Showing 20 articles starting at article 1481

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Offbeat: General, Space: Astrophysics

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Innovating, i.e. the ability to find solutions to new problems or innovative solutions to known problems, it provides crucial benefits for the adaptation and the survival of human beings as well as for animals. What are the characteristics that make specific species or animals to be innovative? A study has analyzed this cognitive skill in ungulates, a group of mammals such as dromedaries, horses and goats, characterized by walking on the tip of their toes or hooves. The results show that those individuals that are less integrated in the group and those that are more afraid of new objects were the best at solving a challenge posed by the researchers: opening a food container.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have discovered a new 'tidal disruption event,' in which the center of a galaxy lights up as its supermassive black hole rips apart a passing star. The outburst is the closest tidal disruption event observed to date, and one of the first to be identified at infrared wavelengths.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a biosynthetic 'clock' that keeps cells from reaching normal levels of deterioration related to aging. They engineered a gene oscillator that switches between the two normal paths of aging, slowing cell degeneration and setting a record for life extension.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new gripper robot grasps by reflex. Rather than start from scratch after a failed attempt, the bot adapts in the moment to reflexively roll, palm, or pinch an object to get a better hold.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study looked at a known binary star (two stars orbiting around a mutual center of gravity), analyzing starlight obtained from a range of ground- and space-based telescopes. The researchers found that the stars, located in a neighboring dwarf galaxy called the Small Magellanic Cloud, are in partial contact and swapping material with each other, with one star currently 'feeding' off the other. They orbit each other every three days and are the most massive touching stars (known as contact binaries) yet observed.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed the first transistor made of wood. Their study paves the way for further development of wood-based electronics and control of electronic plants.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have observed, in one image, the shadow of the black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) and the powerful jet expelled from it. Thanks to this new image, astronomers can better understand how black holes can launch such energetic jets.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By superimposing two laser fields of different strengths and frequency, the electron emission of metals can be measured and controlled precisely to a few attoseconds. Physicists have shown that this is the case. The findings could lead to new quantum-mechanical insights and enable electronic circuits that are a million times faster than today.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have shown that by using an ingestible capsule that delivers an electrical current to the cells they can stimulate the release of the hormone ghrelin. This approach could prove useful for treating diseases that involve nausea or loss of appetite, such as anorexia or cachexia.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists are using nanoparticles to develop new sources of light that will allow us to 'peel back the curtain' into the world of extremely small objects -- thousands of times smaller than a human hair -- with major gains for medical and other technologies.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists found parallels between the neural circuitry that guides locomotion in sea slugs and in more complex animals like mammals.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have unlocked one of the biggest mysteries of quasars -- the brightest, most powerful objects in the Universe -- by discovering that they are ignited by galaxies colliding.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In new 3D computer simulations, astrophysicists modeled black holes of varying masses and then hurled stars (about the size of our sun) past them to see what might happen. If they exist, intermediate-mass black holes likely devour wayward stars like a messy toddler -- taking a few bites and then flinging the remains across the galaxy.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research shows us that age-old interactions between people and their horses can teach us something about building robots designed to improve our lives.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have provided the most direct evidence yet that Dark Matter does not constitute ultramassive particles as is commonly thought but instead comprises particles so light that they travel through space like waves. Their work resolves an outstanding problem in astrophysics first raised two decades ago: why do models that adopt ultramassive Dark Matter particles fail to correctly predict the observed positions and the brightness of multiple images of the same galaxy created by gravitational lensing?

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Roboticists have developed a jellyfish-inspired underwater robot with which they hope one day to collect waste from the bottom of the ocean. The almost noise-free prototype can trap objects underneath its body without physical contact, thereby enabling safe interactions in delicate environments such as coral reefs. Jellyfish-Bot could become an important tool for environmental remediation.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has demonstrated the ultimate sensitivity allowed by quantum physics in measuring the time delay between two photons. This breakthrough has significant implications for a range of applications, including more feasible imaging of nanostructures, including biological samples, and nanomaterial surfaces, as well as quantum enhanced estimation based on frequency-resolved boson sampling in optical networks.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Blinking is crucial for the eye. It's how animals clean their eyes, protect them, and even communicate. But how and why did blinking originate? Researchers have studied the mudskipper, an amphibious fish that spends most of its day on land, to better understand why blinking is a fundamental behavior for life on land.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Every giant was once a baby, though you may never have seen them at that stage of their development. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has begun to shed light on formative years in the history of the universe that have thus far been beyond reach: the formation and assembly of galaxies. For the first time, a protocluster of seven galaxies has been confirmed at a distance that astronomers refer to as redshift 7.9, or a mere 650 million years after the big bang. Based on the data collected, astronomers calculated the nascent cluster's future development, finding that it will likely grow in size and mass to resemble the Coma Cluster, a monster of the modern universe.

     (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.