One of the farthest known quasars seems to have shut down the creation of new stars in all the galaxies within its vicinity. A quasar is a powerful source of light, created by torrid gas orbiting a gargantuan black hole at the center of a galaxy. The intense radiation from one quasar, named VIK J2348-3054, … Read more
They say that going to space changes you. Often, whats being referenced is a shift in mindset, a renewed sense of perspective that comes from seeing our world from above, a phenomenon thats been called the overview effect. But it seems unlikely that rocketing off into the atmosphere, experiencing powerful g-force acceleration followed by a … Read more
The time is nigh for nuclear clocks. In a first, scientists have used a tabletop laser to bump an atomic nucleus into a higher energy state. Its a feat that sets scientists on a path toward creating the first nuclear clock, which would keep time based on the inner workings of atomic nuclei. The advance … Read more
Whats dumped into a landfill is supposed to stay there, but a new study finds that toxic forever chemicals are wafting from the waste into the air. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been detected in the gas exuded by some Florida landfills in quantities comparable to or even greater than in the liquids … Read more
Lightning and the sun Science News, June 22, 1974 The latest addition to the growing list of meteorological phenomena which have been linked with solar activity is lightning. Using data from 1930 to 1973, [a researcher] reports in the May 24 Nature that in spite of year-to-year variations in the incidence of lightning, there is … Read more
The orbits of a trio of stars can be so chaotic that its impossible to precisely calculate the stars future trajectories. Thats the real science behind the name of the hit Netflix show, 3 Body Problem. Much of the sci-fi shows action hinges on a variety of other physics concepts. But in service of the plot, … Read more
A summer wave of COVID-19 is rising. Theres clearly a bump, says William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. The medical center has seen a steady increase of hospital admissions for COVID-19 over the past three weeks, Schaffner says. That was entirely expected, Im afraid. Each year, peaks of … Read more
Somewhere in the not-too-distant universe, a galaxy named SDSS1335+0728 is waking up. Over the past four years, astronomers have been able to watch the supermassive black hole in SDSS1335+0728s center go from dim and quiet to bright and active, the first time such a transition has been observed in real time, researchers report June 18 … Read more
For the first time in nearly a century, physicists have identified a brand new type of magnetic material. Crack open a physics textbook and you may read that scientists classify magnetic materials into two main types: ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Ferromagnets are what most people think of when magnets come to mind. These materials possess a … Read more
Rogue waves are freakishly large ridges of water known for rising out of the blue to ambush hapless ships and beachgoers. But a new artificial intelligence model can predict most of these surprising swells up to five minutes in advance, mechanical engineers Thomas Breunung and Balakumar Balachandran of the University of Maryland in College Park … Read more