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Olin College Professor Awarded NASA Grant
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Assistant Professor of Computational Physics and Planetary Science Carrie Nugent has been awarded a three-year grant from NASA to detect asteroids in archival data. This work will be in collaboration with Dr. James "Gerbs" Bauer at the University of Maryland.
International honors for PPPL post-doctoral fellows helping to bring a star to earth
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Profile of PPPL's Chris Smiet and Rupak Mukherjee and the post-doctoral honors they have won.
Cosmic Yeti from the dawn of the universe found lurking in dust
University of Arizona
Astronomers accidentally discovered the footprints of a monster galaxy in the early universe that has never been seen before. Like a cosmic Yeti, the scientific community generally regarded these galaxies as folklore
Nuclear Impulse Could Deflect Massive Asteroid
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Researchers have completed the first-ever, in-depth investigation into how an asteroid would respond to a nuclear deflection attempt, finding that a nuclear device would be able to deflect an asteroid too massive for other approaches. The paper was published by Acta Astronautica on Oct. 15.
Space Hardware Contamination Control Protocols Get Update
AVS: Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing
Scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab want to know more about the potential harmful effects of organic contamination on space exploration hardware and how to prevent it. They will talk about their research at the 66th annual AVS International Symposium and Exhibition. JPL scientist Martin Maxwell will present a session on how increased sensitivity of instruments and missions calls for an update in outdated contamination procedures.
Armoring satellites to survive and operate through attacks
Sandia National Laboratories
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories launched a seven-year mission campaign this month to develop the science, technology and architecture needed for autonomous satellite protection systems. The campaign, called STARCS (Science and Technology Advancing Resilience for Contested Space), will fund dozens of Laboratory Directed Research and Development projects that focus on three critical areas
University of Hawaii team unravels origin, chemical makeup of Titan's dunes
University of Hawaii at Manoa
A team led by a University of Hawaii at Manoa chemistry professor and researcher has been able to provide answers to key questions about the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.
Super Spirals Spin Super Fast
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Stars in the outer reaches of the Milky Way, including our Sun, orbit at an average speed of 130 miles per second. But that's nothing compared to the most massive spiral galaxies. "Super spirals," which are larger, brighter, and more massive than the Milky Way, spin even faster than expected for their mass, at speeds up to 350 miles per second.
Tracing Interstellar Dust Back to the Solar System's Formation
Department of Energy, Office of Science
This study is the first to confirm dust particles pre-dating the formation of our solar system. Further study of these materials will enable a deeper understanding of the processes that formed and have since altered them.
Gas 'Waterfalls' Reveal Infant Planets around Young Star
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
For the first time, astronomers using ALMA have witnessed 3D motions of gas in a planet-forming disk. At three locations in the disk around a young star called HD 163296, gas is flowing like a waterfall into gaps that are most likely caused by planets in formation. These gas flows have long been predicted and would directly influence the chemical composition of planet atmospheres. This research is published in the latest issue of the journal Nature.
Hubble Observes First Confirmed Interstellar Comet
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Hubble has taken the sharpest view to date of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov whose speed and trajectory indicate it has come from beyond our solar system. The image, taken October 12, 2019, reveals a central concentration of dust around the comet's nucleus.
Telescope technology used to take first accurate images of glaucoma-related eye structure
Indiana University
Researchers at the IU School of Optometry have used adaptive optics technology to create the first undistorted microscopic images of the eye's trabecular meshwork, which could help improve treatment for glaucoma.
Going Against the Flow Around a Supermassive Black Hole
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
At the center of a galaxy called NGC 1068, a supermassive black hole hides within a thick doughnut-shaped cloud of dust and gas. When astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study this cloud in more detail, they made an unexpected discovery that could explain why supermassive black holes grew so rapidly in the early Universe. "Thanks to the spectacular resolution of ALMA, we measured the movement of gas in the inner orbits around the black hole," explains Violette Impellizzeri of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), working at ALMA in Chile and lead author on a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal. "Surprisingly, we found two disks of gas rotating in opposite directions."
