Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Reflective materials and irrigated trees: Study shows how to cool one of the world's hottest cities by 4.5°C      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A combination of cooling technologies and techniques could reduce the temperature and energy needs of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Technology
Published

Scientists use heat to create transformations between skyrmions and antiskyrmions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In an experiment that could help the development of new spintronics devices with low energy consumption, researchers have used heat and magnetic fields to create transformations between spin textures -- magnetic vortices and antivortices known as skyrmions and antiskyrmions -- in a single crystal thin plate device. Importantly, they achieved this at room temperature.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics
Published

Spying on a shape-shifting protein      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are using crystallography to gain a better understanding of how proteins shapeshift. The knowledge can provide valuable insight into stopping and treating diseases.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Close encounters of the supermassive black hole kind      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have confirmed the accuracy of an analytical model that can unlock key information about supermassive black holes and the stars they engulf.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Our surprising magnetic galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of astronomers has created the first-ever map of magnetic field structures within a spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Previous studies on galactic magnetic fields only gave a very general picture, but the new study reveals that magnetic fields in the spiral arms of our galaxy break away from this general picture significantly and are tilted away from the galactic average by a high degree. The findings suggest magnetic fields strongly impact star-forming regions which means they played a part in the creation of our own solar system.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Surprise gamma-ray feature beyond our galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers analyzing 13 years of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found an unexpected and as yet unexplained feature outside of our galaxy.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

NASA's Webb finds signs of possible aurorae on isolated brown dwarf      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have found a brown dwarf (an object more massive than Jupiter but smaller than a star) with infrared emission from methane, likely due to energy in its upper atmosphere. This is an unexpected discovery because the brown dwarf, W1935, is cold and lacks a host star; therefore, there is no obvious source for the upper atmosphere energy. The team speculates that the methane emission may be due to processes generating aurorae.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Unlocking the secrets of a 'Hot Saturn' and its spotted star      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of astronomers has unraveled the enigmatic atmosphere of the exoplanet HAT-P-18 b, shedding light on its intriguing blend of gases, clouds, and even the effects of its star's activity.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

'Blob-like' home of farthest-known fast radio burst is collection of seven galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In summer 2022, astronomers detected the most powerful and most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever observed. Now, astronomers have pinpointed the extraordinary object's birthplace -- and it's rather curious, indeed. Using images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the researchers traced the FRB back to not one galaxy but a group of at least seven galaxies.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Final supernova results from Dark Energy Survey offer unique insights into the expansion of the universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the culmination of a decade's worth of effort, scientists analyzed an unprecedented sample of more than 1,500 supernovae classified using machine learning. They placed the strongest constraints on the expansion of the universe ever obtained with the DES supernova survey. While consistent with the current standard cosmological model, the results do not rule out a more complex theory that the density of dark energy in the universe could have varied over time.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Three iron rings in a planet-forming disk      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have detected a three-ringed structure in the nursery of planets in the inner planet-forming disk of a young star. This configuration suggests two Jupiter-mass planets are forming in the gaps between the rings. The detailed analysis is consistent with abundant solid iron grains complementing the dust composition. As a result, the disk likely harbors metals and minerals akin to those in the Solar System's terrestrial planets. It offers a glimpse into conditions resembling the early Solar System over four billion years ago during the formation of rocky planets such as Mercury, Venus, and Earth.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Space oddity: Uncovering the origin of the universe's rare radio circles      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers believe they may have found the origin of the universe's giant odd radio circles: they are shells formed by outflowing galactic winds, possibly from massive exploding stars known as supernovae.

Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Magnetic fields in the cosmos: Dark matter could help us discover their origin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

We don't know how magnetic fields in the cosmos formed. Now a new theoretical research tells how the invisible part of our universe could help us find out, suggesting a primordial genesis, even within a second of the Big Bang.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Environmental: General
Published

Computational method discovers hundreds of new ceramics for extreme environments      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If you have a deep-seated, nagging worry over dropping your phone in molten lava, you're in luck. Materials scientists have developed a method for rapidly discovering a new class of materials with heat and electronic tolerances so rugged that they that could enable devices to function at several thousands of degrees Fahrenheit.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

A carbon-lite atmosphere could be a sign of water and life on other terrestrial planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence of carbon dioxide in their atmospheres.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Further evidence for quark-matter cores in massive neutron stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New theoretical analysis places the likelihood of massive neutron stars hiding cores of deconfined quark matter between 80 and 90 percent. The result was reached through massive supercomputer runs utilizing Bayesian statistical inference.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hubble sights a galaxy with 'forbidden' light      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A whirling image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. In addition to being a well-defined spiral galaxy, MCG-01-24-014 has an extremely energetic core known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is categorized as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies, along with quasars, host one of the most common subclasses of AGN. While the precise categorization of AGNs is nuanced, Seyfert galaxies tend to be relatively nearby and their central AGN does not outshine its host, while quasars are very distant AGNs with incredible luminosities that outshine their host galaxies.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Researchers study a million galaxies to find out how the universe began      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have analyzed more than one million galaxies to explore primordial fluctuations that seeded the formation of the structure of the entire universe.