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

Reaching for the (invisible) stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Supernovae -- stellar explosions as bright as an entire galaxy -- have fascinated us since time immemorial. Yet, there are more hydrogen-poor supernovae than astrophysicists can explain. Now, scientists may have found the missing precursor star population.

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

Unexpected chemistry reveals cosmic star factories' secrets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Two galaxies in the early universe, which contain extremely productive star factories, have been studied by a team of scientists. Using powerful telescopes to split the galaxies' light into individual colors, the scientists were amazed to discover light from many different molecules -- more than ever before at such distances. Studies like this could revolutionize our understanding of the lives of the most active galaxies when the universe was young, the researchers believe.

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

Tiniest free-floating brown dwarf      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Brown dwarfs are objects that straddle the dividing line between stars and planets. They form like stars, growing dense enough to collapse under their own gravity, but they never become dense and hot enough to begin fusing hydrogen and turn into a star. At the low end of the scale, some brown dwarfs are comparable with giant planets, weighing just a few times the mass of Jupiter.

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

Cognitive strategies for augmenting the body with a wearable, robotic arm      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists show that breathing may be used to control a wearable extra robotic arm in healthy individuals, without hindering control of other parts of the body.

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

Some icy exoplanets may have habitable oceans and geysers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, beneath icy shells. Water from these oceans could occasionally erupt through the ice crust as geysers. The science team calculated the amount of geyser activity on these exoplanets, the first time these estimates have been made. They identified two exoplanets sufficiently close where signs of these eruptions could be observed with telescopes.

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

NASA's Webb stuns with new high-definition look at exploded star      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Like a shiny, round ornament ready to be placed in the perfect spot on a holiday tree, supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) gleams in a new image.

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

14-inch spacecraft delivers new details about 'hot Jupiters'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) spacecraft is about the size of a cereal box. It has also recorded incredibly detailed measurements of the atmospheres of planets hundreds of light-years from Earth.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: General Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Immersive VR goggles for mice unlock new potential for brain science      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New miniature virtual reality (VR) goggles provide more immersive experiences for mice living in laboratory settings. By more faithfully simulating natural environments, the researchers can more accurately and precisely study the neural circuitry that underlies behavior. Compared to current state-of-the-art systems, which simply surround mice with computer or projection screens, the new goggles provide a leap in advancement.

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

Scholars say it's time to declare a new epoch on the moon, the 'lunar Anthropocene'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

According to anthropologists and geologists, it's time to acknowledge humans have become the dominant force shaping the moon's environment by declaring a new geological epoch for the moon: the Lunar Anthropocene. They argue the new epoch may have dawned in 1959 when the USSR's unmanned spacecraft Luna 2 alighted on the lunar surface.

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

Giant doubts about giant exomoons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The extrasolar planets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b are supposedly the home worlds of the first known exomoons. A new study now comes to a different conclusion.

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

Unlocking neutron star rotation anomalies: Insights from quantum simulation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A collaboration between quantum physicists and astrophysicists has achieved a significant breakthrough in understanding neutron star glitches. They were able to numerically simulate this enigmatic cosmic phenomenon with ultracold dipolar atoms. This research establishes a strong link between quantum mechanics and astrophysics and paves the way for quantum simulation of stellar objects from Earth.

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

Astronomers determine the age of three mysterious baby stars at the heart of the Milky Way      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Through analysis of high-resolution data from a ten-meter telescope in Hawaii, researchers have succeeded in generating new knowledge about three stars at the very heart of the Milky Way. The stars proved to be unusually young with a puzzling chemical composition that surprised the researchers.

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

Can signs of life be detected from Saturn's frigid moon?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have shown unambiguous laboratory evidence that amino acids transported in the ice plumes of Saturn's moon, Eceladus, can survive impact speeds of up to 4.2 km/s, supporting their detection during sampling by spacecraft.

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

Interpreting the afterglow of a black hole's breakfast      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An entirely new way to probe how active black holes behave when they eat has been discovered by an international team of astronomers.

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

10-billion-year, 50,000-light-year journey to black hole      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A star near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy originated outside of the Galaxy according to a new study. This is the first time a star of extragalactic origin has been found in the vicinity of the super massive black hole.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Scientists propose a model to predict personal learning performance for virtual reality-based safety training      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In Korea, workers are being provided with virtual reality (VR)-based safety training content to mitigate the increase in occupational accidents. However, the current training evaluation methods suffer from a lack of immediate feedback from participants for personal learning performance evaluation. To address this, a team of researchers has now developed a new framework that uses real-time biometric data during VR training for improving personalized safety and preventing occupational hazards.

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

Dark galactic region nicknamed 'The Brick' explained with Webb telescope findings      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers spot unexpected source of carbon monoxide ice at galactic region surprisingly devoid of stars.

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

Ghostlike dusty galaxy reappears in James Webb Space Telescope image      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers studying images from the James Webb Space Telescope have identified an object as a 'dusty star-forming galaxy' from nearly 1 billion years after the Big Bang. They have also discovered more than a dozen additional candidates, suggesting these galaxies might be three to 10 times as common as expected. If that conclusion is confirmed, it suggests the early universe was much dustier than previously thought.

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

Meteorites likely source of nitrogen for early Earth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Micrometeorites originating from icy celestial bodies in the outer Solar System may be responsible for transporting nitrogen to the near-Earth region in the early days of our solar system.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Physics: Optics
Published

To help autonomous vehicles make moral decisions, researchers ditch the 'trolley problem'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new experiment to better understand what people view as moral and immoral decisions related to driving vehicles, with the goal of collecting data to train autonomous vehicles how to make 'good' decisions. The work is designed to capture a more realistic array of moral challenges in traffic than the widely discussed life-and-death scenario inspired by the so-called 'trolley problem.'