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

Astrophysicist's research could provide a hint in the search for dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Dark matter is one of science's greatest mysteries. Although it is believed to make up about 85 percent of the cosmos, scientists know very little about its fundamental nature. Research provides some of the most stringent constraints on the nature of dark matter yet. It also revealed a small hint of a signal that, if real, could be confirmed in the next decade or so.

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

Largest-ever map of universe's active supermassive black holes released      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have charted the largest-ever volume of the universe with a new map of active supermassive black holes living at the centers of galaxies. Called quasars, the gas-gobbling black holes are, ironically, some of the universe's brightest objects. The new map logs the location of about 1.3 million quasars in space and time, the furthest of which shone bright when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old. The work could help scientists better understand the properties of dark matter.

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Published

New research suggests that our universe has no dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study challenges the current model of the universe by showing that, in fact, it has no room for dark matter.

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

Explaining a supernova's 'string of pearls'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists often turn to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability to explain why fluid structures form in plasmas, but that may not be the full story when it comes to the ring of hydrogen clumps around supernova 1987A, research suggests. It looks like the same mechanism that breaks up airplane contrails might be at play in forming the clumps of hydrogen gas that ring the remnant of supernova 1987A.

Biology: Botany Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Alaska dinosaur tracks reveal a lush, wet environment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A large find of dinosaur tracks and fossilized plants and tree stumps in far northwestern Alaska provides new information about the climate and movement of animals near the time when they began traveling between the Asian and North American continents roughly 100 million years ago.

Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Research Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

Higher carnivorous dinosaur biodiversity of famous Kem Kem beds, Morocco      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of palaeontologists applied recently developed methods to measure theropod (carnivorous) dinosaur species diversity. The newly applied method uses both traditional phylogenetic analysis, discriminant analysis as well as machine learning.

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Published

Peering into the tendrils of NGC 604 with NASA's Webb      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The formation of stars and the chaotic environments they inhabit is one of the most well-studied, but also mystery-shrouded, areas of cosmic investigation. The intricacies of these processes are now being unveiled like never before by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

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

Finding new physics in debris from colliding neutron stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Neutron star mergers are a treasure trove for new physics signals, with implications for determining the true nature of dark matter, according to physicists.

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

Astronomers spot oldest 'dead' galaxy yet observed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A galaxy that suddenly stopped forming new stars more than 13 billion years ago has been observed by astronomers. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted a 'dead' galaxy when the universe was just 700 million years old, the oldest such galaxy ever observed.

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Published

Discovery tests theory on cooling of white dwarf stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Open any astronomy textbook to the section on white dwarf stars and you'll likely learn that they are 'dead stars' that continuously cool down over time. Astronomers are challenging this theory after discovering a population of white dwarf stars that stopped cooling for more than eight billion years.

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

Space tourism? Cosmic radiation exposure      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Space weather experts are urging regulators and space tourism innovators to work together to protect their passengers and crews from the risks of space weather radiation exposure.

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

Groundbreaking survey reveals secrets of planet birth around dozens of stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of astronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them, providing astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of our galaxy.

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Published

What makes black holes grow and new stars form? Machine learning helps solve the mystery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

It takes more than a galaxy merger to make a black hole grow and new stars form: machine learning shows cold gas is needed too to initiate rapid growth -- new research finds.

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

Juno spacecraft measures oxygen production on Jupiter's moon, Europa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

NASA's Juno spacecraft has directly measured charged oxygen and hydrogen molecules from the atmosphere of one of Jupiter's largest moons, Europa. These observations provide key constraints on the potential oxygenation of its subsurface ocean.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil named 'Attenborough's strange bird' was the first in its kind without teeth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new fossil, named 'Attenborough's strange bird' after naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough, is the first of its kind to evolve a toothless beak. It's from a branch of the bird family tree that went extinct in the mass extinction 66 million years ago, and this strange bird is another puzzle piece that helps explain why some birds -- and their fellow dinosaurs -- went extinct, and others survived to today.

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Published

Webb unlocks secrets of one of the most distant galaxies ever seen      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Looking deeply into space and time, astronomers have studied the exceptionally luminous galaxy GN-z11, which existed when our 13.8 billion-year-old universe was only about 430 million years old.

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Published

New insights on how galaxies are formed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers can use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago to the present day. But there are a number of sources of error. An international research team has spent a hundred million computer hours over eight years trying to correct these.

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Published

Ultraviolet radiation from massive stars shapes planetary systems      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Up to a certain point, very luminous stars can have a positive effect on the formation of planets, but from that point on the radiation they emit can cause the material in protoplanetary discs to disperse.

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Published

Astronomers measure heaviest black hole pair ever found      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using archival data from the Gemini North telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the heaviest pair of supermassive black holes ever found. The merging of two supermassive black holes is a phenomenon that has long been predicted, though never observed. This massive pair gives clues as to why such an event seems so unlikely in the Universe.