Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

New evidence for how heat is transported below the sun's surface      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Solar physicists have revealed the interior structure of the sun's supergranules, a flow structure that transports heat from the sun's hidden interior to its surface. The researchers' analysis of the supergranules presents a challenge to the current understanding of solar convection.

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

Telltale greenhouse gases could signal alien activity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If aliens modified a planet in their solar system to make it warmer, we'd be able to tell. A new study identifies the artificial greenhouse gases that would be giveaways of a terraformed planet.

Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Marsquakes may help reveal whether liquid water exists underground on red planet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If liquid water exists today on Mars, it may be too deep underground to detect with traditional methods used on Earth. But listening to earthquakes that occur on Mars -- or marsquakes -- could offer a new tool in the search.

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

First of its kind detection made in striking new Webb image      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For the first time, a phenomenon astronomers have long hoped to directly image has been captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). In this stunning image of the Serpens Nebula, the discovery lies in the northern area of this young, nearby star-forming region.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Geologists expect Chang'e-6 lunar surface samples to contain volcanic rock and impact ejecta      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

On June 25, China's Chang'e-6 (CE-6) lunar probe is set to return to Earth, carrying the first surface samples collected from the farside of the Moon. In anticipation of this historic event, scientists are publishing their predictions for the unique materials that may be found in the CE-6 samples.

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

Star clusters observed within a galaxy in the early Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The history of how stars and galaxies came to be and evolved into the present day remains among the most challenging astrophysical questions to solve yet, but new research brings us closer to understanding it. New insights about young galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization have been revealed. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of the galaxy Cosmic Gems arc (SPT0615-JD) have confirmed that the light of the galaxy was emitted 460 million years after the big bang. What makes this galaxy unique is that it is magnified through an effect called gravitational lensing, which has not been observed in other galaxies formed during that age.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Iron meteorites hint that our infant solar system was more doughnut than dartboard      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Iron meteorites are remnants of the metallic cores of the earliest asteroids in our solar system. Iron meteorites contain refractory metals, such as iridium and platinum, that formed near the sun but were transported to the outer solar system. New research shows that for this to have happened, the protoplanetary disk of our solar system had to have been doughnut-shaped because the refractory metals could not have crossed the large gaps in a target-shaped disk of concentric rings. The paper suggests that the refractory metals moved outward as the protoplanetary disk rapidly expanded, and were trapped in the outer solar system by Jupiter.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Titan's lakes may be shaped by waves      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geologists studied Titan's shorelines and showed through simulations that coastlines of the moon's methane- and ethane-filled seas have likely been shaped by waves. Until now, scientists have found indirect and conflicting signs of wave activity, based on Cassini images of Titan's surface.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Jupiter's great red spot is not the same one Cassini observed in 1600s      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot has persisted for at least 190 years and is likely a different spot from the one observed by the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1665, a new study reports. The Great Red Spot we see today likely formed because of an instability in the planet's intense atmospheric winds, producing a long, persistent atmospheric cell, the study also finds.

Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Researchers film energy materials as they form      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Shooting a movie in the lab requires special equipment. Especially when the actors are molecules -- invisible to the naked eye -- reacting with each other. 'Imagine trying to film tiny lava flows during a volcanic eruption. Your smartphone camera wouldn't be up to the job.

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

Novel method for measuring nano/microplastic concentrations in soil using spectroscopy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Current techniques for measuring nano/microplastic (N/MP) concentrations in soil require the soil organic matter content to be separated and have limited resolution for analyzing N/MPs sized <1 m. Therefore, researchers have developed a novel yet simple method to measure N/MP concentration in different soil types using spectroscopy at two wavelengths. This method does not require the soil to be separated in order to detect the N/MPs and can accurately quantify N/MPs regardless of their size.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Golden ball mills as green catalysts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A gold-coated milling vessel for ball mills proved to be a real marvel: without any solvents or environmentally harmful chemicals, the team was able to use it to convert alcohols into aldehydes. The catalytic reaction takes place at the gold surface and is mechanically driven. The vessel can be reused multiple times. 'This opens up new prospects for the use of gold in catalysis and shows how traditional materials can contribute to solving modern environmental problems in an innovative way,' says Borchardt.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology
Published

Nano-immunotherapy developed to improve lung cancer treatment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new nanomedicine therapy that delivers anticancer drugs to lung cancer cells and enhances the immune system's ability to fight cancer. The team showed promising results for the new therapy in cancer cells in the lab and in mouse lung tumor models, with potential applications for improving care and outcomes for patients with tumors that have failed to respond to traditional immunotherapy.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Nanotechnology Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Self-assembling and disassembling swarm molecular robots via DNA molecular controller      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have succeeded in developing a DNA-based molecular controller. Crucially, this controller enables the autonomous assembly and disassembly of molecular robots, as opposed to manually directing it.

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

Watery planets orbiting dead stars may be good candidates for studying life -- if they can survive long enough      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The small footprint and dim light of white dwarfs, remnants of stars that have burned through their fuel, may make excellent backdrops for studying planets with enough water to harbor life. The trick is spotting the shadow of a planet against a former star that has withered to a fraction of its size and finding that it's a planet that has kept its water oceans for billions of years even after riding out the star's explosive and violent final throes. A new study of the dynamics of white dwarf systems suggests that, in theory, some watery planets may indeed thread the celestial needles necessary to await discovery and closer scrutiny.

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

Mysterious mini-Neptunes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

This study discovered mini-Neptunes around four red dwarfs using observations from a global network of ground-based telescopes and the TESS space telescope. These four mini-Neptunes are close to their parent stars, and the three of them are likely to be in eccentric orbits.

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

Nanosized blocks spontaneously assemble in water to create tiny floating checkerboards      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have engineered nanosized cubes that spontaneously form a two-dimensional checkerboard pattern when dropped on the surface of water. The work presents a simple approach to create complex nanostructures through a technique called self-assembly.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Swimming microrobots deliver cancer-fighting drugs to metastatic lung tumors in mice      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to metastatic tumors. This approach has shown promise in mice, where it inhibited the growth and spread of tumors that had metastasized to the lungs, thereby boosting survival rates compared to control treatments.

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

Uncovering the nature of emergent magnetic monopoles      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To understand the unique physical phenomena associated with the properties of magnetic hedgehogs and antihedgehogs, which behave as virtual magnetic monopoles and antimonopoles respectively, it is essential to study their intrinsic excitations. In a new study, researchers revealed the dynamical nature of collective excitation modes in hedgehog lattices in itinerant chiral magnets. Their findings serve as the foundation for studying the dynamics of emergent magnetic monopoles in magnets.