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

Asteroid's comet-like tail Is not made of dust, solar observatories reveal      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

We have known for a while that asteroid 3200 Phaethon acts like a comet. It brightens and forms a tail when it's near the Sun, and it is the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower, even though comets are responsible for most meteor showers. Scientists had blamed Phaethon's comet-like behavior on dust escaping from the asteroid as it's scorched by the Sun. However, a new study using two NASA solar observatories reveals that Phaethon's tail is not dusty at all but is actually made of sodium gas.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Lead vocal tracks in popular music go quiet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists carried out an analysis of hundreds of popular song recordings from 1946 to 2020 to determine the lead vocal to accompaniment ratio, or LAR. The study considered the four highest-ranked songs from the Billboard Hot 100 chart for each year and the results show that, contrary to expectations, the LAR for popular music decreased over the decades in question. This means that, relative to their bands, lead singers are getting quieter.

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

How to land on a planet safely      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers develop a model to describe the interaction between a rocket plume and the surface of a planetary body in near-vacuum conditions. The computational framework takes in information about the rocket, its engines, and the surface composition and topography, as well as the atmospheric conditions and gravitational forces at the landing site, and the results can be used to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a proposed landing site and to optimize the design of spacecraft and rocket engines for planetary landings.

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

Scientists detect seismic waves traveling through Martian core      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New NASA InSight research reveals that Mars has a liquid core rich in sulfur and oxygen, leading to new clues about how terrestrial planets form, evolve and potentially sustain life.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
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Pioneering research sheds new light on the origins and composition of planet Mars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study has uncovered intriguing insights into the liquid core at the centre of Mars, furthering understanding of the planet's formation and evolution.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

It's not as difficult as you think to shout upwind      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Why does it feel so difficult to shout upwind? The sensation is common enough to have found its way into an idiom about not being understood. Researchers wanted a scientific explanation for the phenomenon -- and there wasn't been one. They have now shown that our common sense understanding of this situation is wrong. It isn't harder to shout into the wind; it's just harder to hear yourself.

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

Making better measurements of the composition of galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study using data from telescopes on Earth and in the sky resolves a problem plaguing astronomers working in the infrared and could help make better observations of the composition of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope and other instruments.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Robotics Research Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound Physics: Optics
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Versatile, high-speed, and efficient crystal actuation with photothermally resonated natural vibrations      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Mechanically responsive molecular crystals are extremely useful in soft robotics, which requires a versatile actuation technology. Crystals driven by the photothermal effect are particularly promising for achieving high-speed actuation. However, the response (bending) observed in these crystals is usually small. Now, scientists address this issue by inducing large resonated natural vibrations in anisole crystals with UV light illumination at the natural vibration frequency of the crystal.

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

Could this copycat black hole be a new type of star?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

It looks like a black hole and bends light like a black hole, but it could actually be a new type of star. Though the mysterious object is a hypothetical mathematical construction, new simulations by Johns Hopkins researchers suggest there could be other celestial bodies in space hiding from even the best telescopes on Earth.

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

Metal-poor stars are more life-friendly      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A star's chemical composition strongly influences the ultraviolet radiation it emits into space and thus the conditions for the emergence of life in its neighborhood.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Researchers help AI express uncertainty to improve health monitoring tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of engineering and health researchers has developed a tool that improves the ability of electronic devices to detect when a human patient is coughing, which has applications in health monitoring. The new tool relies on an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that helps the AI better identify uncertainty when faced with unexpected data in real-world situations.

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

Playing hide and seek with planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of astronomers announced the first exoplanet discovered through a combined approach of direct imaging and precision measurements of a star's motion on the sky. This new method promises to improve the efficiency of exoplanet searches, paving the way for the discovery of an Earth twin.

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

New exoplanet discovered      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers report the first exoplanet jointly discovered through direct imaging and precision astrometry, a new indirect method that identifies a planet by measuring the position of the star it orbits. Data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawai`i and space telescopes from the European Space Agency (ESA) were integral to the team's discovery.

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

M87 in 3D: New view of galaxy helps pin down mass of the black hole at its core      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From Earth, giant elliptical galaxies resemble highly symmetric blobs, but what's their real 3D structure? Astronomers have assembled one of the first 3D views of a giant elliptical galaxy, M87, whose central supermassive black hole has already been imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. M87 turns out to be triaxial, like a potato. The revised view provides a more precise measure of the mass of the central black hole: 5.37 billion solar masses.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

How did Earth get its water?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Our planet's water could have originated from interactions between the hydrogen-rich atmospheres and magma oceans of the planetary embryos that comprised Earth's formative years.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Humans need Earth-like ecosystem for deep-space living      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Can humans endure long-term living in deep space? The answer is a lukewarm maybe, according to a new theory describing the complexity of maintaining gravity and oxygen, obtaining water, developing agriculture and handling waste far from Earth.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Lightning strike creates phosphorus material      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A lightning strike in New Port Richey, Florida, led to a chemical reaction creating a new material that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth. High-energy events, such as lightning, can cause unique chemical reactions. In this instance, the result is a new material -- one that is transitional between space minerals and minerals found on Earth.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

AI-equipped eyeglasses read silent speech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a silent-speech recognition interface that uses acoustic-sensing and artificial intelligence to continuously recognize up to 31 unvocalized commands, based on lip and mouth movements.

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

NASA's Webb scores another ringed world with new image of Uranus      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Following in the footsteps of the Neptune image released in 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has taken a stunning image of the solar system's other ice giant, the planet Uranus. The new image features dramatic rings as well as bright features in the planet's atmosphere. The Webb data demonstrates the observatory's unprecedented sensitivity for the faintest dusty rings, which have only ever been imaged by two other facilities: the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew past the planet in 1986, and the Keck Observatory with advanced adaptive optics.