Space: Structures and Features
Published

Stars determine their own masses      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using new simulations, astrophysicists discovered that star formation is a self-regulatory process. In other words, stars themselves set their own masses. This helps explain why stars formed in disparate environments still have similar masses.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Ultrasound could save racehorses from bucked shins      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When racehorses enter training at about 2 years old, they can develop tiny stress fractures and new bone formations in their legs. This condition, called bucked shin, occurs in about 70% of the animals. Researchers have now developed a method to screen for bucked shin using ultrasound. Axial transmission, in which an ultrasound emitter and receiver are placed on the skin to induce and measure wave velocities, is frequently used to study osteoporosis in humans. The method could detect bucked shin more easily and preserve the health and growth of young horses.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Planet formation: ALMA detects gas in a circumplanetary disk      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study planet formation have made the first-ever detection of gas in a circumplanetary disk. What's more, the detection also suggests the presence of a very young exoplanet.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Leadership online: Charisma matters most in video communication      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Managers need to make a consistent impression in order to motivate and inspire people, and that applies even more to video communication than to other digital channels. Researchers investigated the influence that charismatic leadership tactics used in text, audio and video communication channels have on employee performance. They focused on mobile work and the gig economy, in which jobs are flexibly assigned to freelancers via online platforms.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Signs of disturbance in nearby dwarf galaxies indicate an alternative gravity theory      (via sciencedaily.com) 

According to the standard model of cosmology, the vast majority of galaxies are surrounded by a halo of dark matter particles. This halo is invisible, but its mass exerts a strong gravitational pull on galaxies in the vicinity. A new study challenges this view of the Universe. The results suggest that the dwarf galaxies of Earth's second closest galaxy cluster -- known as the Fornax Cluster -- are free of such dark matter halos.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Out with a bang: Explosive neutron star merger captured for the first time in millimeter light      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have recorded millimeter-wavelength light from a fiery explosion caused by the merger of a neutron star with another star. The team also confirmed this flash of light to be one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed, leaving behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Scientists reveal distribution of dark matter around galaxies 12 billion years ago -- further back in time than ever before      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation instead of visible light allows scientists to determine the distribution of dark matter several billion years earlier than previously possible.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Super-Earth skimming habitable zone of red dwarf      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A super-Earth planet has been found near the habitable zone of a red dwarf star only 37 light-years from the Earth. This is the first discovery by a new instrument on the Subaru Telescope and offers a chance to investigate the possibility of life on planets around nearby stars. With such a successful first result, we can expect that the Subaru Telescope will discover more, potentially even better, candidates for habitable planets around red dwarfs.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Engineers develop stickers that can see inside the body      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineers designed an adhesive patch that produces ultrasound images of the body. The stamp-sized device sticks to skin and can provide continuous ultrasound imaging of internal organs for 48 hours.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Improving image sensors for machine vision      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers highlight the latest nanostructured components integrated on image sensor chips that are most likely to make the biggest impact in multimodal imaging and detailed a promising approach to detect multiple-band spectra by fabricating an on-chip spectrometer. The developments could enable autonomous vehicles to see around corners instead of just a straight line, biomedical imaging to detect abnormalities at different tissue depths, and telescopes to see through interstellar dust.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Space study offers clearest understanding yet of the life cycle of supermassive black holes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Supermassive black holes with varying light signatures are actually in different stages of the life cycle.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Heaviest neutron star to date is a 'black widow' eating its mate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Millisecond pulsars spin far more rapidly than expected for a collapsed star. The best chance to study these neutron stars is to find a black widow system where the pulsar has evaporated and eaten much of its companion star. The Keck I telescope was just able to capture spectra of one such companion, allowing astronomers to weigh its pulsar. It's the heaviest found to date, and perhaps near the upper limit for a neutron star.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Halos and dark matter: A recipe for discovery      (via sciencedaily.com) 

About three years ago, a team of astronomers went looking for the universe's missing mass, better known as dark matter, in the heart of an atom. Their expedition didn't lead them to dark matter, but they still found something that had never been seen before, something that defied explanation. Well, at least an explanation that everyone could agree on.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Measuring the universe with star-shattering explosions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have analyzed archive data for powerful cosmic explosions from the deaths of stars and found a new way to measure distances in the distant Universe.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers develop novel way to 'see' the first stars through the fog of the early Universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team of astronomers has developed a method that will allow them to 'see' through the fog of the early Universe and detect light from the first stars and galaxies.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Flexible method for shaping laser beams extends depth-of-focus for OCT imaging      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a new method for flexibly creating various needle-shaped laser beams. These long, narrow beams can be used to improve optical coherence tomography (OCT), a noninvasive and versatile imaging tool that is used for scientific research and various types of clinical diagnoses.

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

Why Jupiter doesn't have rings like Saturn      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Because it's bigger, Jupiter ought to have larger, more spectacular rings than Saturn has. But new research shows Jupiter's massive moons prevent that vision from lighting up the night sky.

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

Global map of lunar hydrogen: Data confirms role water played in moon's formation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using data collected over two decades ago, scientists have compiled the first complete map of hydrogen abundances on the Moon's surface. The map identifies two types of lunar materials containing enhanced hydrogen and corroborates previous ideas about lunar hydrogen and water, including findings that water likely played a role in the Moon's original magma-ocean formation and solidification.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

A new method to detect exoplanets      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In recent years, a large number of exoplanets have been found around single 'normal' stars. New research shows that there may be exceptions to this trend. Researchers suggest a new way of detecting dim bodies, including planets, orbiting exotic binary stars known as Cataclysmic Variables (CVs).

Space: Structures and Features
Published

'Black hole police' discover a dormant black hole outside our galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team of international experts, renowned for debunking several black hole discoveries, have found a stellar-mass black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor galaxy to our own. The researchers found that the star that gave rise to the black hole vanished without any sign of a powerful explosion.