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Categories: Offbeat: Space, Paleontology: Climate

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

Scientists map gusty winds in a far-off neutron star system      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have mapped the 'disk winds' associated with the accretion disk around Hercules X-1, a system in which a neutron star is drawing material away from a sun-like star. The findings may offer clues to how supermassive black holes shape entire galaxies.

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

Webb reveals never-before-seen details in Cassiopeia A      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The explosion of a star is a dramatic event, but the remains the star leaves behind can be even more dramatic. A new mid-infrared image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope provides one stunning example. It shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A), created by a stellar explosion seen from Earth 340 years ago. Cas A is the youngest known remnant from an exploding, massive star in our galaxy, which makes it a unique opportunity to learn more about how such supernovae occur.

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

How to see the invisible: Using the dark matter distribution to test our cosmological model      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have measured a value for the 'clumpiness' of the universe's dark matter (known to cosmologists as 'S8') of 0.776, which does not align with the value derived from the Cosmic Microwave Background, which dates back to the universe's origins. This has intriguing implications for the standard cosmological model.

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

NASA's Webb scores another ringed world with new image of Uranus      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Following in the footsteps of the Neptune image released in 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has taken a stunning image of the solar system's other ice giant, the planet Uranus. The new image features dramatic rings as well as bright features in the planet's atmosphere. The Webb data demonstrates the observatory's unprecedented sensitivity for the faintest dusty rings, which have only ever been imaged by two other facilities: the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew past the planet in 1986, and the Keck Observatory with advanced adaptive optics.

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

Hubble sees possible runaway black hole creating a trail of stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There's an invisible monster on the loose, barreling through intergalactic space so fast that if it were in our solar system, it could travel from Earth to the Moon in 14 minutes. This supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 20 million Suns, has left behind a never-before-seen 200,000-light-year-long 'contrail' of newborn stars, twice the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy. It's likely the result of a rare, bizarre game of galactic billiards among three massive black holes.

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

Twinkling stars fuel interstellar dust      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Of the many different kinds of stars, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, usually slightly larger and older than our own sun, are known producers of interstellar dust. Dusty AGBs are particularly prominent producers of dust, and the light they shine happens to vary widely. For the first time, a long-period survey has found the variable intensity of dusty AGBs coincides with variations in the amount of dust these stars produce. As this dust can lead to the creation of planets, its study can shed light on our own origins.

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

Hubble unexpectedly finds double quasar in distant universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The early universe was a rambunctious place where galaxies often bumped into each other and even merged together. Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and other space and ground-based observatories, astronomers investigating these developments have made an unexpected and rare discovery: a pair of gravitationally bound quasars, both blazing away inside two merging galaxies. They existed when the universe was just 3 billion years old.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Climate
Published

Researchers correlate Arctic warming to extreme winter weather in midlatitude and its future      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A warmer Arctic has been linked to extreme winter weather in the midlatitude regions. But, it is not clear how global warming affects this link. In a new study, researchers show, using weather data and climate models, that while the 'Warm Arctic-Cold Continent' pattern will continue as the climate continues to warm, Arctic warming will become a less reliable predictor of extreme winter weather in the future.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Ice sheets can collapse faster than previously thought possible      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ice sheets can retreat up to 600 meters a day during periods of climate warming, 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured. An international team of researchers used high-resolution imagery of the seafloor to reveal just how quickly a former ice sheet that extended from Norway retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

The unexpected contribution of medieval monks to volcanology      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By observing the night sky, medieval monks unwittingly recorded some of history's largest volcanic eruptions. An international team of researchers drew on readings of 12th and 13th century European and Middle Eastern chronicles, along with ice core and tree ring data, to accurately date some of the biggest volcanic eruptions the world has ever seen. Their results uncover new information about one of the most volcanically active periods in Earth's history, which some think helped to trigger the Little Ice Age, a long interval of cooling that saw the advance of European glaciers.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

How were amino acids, one of the key building blocks of life, formed before the origin of life on Earth?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The amino acid abundances of two Ryugu particles were measured and compared with their rocky components. The results demonstrate the important role that water plays in the formation of amino acids on the giant precursors of asteroids like Ryugu. Our solar system formed from a molecular cloud, which was composed of gas and dust that was emitted into the interstellar medium (ISM), a vast space between stars. On collapse of the molecular cloud, the early sun was formed, with a large disk of gas and dust orbiting it. The dusty material collided to produce rocky material that would eventually grow in size to give large bodies called planetesimals.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General
Published

A new measurement could change our understanding of the Universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When it comes to measuring how fast the Universe is expanding, the result depends on which side of the Universe you start from. A recent study has calibrated the best cosmic yardsticks to unprecedented accuracy, shedding new light on what's known as the Hubble tension.

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

Galaxy clusters yield new evidence for standard model of cosmology      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study probing the structure and evolution of galaxy clusters shows good agreement with the predictions of standard cosmological models.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Innovative method predicts the effects of climate change on cold-blooded animals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In the face of a warming climate that is having a profound effect on global biodiversity and will change the distribution and abundance of many animals, a research team has developed a statistical model that improves estimates of habitat suitability and extinction probability for cold-blooded animals as temperatures climb.

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

Scientists observe flattest explosion ever seen in space      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have observed an explosion 180 million light years away which challenges our current understanding of explosions in space, that appeared much flatter than ever thought possible.

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

Astronomers witness the birth of a very distant cluster of galaxies from the early Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have discovered a large reservoir of hot gas in the still-forming galaxy cluster around the Spiderweb galaxy -- the most distant detection of such hot gas yet. Galaxy clusters are some of the largest objects known in the Universe and this result further reveals just how early these structures begin to form.

Anthropology: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

A reconstruction of prehistoric temperatures for some of the oldest archaeological sites in North America      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists often look to the past for clues about how Earth's landscapes might shift under a changing climate, and for insight into the migrations of human communities through time. A new study offers both by providing, for the first time, a reconstruction of prehistoric temperatures for some of the first known North American settlements.

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

Brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed reveals new mysteries of cosmic explosions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists believe the gamma-ray emission, which lasted over 300 seconds, is the birth cry of a black hole, formed as the core of a massive and rapidly spinning star collapses under its own weight.

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

Redness of Neptunian asteroids sheds light on early Solar System      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Asteroids sharing their orbits with the planet Neptune have been observed to exist in a broad spectrum of red color, implying the existence of two populations of asteroids in the region, according to a new study by an international team of researchers.