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Categories: Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds, Space: Astrophysics
Published Astronomers determine the age of three mysterious baby stars at the heart of the Milky Way



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.
Published Can signs of life be detected from Saturn's frigid moon?



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.
Published Interpreting the afterglow of a black hole's breakfast



An entirely new way to probe how active black holes behave when they eat has been discovered by an international team of astronomers.
Published 10-billion-year, 50,000-light-year journey to black hole



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.
Published New theory unites Einstein's gravity with quantum mechanics



The prevailing assumption has been that Einstein's theory of gravity must be modified, or 'quantized', in order to fit within quantum theory. This is the approach of two leading candidates for a quantum theory of gravity, string theory and loop quantum gravity. But a new theory challenges that consensus and takes an alternative approach by suggesting that spacetime may be classical -- that is, not governed by quantum theory at all.
Published Dark galactic region nicknamed 'The Brick' explained with Webb telescope findings



Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers spot unexpected source of carbon monoxide ice at galactic region surprisingly devoid of stars.
Published Ghostlike dusty galaxy reappears in James Webb Space Telescope image



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.
Published Meteorites likely source of nitrogen for early Earth



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.
Published A new possible explanation for the Hubble tension



The universe is expanding. How fast it does so is described by the so-called Hubble-Lemaitre constant. But there is a dispute about how big this constant actually is: Different measurement methods provide contradictory values. This so-called 'Hubble tension' poses a puzzle for cosmologists. Researchers are now proposing a new solution: Using an alternative theory of gravity, the discrepancy in the measured values can be easily explained -- the Hubble tension disappears.
Published Discovery of planet too big for its sun throws off solar system formation models



The discovery of a planet that is far too massive for its sun is calling into question what was previously understood about the formation of planets and their solar systems.
Published Rocky planets can form in extreme environments



Astronomers have provided the first observation of water and other molecules in the highly irradiated inner, rocky-planet-forming regions of a disk in one of the most extreme environments in our galaxy. These results suggest that the conditions for terrestrial planet formation can occur in a possible broader range of environments than previously thought.
Published Unknown animals were leaving bird-like footprints in Late Triassic Southern Africa



Ancient animals were walking around on bird-like feet over 210 million years ago, according to a new study.
Published Building blocks for life could have formed near new stars and planets



While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it might be much older than once thought. The simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have formed alongside stars or planets within interstellar ices. The findings could be used to train deep space instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to search for prebiotic molecules in distant, star-forming regions of the universe.
Published New astrophysics model sheds light on additional source of long gamma-ray bursts



Cutting-edge computer simulations combined with theoretical calculations are helping astronomers better understand the origin of some of the universe's most energetic and mysterious light shows -- gamma-ray bursts, or GRBs. The new unified model confirms that some long-lasting GRBs are created in the aftermath of cosmic mergers that spawn an infant black hole surrounded by a giant disk of natal material.
Published Astronomers discover disc around star in another galaxy



In a remarkable discovery, astronomers have found a disc around a young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy neighboring ours. It's the first time such a disc, identical to those forming planets in our own Milky Way, has ever been found outside our galaxy. The new observations reveal a massive young star, growing and accreting matter from its surroundings and forming a rotating disc.
Published Solar activity likely to peak next year



Researchers have discovered a new relationship between the Sun's magnetic field and its sunspot cycle, that can help predict when the peak in solar activity will occur. Their work indicates that the maximum intensity of solar cycle 25, the ongoing sunspot cycle, is imminent and likely to occur within a year.
Published New way of searching for dark matter



Wondering whether whether Dark Matter particles actually are produced inside a jet of standard model particles, led researchers to explore a new detector signature known as semi-visible jets, which scientists never looked at before.
Published Telescope Array detects second highest-energy cosmic ray ever



In 1991, an experiment detected the highest-energy cosmic ray ever observed. Later dubbed the Oh-My-God particle, the cosmic ray’s energy shocked astrophysicists. Nothing in our galaxy had the power to produce it, and the particle had more energy than was theoretically possible for cosmic rays traveling to Earth from other galaxies. Simply put, the particle should not exist. On May 27, 2021, the Telescope Array experiment detected the second-highest extreme-energy cosmic ray. The newly dubbed Amaterasu particle deepens the mystery of the origin, propagation and particle physics of rare, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
Published Earliest known European common hippopotamus fossil reveals their Middle Pleistocene dispersal



Modern hippos first dispersed in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, according to a new study.
Published NASA's Webb reveals new features in heart of Milky Way



The latest image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the dense center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail, including never-before-seen features astronomers have yet to explain. The star-forming region, named Sagittarius C (Sgr C), is about 300 light-years from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*.