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

Exoplanets true to size      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A star's magnetic field must be considered in order to correctly determine the characteristics of exoplanets from observations by space telescopes such as Kepler, James Webb, or PLATO. Researchers show that the distribution of the star's brightness over its disk depends on the star's level of magnetic activity. This, in turn, affects the signature of an exoplanet in observational data. The new model must be used in order to properly interpret the data from the latest generation of space telescopes pointed at distant worlds outside our Solar System.

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

Beautiful nebula, violent history: Clash of stars solves stellar mystery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When astronomers looked at a stellar pair at the heart of a stunning cloud of gas and dust, they were in for a surprise. Star pairs are typically very similar, like twins, but in HD 148937, one star appears younger and, unlike the other, is magnetic. New data suggest there were originally three stars in the system, until two of them clashed and merged. This violent event created the surrounding cloud and forever altered the system's fate.

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

Twinkle twinkle baby star, 'sneezes' tell us how you are      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have found that baby stars discharge plumes of gas, dust, and magnetic flux from their protostellar disk. The protostellar disk that surrounds developing stars are constantly penetrated by magnetic flux, and if too much magnetic flux remained, the resulting object would generate a magnetic field stronger than any observed protostar. These newly discovered discharges of magnetic flux, or 'sneezes' as the researchers describes them, may be a vital step in proper star formation.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General
Published

Hybrid intelligence can reconcile biodiversity and agriculture      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

So far, biodiversity and agricultural productivity could not be reconciled because the socio-ecological system of agriculture is highly complex, and the interactions between humans and the environment are difficult to capture using conventional methods. A research team now shows a promising way to achieve both goals at the same time. They focus on further developing artificial intelligence in combination with collective human judgement: hybrid intelligence.

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

Study shedding new light on Earth's global carbon cycle could help assess liveability of other planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research has uncovered important new insights into the evolution of oxygen, carbon, and other vital elements over the entire history of Earth -- and it could help assess which other planets can develop life, ranging from plants to animals and humans.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Geography
Published

Deforestation harms biodiversity of the Amazon's perfume-loving orchid bees      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of biodiversity in the neotropics.

Ecology: Animals Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

'Teacher Toads' can save native animals from toxic cane toads      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists from Macquarie University have come up with an innovative way to stop cane toads killing native wildlife by training goannas to avoid eating the deadly amphibians.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Boreal forest and tundra regions worst hit over next 500 years of climate change, study shows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Modelling climate change over a 500 year period shows that much of the boreal forest, the Earth's northernmost forests and most significant provider of carbon storage and clean water, could be seriously impacted, along with tundra regions, treeless shrublands north of the boreal forest that play a significant role in regulating the Earth's climate.

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

Inexplicable flying fox found in Hydra galaxy cluster      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

High sensitivity radio observations have discovered a cloud of magnetized plasma in the Hydra galaxy cluster. The odd location and shape of this plasma defy all conventional explanations. Dubbed the Flying Fox based on its silhouette, this plasma will remain a mystery until additional observations can provide more insight.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has shown that molecules can be as formidable at scrambling quantum information as black holes by combining mathematical tools from black hole physics and chemical physics and testing their theory in chemical reactions.

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

Neutron stars are key to understanding elusive dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists may be one step closer to unlocking one of the great mysteries of the universe after calculating that neutron stars might hold a key to helping us understand elusive dark matter.

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

Astronomy: How do brown dwarfs form?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New observations provide insights into whether the birth of the giant planets takes a similar course to that of stars.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography
Published

Four in five bird species cannot tolerate intense human pressures      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a recent study, researchers found that 78% of the world's bird species do not thrive in the most modified human-dominated environments. These species are also most likely to have declining populations.

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

CHEOPS detects a 'rainbow' on an exoplanet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The CHEOPS space telescope is providing new information on the mysterious exoplanet WASP-76b. This ultra-hot giant is characterized by an asymmetry between the amount of light observed on its eastern terminator -- the fictitious line that separates its night side from its day side -- and that observed on its western terminator. This peculiarity is thought to be due to a 'glory', a luminous phenomenon similar to a rainbow, which occurs if the light from the star -- the 'sun' around which the exoplanet orbits -- is reflected by clouds made up of a perfectly uniform substance. If this hypothesis is confirmed, this would be the first detection of this phenomenon outside our solar system.

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

Stellar collisions produce strange, zombie-like survivors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Densely packed, fast-moving stars at the Milky Way's center can collide with each other. New research uses simulations to explore the outcomes of these collisions. Some collisions are more like 'violent high fives' while others are full-on mergers.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Environmental: Biodiversity
Published

The life aquatic: A game changer for frog vision, but little difference between night and day      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Frogs display a remarkable diversity of species as a whole, but does the same hold true for their visual abilities? A new study sought to answer this question by collaborating with researchers in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, French Guiana, Gabon, Seychelles, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States, to get a sample of a diverse array of frogs to study the visual pigments found in their eyes. The researchers found this diversity is largely 'reflected' in the pigments, especially for aquatic frogs versus those living on the ground or in trees. They found little difference with the small groups of frogs that have adapted to daytime conditions as opposed to their nocturnal cousins.

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

First results from DESI make the most precise measurement of our expanding universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have used the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument to make the largest 3D map of our universe and world-leading measurements of dark energy, the mysterious cause of its accelerating expansion.