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

First detection of secondary supermassive black hole in a well-known binary system      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of astronomers observed the second one of the two supermassive black holes circling each other in an active galaxy OJ 287.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: General
Published

The problems with coal ash start smaller than anyone thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Burning coal doesn't only pollute the air. The resulting ash can leach toxic chemicals into the local environments where it's kept. New research shows that the toxicity of various ash stockpiles relies heavily on its nanoscale structures, which vary widely between sources. The results will help researchers predict which coal ash is most environmentally dangerous.

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

Webb Space Telescope detects universe's most distant complex organic molecules      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth -- the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new study lends critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that occur in the first galaxies in the early universe.

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

NASA's Webb Space Telescope peers behind bars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A delicate tracery of dust and bright star clusters threads across this image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The bright tendrils of gas and stars belong to the barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068, whose bright central bar is visible in the upper left of this image -- a composite from two of Webb's instruments.

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

Dying stars' cocoons could be new source of gravitational waves      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Although astrophysicists theoretically should be able to detect gravitational waves from a single, non-binary source, they have yet to uncover these elusive signals. Now researchers suggest looking at a new, unexpected and entirely unexplored place: The turbulent, energetic cocoons of debris that surround dying massive stars.

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

Early universe crackled with bursts of star formation, Webb shows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Among the most fundamental questions in astronomy is: How did the first stars and galaxies form? NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is already providing new insights into this question. One of the largest programs in Webb's first year of science is the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, which will devote about 32 days of telescope time to uncover and characterize faint, distant galaxies. While the data is still coming in, JADES already has discovered hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 600 million years old. The team also has identified galaxies sparkling with a multitude of young, hot stars.

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

Weigh a quasar's galaxy with precision      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have managed to weigh -- more precisely than any other technique -- a galaxy hosting a quasar, thanks to the fact that it acts as a gravitational lens. Detection of strong gravitational lensing quasars is expected to multiply with the launch of Euclid this summer.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: General Physics: Optics
Published

Buckle up! A new class of materials is here      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Would you rather run into a brick wall or into a mattress? For most people, the choice is not difficult. A brick wall is stiff and does not absorb shocks or vibrations well; a mattress is soft and is a good shock absorber. Sometimes, in designing materials, both of these properties are needed. Materials should be good at absorbing vibrations, but should be stiff enough to not collapse under pressure. A team of researchers from the UvA Institute of Physics has now found a way to design materials that manage to do both these things.

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

Eventually everything will evaporate, not only black holes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New theoretical research has shown that Stephen Hawking was likely right about black holes, although not completely. Due to Hawking radiation, black holes will eventually evaporate, but the event horizon is not as crucial as had been believed. Gravity and the curvature of spacetime cause this radiation too. This means that all large objects in the universe, like the remnants of stars, will eventually evaporate.

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

Mysterious dashes revealed in Milky Way's center      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the early 1980s, astronomers discovered gigantic, one-dimensional filaments dangling vertically near Sagittarius A*, our galaxy's central supermassive black hole. Now, astronomers have discovered a new population of filaments -- but these threads are much shorter and lie horizontally or radially, spreading out like spokes on a wheel from the black hole.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General
Published

Researchers finds a way to reduce the overheating of semiconductor devices      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have identified a method for improving the thermal conductivity of thin metal films in semiconductors using surface waves for the first time in the world.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

The 'breath' between atoms -- a new building block for quantum technology      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered they can detect atomic 'breathing,' or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. The sound of this atomic 'breath' could help researchers encode and transmit quantum information.

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

Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

After the Big Bang, the universe expanded and cooled sufficiently for hydrogen atoms to form. In the absence of light from the first stars and galaxies, the universe entered a period known as the cosmic dark ages. The first stars and galaxies appeared several hundred million years later and began burning away the hydrogen fog left over from the Big Bang, rendering the universe transparent, like it is today. Researchers have now confirmed the existence of a distant, faint galaxy typical of those whose light burned through the hydrogen atoms; the finding should help them understand how the cosmic dark ages ended.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

First X-ray of a single atom      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have taken the world's first X-ray SIGNAL (or SIGNATURE) of just one atom. This groundbreaking achievement could revolutionize the way scientists detect the materials.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

World's fastest electron microscope      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have succeeded in filming the interactions of light and matter in an electron microscope with attosecond time resolution.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

A nanocrystal shines on and off indefinitely      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Optical probes have led to numerous breakthroughs in applications like optical memory, nanopatterning, and bioimaging, but existing options have limited lifespans and will eventually 'photobleach.' New work demonstrates a promising, longer-lasting alternative: ultra-photostable avalanching nanoparticles that can turn on and off indefinitely in response to near-infrared light from simple lasers.

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

NIRISS instrument on Webb maps an ultra-hot Jupiter's atmosphere      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There's an intriguing exoplanet out there -- 400 light-years out there -- that is so tantalizing that astronomers have been studying it since its discovery in 2009. One orbit for WASP-18 b around its star that is slightly larger than our Sun takes just 23 hours. There is nothing like it in our Solar System. A new study about this exoplanet, an ultra-hot gas giant 10 times more massive than Jupiter.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Nuclear Environmental: General Physics: General Physics: Optics Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Under pressure: Foundations of stellar physics and nuclear fusion investigated      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research using the world's most energetic laser has shed light on the properties of highly compressed matter -- essential to understanding the structure of giant planets and stars, and to develop controlled nuclear fusion, a process that could harvest carbon-free energy.

Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Color-changing material shows when medications get too warm      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Some foods and medicines, such as many COVID-19 vaccines, must be kept cold. As a step toward a robust, stable technique that could indicate when these products exceed safe limits, researchers report a class of brilliantly colored microcrystals in materials that become colorless over a wide range of temperatures and response times. As a proof of concept, the team packaged the color-changing materials into a vial lid and QR code.

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

Astronomers discover last three planets Kepler telescope observed before going dark      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With the help of citizen scientists, astronomers discovered what may be the last three planets that the Kepler Space Telescope saw before it was retired.