Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

How can the metaverse improve public health?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The metaverse is a technological revolution in the field of virtual reality, with potential benefits to public health research. A new article proposes several new ways in which the metaverse can help us design, test, and experience health-promoting environments to minimize the risk of non-communicable diseases.

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

Astrophysics: Scientists observe high-speed star formation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New observations have brought to light that stars can form through the dynamic interaction of gas within interstellar gas clouds. This process unfolds faster than previously assumed, research within the FEEDBACK programme on board the flying observatory SOFIA revealed.

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

Tadpole playing around black hole      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A peculiar cloud of gas, nicknamed the Tadpole due to its shape, appears to be revolving around a space devoid of any bright objects. This suggests that the Tadpole is orbiting a dark object, most likely a black hole 100,000 times more massive than the Sun. Future observations will help determine what is responsible for the shape and motion of the Tadpole.

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

Does ice in the Universe contain the molecules making up the building blocks of life in planetary systems?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If you want to build a habitable planet, ice is a key ingredient. The ice can be found in enormous clouds in the Universe and it is the main carrier of the necessary elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur. These elements are part of the atmosphere around planets and part of molecules like sugar, alcohols and simple amino acids as well. The new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has contributed to the discovery of different ices in a molecular cloud, 'Chameleon 1' -- one of the coldest and darkest regions to have ever been explored. Astronomers assume that these types of molecules were also present in the cold cloud of gas and dust forming our own solar system.

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

A star is born: Nearby galaxies provide clues about star formation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have released their findings on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the interstellar medium of nearby galaxies.

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

Four classes of planetary systems      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have long been aware that planetary systems are not necessarily structured like our solar system. Researchers have now shown that there are in fact four types of planetary systems.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Engineering: Graphene
Published

Virtual and augmented reality: Researchers pioneer process to stack micro-LEDs      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers are using emerging technology to demonstrate a process that will enable more immersive and realistic virtual and augmented reality displays with the world's smallest and thinnest micro-LEDs.

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

Hubble captures the start of a new spoke season at Saturn      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Since their discovery by NASA's Voyager mission in the 1980s, temporary 'spoke' features across Saturn's rings have fascinated scientists, yet eluded explanation. They have been observed in the years preceding and following the planet's equinox, becoming more prominent as the date approaches. Saturn's upcoming autumnal equinox of the northern hemisphere on May 6, 2025, means that spoke season has come again. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope will be on the job studying the spokes, thanks to time dedicated to Saturn in the mission's ongoing Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program. Are the smudgy features related to Saturn's magnetic field and its interaction with the solar wind, as prevailing theory suggests? Confirmation could come in this spoke season, as scientists combine archival data from NASA's Cassini mission with new Hubble observations.

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

Footprints of galactic immigration uncovered in Andromeda galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have uncovered striking new evidence for a mass migration of stars into the Andromeda Galaxy. Intricate patterns in the motions of stars reveal an immigration history very similar to that of the Milky Way.

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

Researchers focus AI on finding exoplanets      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research reveals that artificial intelligence can be used to find planets outside of our solar system. The recent study demonstrated that machine learning can be used to find exoplanets, information that could reshape how scientists detect and identify new planets very far from Earth.

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

Star formation in distant galaxies by the James Webb Space Telescope      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope's first images of galaxy clusters, researchers have, for the very first time, been able to examine very compact structures of star clusters inside galaxies, so-called clumps.

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

'Engine' of luminous merging galaxies pinpointed for the first time      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Roughly 500 million light-years away, near the constellation Delphinus, two galaxies are colliding. Known as merging galaxy IIZw096, the luminous phenomenon is obscured by cosmic dust, but researchers first identified a bright, energetic source of light 12 years ago. Now, with a more advanced telescope, the team has pinpointed the precise location of what they have dubbed the 'engine' of the merging galaxy.

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

Hubble directly measures mass of a lone white dwarf      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have directly measured the mass of a single, isolated white dwarf -- the surviving core of a burned-out, Sun-like star. Researchers found that the white dwarf is 56 percent the mass of our Sun. This agrees with earlier theoretical predictions of the white dwarf's mass and corroborates current theories of how white dwarfs evolve as the end product of a typical star's evolution. The unique observation yields insights into theories of the structure and composition of white dwarfs.

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

Astronomers uncover a one-in-ten-billion binary star system: Kilonova progenitor system      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers using data from the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), have made the first confirmed detection of a star system that will one day form a kilonova -- the ultra-powerful, gold-producing explosion created by merging neutron stars. These systems are so phenomenally rare that only about 10 such systems are thought to exist in the entire Milky Way.

Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

The bubbling universe: A previously unknown phase transition in the early universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

What happened shortly after the universe was born in the Big Bang and began to expand? Bubbles occurred and a previously unknown phase transition happened, according to particle physicists.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Environmental Issues Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Thin, lightweight layer provides radiation barrier for perovskites in space, protection from elements on Earth      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An ultrathin protective coating proves sufficient to protect a perovskite solar cell from the harmful effects of space and harden it against environmental factors on Earth, according to newly published research.

Physics: Quantum Physics Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Scientists release newly accurate map of all the matter in the universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A group of scientists have released one of the most precise measurements ever made of how matter is distributed across the universe today.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published

Autonomous steering system keeps human drivers engaged      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed an automated driving system based on the concept of 'collaborative steering', which aims to increase transportation safety, efficiency, and comfort by encouraging active interaction between autonomous vehicles and their human drivers.

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

Volcano-like rupture could have caused magnetar slowdown      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In October 2020, a highly magnetic neutron star called SGR 1935+2154 abruptly began spinning more slowly. Astrophysicist now show the magnetar's rotational slowdown could have been caused by a volcano-like rupture near its magnetic pole.

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

Starry tail tells the tale of dwarf galaxy evolution      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A giant diffuse tail of stars has been discovered emanating from a large, faint dwarf galaxy. The presence of a tail indicates that the galaxy has experienced recent interaction with another galaxy. This is an important clue for understanding how so called 'ultra-diffuse' galaxies are formed.