Read more
When spectacular cosmic events such as galaxy collisions occur, it sets off a reaction to form new stars, and possibly new planets that otherwise would not have formed. The gravitational pull that forces the collisions between these galaxies creates tidal tails—the long thin region of stars and interstellar gas. The Hubble Space Telescope’s vision is … Read more
Astronomers from Nanjing University in China, utilizing the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), sheds light on the enigmatic CTB 87 supernova remnant. Published on February 1 on the arXiv pre-print server, their findings reveal the detection of a radio pulsar within CTB 87, a significant milestone in understanding these celestial phenomena. Pulsars, characterized by … Read more
Astronomers at Curtin University in Australia and collaborators worldwide: the identification of a novel supernova remnant (SNR) located approximately 3,300 light years away. Dubbed G321.3-3.9, this newly found SNR boasts an elliptical form and is believed to be a few millennia old. The revelation was recently unveiled in a paper published on Jan. 30 via … Read more
The search for habitable exoplanets involves looking for planets with similar conditions to the Earth, such as liquid water, a suitable temperature range and atmospheric conditions. One crucial factor is the planet’s position in the habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water could potentially exist on the planet’s surface. NASA’s Kepler telescope, … Read more
Published today, our new paper describes a spectacular 400 million-year-old 3D-preserved fossil fish, Ligulalepis. The 3D anatomy of the fossilised Ligulalepis skull reveals previously unknown details of the pattern of dermal skull bones, the shape of the brain cavity, and other soft tissue features (such as nerves and blood vessels) in this species. Why are we so excited about discovering … Read more
Theoretical predictions have been confirmed with the discovery of an outflow of molecular gas from a quasar when the universe was less than a billion years old. A quasar is a compact region powered by a supermassive black hole located in the center of a massive galaxy. They are extremely luminous, with a point-like appearance … Read more
The study of “exoplanets,” the sci-fi-sounding name for all planets in the cosmos beyond our own solar system, is a fairly new field. Mainly, exoplanet researchers like those in the ExoLab at the University of Kansas use data from space-borne telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope and Webb Space Telescope. Whenever news headlines offer … Read more