Analysis of Galileo's Jupiter Entry Probe Reveals Gaps in Heat Shield Modeling
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
The entry probe of the Galileo mission to Jupiter entered the planet's atmosphere in 1995 in fiery fashion, generating enough heat to cause plasma reactions on its surface. The data relayed about the burning of its heat shield differed from the effects predicted in fluid dynamics models, and new work examines what might have caused such a discrepancy.
Are We Alone in the Universe? Rutgers Professor Explores Possibility of Life on Mars and Beyond
Rutgers University-New Brunswick
People have spent centuries wondering whether life exists beyond Earth, but only recently have scientists developed the tools to find out.
Black holes stunt growth of dwarf galaxies
University of California, Riverside
Astronomers at the University of California, Riverside, have discovered that powerful winds driven by supermassive black holes in the centers of dwarf galaxies have a significant impact on the evolution of these galaxies by suppressing star formation.
Study Suggests Ice on Lunar South Pole May Have More Than 1 Source
Brown University
The discovery of ice deposits in craters scattered across the Moon's south pole has helped to renew interest in exploring the lunar surface, but no one is sure exactly when or how that ice got there.
Milky Way Raids Intergalactic 'Bank Accounts,' Hubble Study Finds
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
A new Hubble study to be published in The Astrophysical Journal reports the best measurements yet for how much and how fast gas flows in and out of the Milky Way. Astronomers were surprised to find a surplus of incoming gas, leaving them with new questions to answer about how our galaxy works.
Russian astronomer comments on Nobel Prize in physics
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT)
Milky Way's Center Will Be Revealed by NASA's Webb Telescope
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
After its 2021 launch, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will gather infrared light that has penetrated the dusty veil, revealing the galactic center in unprecedented detail.
Exploring Mysteries of the Universe
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware's Swati Singh is using quantum systems to understand astrophysical phenomena and has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to advance her work.
Nobel Prize winners' exoplanet discovery started a 'remarkable era of discovery'
Cornell University
AIP Congratulates 2019 Nobel Prize Winners in Physics
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Ancient oasis once existed on Mars
Los Alamos National Laboratory
The surface of Mars was once home to shallow, salty ponds that went through episodes of overflow and drying, according to a paper published today in Nature Geoscience.
Scientists Observe Year-long Plateaus in Decline of Type Ia Supernova Light Curves
Queen's University Belfast
A team of scientists, including a researcher from Queen's University Belfast, have discovered that the fading of infrared light following Type Ia supernovae explosions can be interrupted, with brightness staying the same for up to a year.
Four Latin American countries represented in UND's latest Inflatable Mars/Lunar Habitat mission
University of North Dakota
The first international mission in the University of North Dakota's Inflatable Mars/Lunar Habitat (IMLH) was launched Wednesday afternoon when four students from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru entered the facility to spend two weeks running experiments to help NASA with exploring the moon and Mars.
A cosmic pretzel
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
The two baby stars were found in the [BHB2007] 11 system - the youngest member of a small stellar cluster in the Barnard 59 dark nebula, which is part of the clouds of interstellar dust called the Pipe nebula.
The American Institute of Physics Announces 2019 Science Communication Award Winners
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
The winners of the 2019 AIP Science Communication Awards are announced for their topical works on robotics inspired by animals, the nature of the universe, climate change, the awe and excitement of space, and the mystery of black holes. The winners are David L. Hu, Marcia Bartusiak, Nathaniel Rich, Raman Prinja, and Rushmore DeNooyer.
Record-Breaking Observations Find Most Remote Protocluster of Galaxies
University of Copenhagen
An international team of astronomers with participation by researchers from DAWN, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen has discovered a protocluster of galaxies 13.0 billion light years away using the Subaru, Keck, and Gemini Telescopes in Hawaii.
Two Ancient Migration Events in the Andromeda Galaxy
NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
Astronomers have uncovered two historic events in which the Andromeda Galaxy underwent major changes to its structure. The findings shed light not only on the evolution and formation of the Andromeda Galaxy, but to our own Milky Way Galaxy as well. Two of the facilities in NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, Kitt Peak National Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory, played critical roles in the research, now published in the latest issue of the journal Nature.
Department of Energy Announces $6.6 Million to Study Dark Matter
Department of Energy, Office of Science
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $6.6 million for four new research awards to develop design concepts for dark matter search experiments.
NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory Launched
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
On 1 October 2019, the nighttime astronomy facilities supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) transitioned to operating as one organization, NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory. The new organization operates five scientific programs: Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the Community Science and Data Center, Kitt Peak National Observatory (all formerly known as the National Optical Astronomy Observatory); Gemini Observatory and the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, and is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.
Centre to unlock future of space exploration
University of Adelaide
A new centre at the University of Adelaide will focus on solving the challenge of making long-term space exploration viable.
A planet that should not exist
University of Bern
The red dwarf GJ 3512 is located 30 light-years from us. Although the star is only about a tenth of the mass of the Sun, it possesses a giant planet - an unexpected observation.
Life's building blocks may have formed in interstellar clouds
Hokkaido University
An experiment shows that one of the basic units of life -- nucleobases -- could have originated within giant gas clouds interspersed between the stars.
Missouri S&T Joins Dark Energy Experiment to Solve Accelerating Cosmos Mystery
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology has joined the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) as one of 11 international institutions that are collaborating to define the force causing the accelerated expansion of the universe.
U.S. ATLAS Phase I Upgrade Completed
Brookhaven National Laboratory
The ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is ready to begin another chapter in its search for new physics. A significant upgrade to the experiment, called the U.S. ATLAS Phase I Upgrade, has received Critical Decision-4 approval from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), signifying the completion of the project and a transition to operations.
Scientists Watch a Black Hole Shredding a Star
Ohio State University
A NASA satellite searching space for new planets gave astronomers an unexpected glimpse at a black hole ripping a star to shreds. The milestone was reached with the help of a worldwide network of robotic telescopes headquartered at The Ohio State University called ASAS-SN (All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae). Astronomers from the Carnegie Observatories, Ohio State and others published their findings today in The Astrophysical Journal.
New model proposes jets go superluminal in gamma-ray bursts
Michigan Technological University
Gamma-ray bursts may actually exceed the speed of light in surrounding gas clouds, but do so without violating Einstein's theory of relativity.
Webb to Unlock the Mysteries of Comets and the Early Solar System
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Shortly after its launch in 2021, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will observe three different types of comets to learn more about them and about the early solar system.
Introducing VPLanet: A virtual planet simulator for modeling distant worlds across time
University of Washington
Barnes, a UW assistant professor of astrobiology, astronomy and data science, released the first version of VPLanet, his virtual planet simulator, in August. He and his co-authors described it in a paper accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Dust from a giant asteroid crash caused an ancient ice age
Field Museum
About 466 million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs, the Earth froze. The seas began to ice over at the Earth's poles, and the new range of temperatures around the planet set the stage for a boom of new species evolving.
How to Get a Particle Detector on a Plane
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Berkeley Lab is one of five sites around the globe that is building detector panels for an upgrade project that will improve the performance of a particle detector's inner tracking system - including its resolution to take snapshots of particle collisions, its durability, and data-collection speed.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Flame Experiments on International Space Station
Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Shedding Light on Dark Matter
University of Delaware
An interdisciplinary research team has received a $1 million, two-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the "Harnessing the Data Revolution" initiative, to develop computational methods to accelerate data-intensive discovery in astroparticle physics -- an important step toward understanding dark matter.
Artificial intelligence probes dark matter in the universe
ETH Zurich
Understanding the how our universe came to be what it is today and what will be its final destiny is one of the biggest challenges in science.
Life and death of the stars: Researchers investigate extreme galaxy environments
McMaster University
An international team of 30 scientists--led by researchers at McMaster University--is using one of the world's largest telescopes to investigate and map extreme galaxy environments in brilliant detail.
@UNLV Expert Available: Aliens & Area 51
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)
'Ringing' black hole validates Einstein's general relativity 10 years ahead of schedule
Simons Foundation
Gravitational wave 'tones' detected following the merger of two black holes confirm the decades-old 'no-hair theory' of black hole properties
KATRIN cuts the mass estimate for the elusive neutrino in half
University of Washington
At the 2019 Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics conference in Toyama, Japan, leaders from the KATRIN experiment reported Sept. 13 that the estimated range for the rest mass of the neutrino is no larger than 1 electron volt, or eV.
Gemini Observatory Captures Multicolor Image of First-ever Interstellar Comet
Gemini Observatory
The first-ever comet from beyond our Solar System has been successfully imaged by the Gemini Observatory in multiple colors. The image of the newly discovered object, denoted C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was obtained on the night of 9-10 September using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii's Maunakea.
Sandia experiments at temperature of sun offer solutions to solar model problems
Sandia National Laboratories
The opaqueness of elements to the passage of light blocks heat from the furnaces at the center of the sun from incinerating us. Sandia National Laboratories researchers, experimenting at the temperature of the sun, pjn down just how much energy passes through floating atoms of iron, helping rebuild an important astrophysics theory.
Argonne explores how ants, bees, and fruit flies can be the next big buzz in artificial intelligence
Argonne National Laboratory
The ability to learn and adapt in real time is a central feature of biological systems. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are exploring the use of neuromorphic computer chips that demonstrate this versatility to enhance our ability to efficiently process information in space and in other extreme environments.
Scientists Measure "Tones" of Black Holes for the First Time
Stony Brook University
A team of scientists including Will Farr, PhD, an astrophysicist at Stony Brook University, has found a way for the first time to detect multiple tones of a black hole ringing like a bell -- something that most astrophysicists thought would not be possible for a decade or more.
Saturn's Rings Shine in New Hubble Portrait
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Saturn's signature rings are still as stunning as ever. The second in the yearly series, this Hubble Space Telescope image taken on June 20, 2019, is part of the Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) project.
Towering Balloon-like Features Discovered near Center of the Milky Way
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
An international team of astronomers has discovered one of the largest features ever observed in the center of the Milky Way - a pair of enormous radio-emitting bubbles that tower hundreds of light-years above and below the central region of our galaxy. This hourglass-like feature, which dwarfs all other radio structures in the galactic center, is likely the result of a phenomenally energetic burst that erupted near the Milky Way's supermassive black hole a few million years ago.
Innovative Accelerator Achieves Full Energy Recovery
Brookhaven National Laboratory
An innovative particle accelerator designed and built by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cornell University has achieved a significant milestone that could greatly enhance the efficiency of future particle accelerators.
Water Detected on an Exoplanet Located in Its Star's Habitable Zone
Universite de Montreal
An international study lead by Universite de Montreal astronomer Bjorn Benneke has detected water vapour on the planet K2-18b; this represents a major discovery in the search of alien life.
Afterglow sheds light on the nature, origin of neutron star collisions
Northwestern University
The final chapter of the historic detection of the powerful merger of two neutron stars in 2017 officially has been written.
Nitrogen explosions created craters on Saturn moon Titan
Cornell University
Lakes of liquid methane on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, were likely formed by explosive, pressurized nitrogen just under the moon's surface, according to new research.
iLocater achieves first light, giving scientists clearer picture of nearby planets
University of Notre Dame
After successfully achieving "first light," capturing a beam of starlight filtered through the telescope's adaptive optics system, the team discovered what was thought to be a singular star was actually a previously unidentified binary star system.
Breakthrough Foundation honors UW researcher studying 'exotic' states of matter
University of Washington
Lukasz Fidkowski, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Washington, is one of the winners of a 2020 New Horizons in Physics Prize from the Breakthrough Foundation "for incisive contributions to the understanding of topological states of matter and the relationships between them."
Facebook Live: Simulating and Sharing the Universe
Globus
Hosted by Argonne National Lab, this live interview on Tuesday, August 27th at 1:00 included Argonne physicist Katrin Heitmann and The University of Chicago's Kyle Chard in a discussion about the challenges inherent in simulating an evolving universe.
Survey Delivers on Dark Energy with Multiple Probes
Department of Energy, Office of Science
The Dark Energy Survey has combined its four primary cosmological probes for the first time in order to constrain the properties of dark energy.
Slowed metabolism helps geese fly high
University of British Columbia
A few years before NASA astronaut Jessica Meir began learning to fly a spacecraft for her upcoming trip to the International Space Station
Hints of a volcanically active exomoon
University of Bern
Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. Today, there are indications that an active moon outside our solar system
Researchers Earn NASA Grant to Explore Plasma-Jet Printing for In-Space Manufacturing
Boise State University
A team of researchers led by College of Engineering assistant professor Harish Subbaraman have been selected to receive a NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) three-year grant of more than $700,000.
Particle Accelerators Drive Decades of Discoveries at Berkeley Lab and Beyond
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
This article and accompanying video highlight the decades of discoveries, achievements and progress in particle accelerator R&D at Berkeley Lab. These accelerators have enabled new explorations of the atomic nucleus; the production and discovery of new elements and isotopes, and of subatomic particles
Jupiter shows its true stripes
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
There's a reason why Jupiter's stripes are only skin deep. It turns out that the planet's zonal winds -- the alternating east-west jet streams seen in photographs as colorful stripes -- only descend to 3,000 kilometers in the atmosphere.
Physicists mash quantum and gravity and find time, but not as we know it
University of Queensland
A University of Queensland-led international team of researchers say they have discovered "a new kind of quantum time order".
Study Shows Some Exoplanets May Have Greater Variety of Life Than Exists on Earth
Goldschmidt Conference
A new study indicates that some exoplanets may have better conditions for life to thrive than Earth itself has.
ALMA Shows What's Inside Jupiter's Storms
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
New radio wave images made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) provide a unique view of Jupiter's atmosphere down to fifty kilometers below the planet's visible (ammonia) cloud deck.
Quantum gravity's tangled time
University of Vienna
The theories of quantum mechanics and gravity are notorious for being incompatible, despite the efforts of scores of physicists over the past fifty years. However, recently an international team of researchers led by physicists from the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences as well as the University of Queensland (AUS) and the Stevens Institute of Technology (USA) have combined the key elements of the two theories describing the flow of time and discovered that temporal order between events can exhibit genuine quantum features.
Where Are New Stars Born? NASA's Webb Telescope Will Investigate
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Though our Milky Way galaxy continues to churn out the equivalent of one Sun every year, in the past, that rate was up to one hundred times greater. To understand how stars like our Sun formed, we need to look back billions of years into the past. The Webb telescope will act as a time machine to peer back into the early universe. To look back even further, astronomers will also take advantage of natural, cosmic telescopes called gravitational lenses, which magnify the light from distant galaxies that are at or near the peak of star formation. The effect allows researchers to study the details of early galaxies too far away to be seen with even the most powerful telescopes alone.
ECP's Exastar Project Seeks Answers Hidden in the Cosmos
Department of Energy, Office of Science
ExaStar aims to create simulations for comparison with experiments and observations to help answer a variety of questions: Why is there more iron than gold in the universe? Why is anything rarer than anything else? Why is finding transuranic elements on the face of the earth difficult?
Using Virtual Assistants to Tackle Emergencies in Space
Texas A&M University
A team of researchers at Texas A&M University is studying the use of virtual assistants to provide support during emergencies in space.
