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Categories: Mathematics: Puzzles, Space: Astrophysics
Published Social media algorithms exploit how humans learn from their peers


In prehistoric societies, humans tended to learn from members of our ingroup or from more prestigious individuals, as this information was more likely to be reliable and result in group success. However, with the advent of diverse and complex modern communities -- and especially in social media -- these biases become less effective. For example, a person we are connected to online might not necessarily be trustworthy, and people can easily feign prestige on social media. Now, a group of social scientists describe how the functions of social media algorithms are misaligned with human social instincts meant to foster cooperation, which can lead to large-scale polarization and misinformation.
Published Gravitational arcs in 'El Gordo' galaxy cluster


A new image of the galaxy cluster known as 'El Gordo' is revealing distant and dusty objects never seen before, and providing a bounty of fresh science. The infrared image displays a variety of unusual, distorted background galaxies that were only hinted at in previous Hubble Space Telescope images.
Published Scientists uncover a surprising connection between number theory and evolutionary genetics


An interdisciplinary team of mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and medical scientists has uncovered an unexpected link between pure mathematics and genetics, that reveals key insights into the structure of neutral mutations and the evolution of organisms.
Published New clues on the source of the universe's magnetic fields


Researchers offer insight into the source of cosmic magnetic fields. The research team used models to show that magnetic fields may spontaneously arise in turbulent plasma. Their simulations showed that, in addition to generating new magnetic fields, the turbulence of those plasmas can also amplify magnetic fields once they've been generated, which helps explain how magnetic fields that originate on small scales can sometimes eventually reach to stretch across vast distances.
Published Astronomers shed new light on formation of mysterious fast radio bursts


International team reports on a radio pulsar phase of a Galactic magnetar that emitted a fast radio burst in 2020; observations suggest unique origins for 'bursts' and 'pulses,' which adds to FRB formation theory.
Published Hubble sees evaporating planet getting the hiccups


A young planet whirling around a petulant red dwarf star is changing in unpredictable ways orbit-by-orbit. It is so close to its parent star that it experiences a consistent, torrential blast of energy, which evaporates its hydrogen atmosphere -- causing it to puff off the planet.
Published Webb snaps highly detailed infrared image of actively forming stars



Young stars are rambunctious! NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured the 'antics' of a pair of actively forming young stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in high-resolution near-infrared light. To find them, trace the bright pink and red diffraction spikes until you hit the center: The stars are within the orange-white splotch. They are buried deeply in a disk of gas and dust that feeds their growth as they continue to gain mass. The disk is not visible, but its shadow can be seen in the two dark, conical regions surrounding the central stars.
Published New planetary formation findings


Astronomers have discovered new evidence of how planets as massive as Jupiter can form.
Published Astronomers reveal new features of galactic black holes


An international team of scientists, including astrophysicists, report on a dedicated observational campaign on the Galactic microquasar dubbed GRS 1915+105. The team revealed features of a microquasar system that have never before been seen. Using the massive Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in China, astronomers discovered a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) signal in the radio band for the first time from any microquasar systems.
Published Dark energy camera captures galaxies in lopsided tug of war, a prelude to merger


The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley's Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531.
Published Galaxy J1135 reveals its water map


Researchers look at water in galaxies, its distribution and in particular its changes of state from ice to vapor, as important markers indicating areas of increased energy, in which black holes and stars are formed. A new study has now revealed the distribution of water within the J1135 galaxy, which is 12 billion light years away and formed when the Universe was a 'teenager', 1.8 billion years after the Big Bang . This water map, with unprecedented resolution, is the first ever to be obtained for such a remote galaxy. The map can help scientists to understand the physical processes taking place within J1135 and shed light on the dynamics, still partially unclear, surrounding the formation of stars, black holes and galaxies themselves.
Published The puzzle of the galaxy with no dark matter


New research has found the first evidence of a massive galaxy with no dark matter. The result is a challenge to the current standard model of cosmology.
Published Unusual white dwarf star is made of hydrogen on one side and helium on the other



In a first for white dwarfs, the burnt-out cores of dead stars, astronomers have discovered that at least one member of this cosmic family is two faced. One side of the white dwarf is composed of hydrogen, while the other is made up of helium.
Published VERA unveils surroundings of rapidly growing black holes


Astronomers used the state-of-the-art capability of VERA, a Japanese network of radio telescopes, to uncover valuable clues about how rapidly growing 'young' supermassive black holes form, grow, and possibly evolve into more powerful quasars.
Published Astronomers discover striking evidence of 'unusual' stellar evolution


Astronomers have found evidence that some stars boast unexpectedly strong surface magnetic fields, a discovery that challenges current models of how they evolve.
Published Giant swirling waves at edge of Jupiter's magnetosphere


A team has found that NASA's Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter frequently encounters giant swirling waves at the boundary between the solar wind and Jupiter's magnetosphere. The waves are an important process for transferring energy and mass from the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, to planetary space environments.
Published When ET calls, can we be sure we're not being spoofed?


In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, alien radio signals would be swamped by interference from radio sources on Earth. To confirm, researchers point away from the source and then back. If it's still there, it may be interesting. Researchers have come up with a new method that looks for evidence the signal has passed through the interstellar medium. The technique will boost confidence in any candidate signal discovered in the future.
Published Hubble views a galactic monster


The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a monster in the making in this observation of the exceptional galaxy cluster eMACS J1353.7+4329, which lies about eight billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. This collection of at least two galaxy clusters is in the process of merging together to create a cosmic monster, a single gargantuan cluster acting as a gravitational lens.
Published Stellar cradles and graves seen in farthest galaxy ever



New observations have distinguished the sites of star formation and a possible site of star death from the surrounding nebula in a galaxy 13.2 billion light-years away. This is the farthest that such structures have been observed.
Published Astronomers identify the coldest star yet that emits radio waves



Brown dwarf stars rarely emit radio waves. Here scientists have found the coldest star yet emitting at these long wave lengths. Understanding the science of 'ultracool brown dwarfs' will help deepen our knowledge of how stars evolve.