Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

James Webb telescope reveals Milky Way-like galaxies in young universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal galaxies with stellar bars -- elongated features of stars stretching from the centers of galaxies into their outer disks -- at a time when the universe was a mere 25% of its present age. The finding of so-called barred galaxies, similar to our Milky Way, this early in the universe will require astrophysicists to refine their theories of galaxy evolution.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hubble finds that ghost light among galaxies stretches far back in time      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In giant clusters of hundreds or thousands of galaxies, innumerable stars wander among the galaxies like lost souls, emitting a ghostly haze of light. These stars are not gravitationally tied to any one galaxy in a cluster. The nagging question for astronomers has been: how did the stars get so scattered throughout the cluster in the first place? Several competing theories include the possibility that the stars were stripped out of a cluster's galaxies, or they were tossed around after mergers of galaxies, or they were present early in a cluster's formative years many billions of years ago.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Bird diversity increased in severely burned forests of Southern Appalachian mountains      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study found bird diversity increased in North Carolina mountain forest areas severely burned by wildfire in 2016, reinforcing that while wildfire can pose risks to safety and property, it can be beneficial to wildlife. The study results could help forest managers better predict bird responses to wildfire, and manage forests to benefit birds.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Wildfire threats not commonly disclosed by US firms despite risk to economy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

U.S. firms rarely report their wildfire risks in required federal filings and instead bury such risks in nonspecific risk disclosures, according to new research.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Measuring gamma-ray bursts' hidden energy unearths clues to the evolution of the universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When stars die out, they emit gamma-ray bursts. Although scientist can calculate the explosion energy from dying stars, it is difficult to do when the conversion efficiency is low or unknown. Using light polarization, a research group has found a workaround for this, enabling astronomers to calculate the hidden energy of gamma-ray bursts.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Alien planet found spiraling to its doom around an aging star      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The condemned planet could help answer questions about the fate of other worlds as their solar systems evolve.

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

Webb Space Telescope reveals previously shrouded newborn stars      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers took a 'deep dive' into one of the first images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and were rewarded with a surprising discovery: telltale signs of two dozen previously unseen young stars about 7,500 light years from Earth.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Astronomers find that two exoplanets may be mostly water      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are 'water worlds,' planets where water makes up a large fraction of the volume.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Machine learning reveals how black holes grow      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Black holes are surrounded by an invisible layer that swallows every bit of evidence about their past. Researchers are now using machine learning and supercomputers to reconstruct the growth histories of black holes.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

ESPRESSO and CARMENES discover two potentially habitable exo-Earths around a star near the sun      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have discovered the presence of two planets with Earth-like masses in orbit around the star GJ 1002, a red dwarf not far from our solar system. Both planets are in the habitability zone of the star.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Discovering rare red spiral galaxy population from early universe with the James Webb Space Telescope      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Morphology of galaxies contain important information about the process of galaxy formation and evolution. With its state-of-the-art resolution, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has now captured several red spiral galaxies in its first image at an unprecedented resolution. Researchers have now analyzed these galaxies, revealing that these are among the furthest known spiral galaxies till date. The analysis further detected a passive red spiral galaxy in the early universe, a surprising discovery.

Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Antihelium nuclei as messengers from the depths of the galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

How are galaxies born, and what holds them together? Astronomers assume that dark matter plays an essential role. However, as yet it has not been possible to prove directly that dark matter exists. A research team has now measured the survival rate of antihelium nuclei from the depths of the galaxy -- a necessary prerequisite for the indirect search for Dark Matter.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Without more data, a black hole's origins can be 'spun' in any direction      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A study finds that, for now, the catalog of known black hole binaries does not reveal anything fundamental about how black holes form. More data will be needed to determine whether the invisible giants arose from a quiet galactic disk or a more dynamic cluster of stars.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Paleontology: Climate
Published

Climate whiplash increased wildfires on California's west coast about 8,000 years ago      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have been studying the effects of the sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred about 8,200 years ago, the so-called 8.2-kiloyear event, with the help of mineral deposits present in White Moon Cave in Northern California. New indications show that oscillations between extreme wetness and aridity in California were closely linked with the occurrence of wildfires. The researchers have concluded that such events are likely to become more common in the face of human-induced climate change.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Americans flocking to fire: National migration study      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Americans are leaving many of the U.S. counties hit hardest by hurricanes and heatwaves -- and moving towards dangerous wildfires and warmer temperatures, says one of the largest studies of U.S. migration and natural disasters. These results are concerning, as wildfire and rising temperatures are projected to worsen with climate change. The study was inspired by the increasing number of headlines of record-breaking natural disasters.

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

NASA missions probe game-changing cosmic explosion      (via sciencedaily.com) 

On Dec. 11, 2021, astronomers detected a blast of high-energy light from the outskirts of a galaxy around 1 billion light-years away. The event has rattled scientists' understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful events in the universe.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Paleontology: General
Published

For 400 years, Indigenous tribes buffered climate's impact on wildfires in the American Southwest      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Devastating megafires are becoming more common, in part, because the planet is warming. But a new study suggests bringing 'good fire' back to the U.S. and other wildfire fire-prone areas, as Native Americans once did, could potentially blunt the role of climate in triggering today's wildfires.

Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Meteorites plus gamma rays could have given Earth the building blocks for life      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Even as detailed images of distant galaxies from the James Webb Space Telescope show us more of the greater universe, scientists still disagree about how life began here on Earth. One hypothesis is that meteorites delivered amino acids -- life's building blocks -- to our planet. Now, researchers have experimentally shown that amino acids could have formed in these early meteorites from reactions driven by gamma rays produced inside the space rocks.

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

Peekaboo! Tiny, hidden galaxy provides a peek into the past      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Peeking out from behind the glare of a bright foreground star, astronomers have uncovered the most extraordinary example yet of a nearby galaxy with characteristics that are more like galaxies in the distant, early universe. Only 1,200 light-years across, the tiny galaxy HIPASS J1131-31 has been nicknamed "Peekaboo" because of its emergence in the past 50-100 years from behind the fast-moving star that was obscuring astronomers' ability to detect it.

Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers say space atomic clocks could help uncover the nature of dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Studying an atomic clock on-board a spacecraft inside the orbit of Mercury and very near to the Sun could be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter.