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Categories: Offbeat: Space, Space: General
Published Search for dark matter



Scientists have applied a promising new method to search for dark matter particles in a particle accelerator. The method is based on the observation of the spin polarization of a particle beam in a storage ring COSY.
Published New study reveals evidence of diverse organic material on Mars



Scientists gain vital insights into Mars' history and potential for supporting life.
Published Training robots how to learn, make decisions on the fly



Mars rovers have teams of human experts on Earth telling them what to do. But robots on lander missions to moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter are too far away to receive timely commands from Earth. Researchers developed a novel learning-based method so robots on extraterrestrial bodies can make decisions on their own about where and how to scoop up terrain samples.
Published Reinventing cosmology: New research puts age of universe at 26.7 -- not 13.7 -- billion years



Our universe could be twice as old as current estimates, according to a new study that challenges the dominant cosmological model and sheds new light on the so-called 'impossible early galaxy problem.'
Published Quasar 'clocks' show Universe was five times slower soon after the Big Bang



Quasars are the supermassive black holes at the centres of early galaxies. Scientists have unlocked their secrets to use them as 'clocks' to measure time near the beginning of the universe.
Published First 'ghost particle' image of Milky Way



Scientists have revealed a uniquely different image of our galaxy by determining the galactic origin of thousands of neutrinos -- invisible 'ghost particles' which exist in great quantities but normally pass straight through Earth undetected. The neutrino-based image of the Milky Way is the first of its kind: a galactic portrait made with particles of matter rather than electromagnetic energy.
Published Gullies on Mars could have been formed by recent periods of liquid meltwater, study suggests



A study offers new insights into how water from melting ice could have played a recent role in the formation of ravine-like channels that cut down the sides of impact craters on Mars.
Published Earliest strands of the cosmic web



Galaxies are not scattered randomly across the universe. They gather together not only into clusters, but into vast interconnected filamentary structures with gigantic barren voids in between. This 'cosmic web' started out tenuous and became more distinct over time as gravity drew matter together.
Published Unveiling the origins of merging black holes in galaxies like our own



Black holes, some of the most captivating entities in the cosmos, possess an immense gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape. The groundbreaking detection of gravitational waves in 2015, caused by the coalescence of two black holes, opened a new window into the universe. Since then, dozens of such observations have sparked the quest among astrophysicists to understand their astrophysical origins. Thanks to the POSYDON code's recent major advancements in simulating binary-star populations, a team of scientists predicted the existence of merging massive, 30 solar mass black hole binaries in Milky Way-like galaxies, challenging previous theories.
Published Gravitational waves from colossal black holes found using 'cosmic clocks'



You can't see or feel it, but everything around you -- including your own body -- is slowly shrinking and expanding. It's the weird, spacetime-warping effect of gravitational waves passing through our galaxy. New results are the first evidence of the gravitational wave background -- a sort of soup of spacetime distortions pervading the entire universe and long predicted to exist by scientists.
Published Life after death: Astronomers find a planet that shouldn't exist



The star would have inflated up to 1.5 times the planet's orbital distance -- engulfing the planet in the process -- before shrinking to its current size at only one-tenth of that distance.
Published Starlight and the first black holes: researchers detect the host galaxies of quasars in the early universe



For the first time, the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed starlight from two massive galaxies hosting actively growing black holes -- quasars -- seen less than a billion years after the Big Bang.
Published Magnetic bacteria point the way



Magnetotactic bacteria, which can align with the Earth's magnetic field, have been discovered in a new location. Previously observed on land and in shallow water, analysis of a hydrothermal vent has proven that they can also survive deep under the ocean. The bacteria were able to exist in an environment that was not ideal for their typical needs. Magnetotactic bacteria are of interest not only for the role they play in Earth's ecosystem, but also in the search for extraterrestrial life. Evidence of their existence can remain in rocks for billions of years. Their magnetic inclinations can also provide a record of how magnetic poles have shifted over time. This new discovery brings hope to researchers that the magnetic bacteria might be found in yet more unexpected locations, on Earth and perhaps even on Mars or beyond.
Published First detection of crucial carbon molecule



Scientists detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+), the molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. Methyl cation was detected in a young star system, with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, which is located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.
Published Einstein and Euler put to the test at the edge of the Universe



The cosmos is a unique laboratory for testing the laws of physics, in particular those of Euler and Einstein. Euler described the movements of celestial objects, while Einstein described the way in which celestial objects distort the Universe. Since the discovery of dark matter and the acceleration of the Universe's expansion, the validity of their equations has been put to the test: are they capable of explaining these mysterious phenomena? A team has developed the first method to find out. It considers a never-before-used measure: time distortion.
Published Molecular filament shielded young solar system from supernova



Isotope ratios found in meteorites suggest that a supernova exploded nearby while the Sun and Solar System were still forming. But the blast wave from a supernova that close could have potentially destroyed the nascent Solar System. New calculations shows that a filament of molecular gas, which is the birth cocoon of the Solar System, aided the capture of the isotopes found in the meteorites, while acting as a buffer protecting the young Solar System from the nearby supernova blast.
Published Never-before-seen way to annihilate a star



Astronomers studying a powerful gamma-ray burst, may have detected a never-before-seen way to destroy a star. Unlike most GRBs, which are caused by exploding massive stars or the chance mergers of neutron stars, astronomers have concluded that this GRB came instead from the collision of stars or stellar remnants in the jam-packed environment surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy.
Published Groundwork for future ultra-precise timing links to geosynchronous satellites



Scientists have demonstrated a capability long sought by physicists: transmitting extremely precise time signals through the air between far-flung locations at powers that are compatible with future space-based missions. The results could enable time transfer from the ground to satellites in geosynchronous orbit with femtosecond precision -- 10,000 times better than the existing state-of-the-art satellite approaches. It also would allow for successful synchronization using the bare minimum timing signal strength, which would make the system highly robust in the face of atmospheric disturbances.
Published Detection of an echo emitted by our Galaxy's black hole 200 years ago



An international team of scientists has discovered that Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, emerged from a long period of dormancy some 200 years ago. The team, led by Frédéric Marin, a CNRS researcher at the Astronomical Strasbourg Observatory (CNRS/University of Strasbourg), has revealed the past awakening of this gigantic object, which is four million times more massive than the Sun. Their work is published in Nature on 21 June.
Published Exoplanet may reveal secrets about the edge of habitability



How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that mystery.