Space: Structures and Features
Published

Younger exoplanets are better candidates when looking for other Earths      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As the scientific community searches for worlds orbiting nearby stars that could potentially harbor life, new research suggests that younger rocky exoplanets are more likely to support temperate, Earth-like climates.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Search reveals eight new sources of black hole echoes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers discovered eight new echoing black hole binaries in our galaxy, enabling them to piece together a general picture of how a black hole evolves during an outburst. The findings will help scientists trace a black hole's evolution as it feeds on stellar material.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Spinning stars shed new light on strange signal coming from galactic center      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have found an alternative explanation for a mysterious gamma-ray signal coming from the center of the galaxy, which was long claimed as a signature of dark matter.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Classifying exoplanet atmospheres opens new field of study      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of researchers examined data for 25 exoplanets and found some links among the properties of the atmospheres, including the thermal profiles and chemical abundances in them. These findings will help establish a generalized theory of planet formation which will improve our understanding of all planets, including the Earth.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Immersive VR: Empowering kids to survive in fire, flood, and war      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When you live in the driest State in the driest country in the world, bushfires are an unfortunate, and all-too-regular part of life. Learning how to survive such emergencies is important for all people, but especially for our youngest citizens.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Dying stars' cocoons might explain fast blue optical transients      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using a newly developed model, astrophysicists present a new theory to explain fast blue optical transients, a new class of transients that has boggled researchers since their discovery in 2018. In the new study, astrophysicists find that FBOTs could result from the actively cooling cocoons that surround jets launched by dying stars.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers identify likely location of medium-sized black holes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Intermediate-mass black holes are notoriously hard to find but a new study indicates there may be some at the center of dense, star clusters located throughout the universe. A study now sheds new light on when and where black holes of about 100-100,000 solar masses could form and how they came into being.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Why Venus rotates, slowly, despite sun's powerful grip      (via sciencedaily.com) 

If not for the soupy, fast-moving atmosphere on Venus, Earth's sister planet would likely not rotate. Instead, Venus would be locked in place, always facing the sun the way the same side of the moon always faces Earth.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

New process enables 3D printing of small and complex components made of glass in just a few minutes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists combine materials science invention with newly developed 3D printing technology. Components made of highly transparent glass can be manufactured in just a few minutes and with great geometric freedom. Possible applications of the new process technology are micro-optical components of sensors, microscopes or lab-on-a-chip systems

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Nova outbursts are apparently a source for cosmic rays      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The MAGIC telescopes have observed the nova RS Ophiuchi shining brightly in gamma rays at extremely high energy. The Gamma rays emanate from protons that are accelerated to very high energies in the shock front following the explosion. This suggests that novae are also a source of the ubiquitous cosmic radiation in the universe which consists mainly of protons rich in energy, which race through space at almost the speed of light.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

New polymer materials make fabricating optical interconnects easier      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed new polymer materials that are ideal for making the optical links necessary to connect chip-based photonic components with board-level circuits or optical fibers. These materials can be used to easily create interconnects between photonic chips and optical printed circuit boards, the light-based equivalent of electronic printed circuit boards.

Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hubble sheds light on origins of supermassive black holes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have identified a rapidly growing black hole in the early universe that is considered a crucial 'missing link' between young star-forming galaxies and the first supermassive black holes. They used data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to make this discovery.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Simulating supernova remnants, star formation in earthbound lab      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When triggered by some external agent, shockwaves can propagate through molecular clouds of gas and dust to create pockets of dense material. At a certain limit, that dense gas and dust collapses and begins to form new stars. Researchers modeled this interaction using a high-power laser and a foam ball. The foam ball represents a dense area within a molecular cloud. The high-power laser creates a blast wave that propagates through a surrounding chamber of gas and into the ball, where the team observed the compression using X-ray images.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hunting for gravitational waves from monster black holes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Our universe is a chaotic sea of ripples in space-time called gravitational waves. Astronomers think waves from orbiting pairs of supermassive black holes in distant galaxies are light-years long and have been trying to observe them for decades, and now they're one step closer.

Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hubble probes extreme weather on ultra-hot Jupiters      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have discovered bloated Jupiter-sized worlds that are so precariously close to their parent star they are being roasted at seething temperatures above 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot enough to vaporize most metals, including titanium. They have the hottest planetary atmospheres ever seen. Hubble astronomers are reporting on bizarre weather conditions on these sizzling worlds. It's raining vaporized rock on one planet, and another one has its upper atmosphere getting hotter rather than cooler because it is being 'sunburned' by intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from its star.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

How did visitors experience the domestic space in Pompeii?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have used virtual reality and 3D eye-tracking technology to examine what drew the attention of the visitors when entering the stunning environment of an ancient Roman house. The team recreated the House of Greek Epigrams in 3D and tracked the gaze of study participants as they viewed the home.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Adding AI to Museum exhibits increases learning, keeps kids engaged longer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have demonstrated a more effective way to support learning and increase engagement at science-focused museum exhibits. They used artificial intelligence to create a new genre of interactive, hands-on exhibits that includes an intelligent, virtual assistant to interact with visitors. When the researchers compared their intelligent exhibit to a traditional one, they found that the intelligent exhibit increased learning and the time spent at the exhibit.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

'Prenatal' protoplanet upends planet formation models      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international research team has discovered a new planet so young that it has yet to emerge from the womb of matter where it is forming. This is the youngest protoplanet discovered to date. It's location and the surrounding patterns of matter suggest that an alternative method of planet formation may be at work. This discovery could help to explain the histories and features of extrasolar planets seen around other stars.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Methane could be the first detectable indication of life beyond Earth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study assesses the planetary context in which the detection of methane in an exoplanet's atmosphere could be considered a compelling sign of life.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Ancient helium leaking from core offers clues to Earth's formation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Helium-3, a rare isotope of helium gas, is leaking out of Earth's core, a new study reports. Because almost all helium-3 is from the Big Bang, the gas leak adds evidence that Earth formed inside a solar nebula, which has long been debated.