Notre Dame Expert Clive Neal Available to Discuss Returning to the Moon
University of Notre Dame
Lifelong Successes, Public Enlightenment
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
The American Institute of Physics announced astronomer Virginia Trimble has been selected to receive the 2019 Andrew Gemant Award, an annual prize recognizing contributions to the cultural, artistic and humanistic dimension of physics. The award recognizes Trimble's lifelong successes in the physical sciences and "for taking the broader view of how physics and astronomy is accomplished, creatively engaging physical scientists and the public throughout her lifetime, and commitment to establishing science within the social perspective."
Brookhaven Completes LSST's Digital Sensor Array
Brookhaven National Laboratory
After 16 years of dedicated planning and engineering, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have completed a 3.2 gigapixel sensor array for the camera that will be used in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a massive telescope that will observe the universe like never before.
Tektites Don't Come From the Moon, but Might Help Scientists Understand How It Formed
Washington University in St. Louis
Impact events are relatively common. The objects known as shooting stars are actually small meteors burning up as they pass through Earth's atmosphere. If a meteor is large enough, some part of it may reach Earth as a meteorite. These small impacts don't form big craters, even if they might be large enough to devastate urban areas.
Finding a cosmic fog within shattered intergalactic pancakes
Yale University
To understand the most ordinary matter in the universe -- and the extraordinary things that happen to it -- a Yale-led team of astronomers took a deep dive into the cosmic fog.
Scientists Discover New State of Matter
New York University
A team of physicists has uncovered a new state of matter--a breakthrough that offers promise for increasing storage capabilities in electronic devices and enhancing quantum computing.
Automated Observing Network Inaugurated at SOAR Telescope
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
To provide astronomers with a network of world-class telescopes that can be accessed with a touch of a button, four ground-based astronomical observatories have joined forces to set up the Astronomical Event Observatory Network (AEON): Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), the National Science Foundation's National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the SOAR Telescope, and Gemini Observatory. With AEON, astronomers will be able to automatically follow up on their astronomical objects of interest, with a range of 0.4-meter to 8-meter telescopes, observing in UV light to infrared.
NASA awards Physical Optics Corporation additional $4M contract for Zero Gravity Optical Fibers
Physical Optics Corporation
Physical Optics Corporation (POC) is pleased to announce an SBIR Phase III award of over $4M for the production investigation of optical fibers in zero-gravity.
Explore the Site of a New Telescope Survey That Will Map the Universe in 3-D
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
For a special sneak preview before the official start of observations in early 2020, join scientists, engineers, and others who are working on the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) for an exclusive day of access. DESI, under installation at Kitt Peak National Observatory, will capture the light from tens of millions of distant galaxies to better understand the accelerating expansion of the universe.
James Webb Space Telescope could begin learning about TRAPPIST-1 atmospheres in a single year, study indicates
University of Washington
New research from astronomers at the University of Washington uses the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 planetary system as a kind of laboratory to model not the planets themselves, but how the coming James Webb Space Telescope might detect and study their atmospheres, on the path toward looking for life beyond Earth.
Fluorescent glow may reveal hidden life in the cosmos
Cornell University
Astronomers have uncovered a new way of searching for life in the cosmos. Harsh ultraviolet radiation flares from red suns, once thought to destroy surface life on planets, might help uncover hidden biospheres. Their radiation could trigger a protective glow from life on exoplanets called biofluorescence, according to new Cornell University research.
Methane not released by wind on Mars, experts find
Newcastle University
Wind erosion has been ruled out as the primary cause of methane gas release on Mars, Newcastle University academics have shown.
Hubble's New Portrait of Jupiter
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
This new Hubble Space Telescope view of Jupiter, taken on June 27, 2019, reveals the giant planet's trademark Great Red Spot, and a more intense color palette in the clouds swirling in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere than seen in previous years.
EIC Center at Jefferson Lab Announces Fellowship Awards
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
One graduate student and three postdoctoral research scientists are awarded fellowships to advance the science of an electron-ion collider.
Dark Matter May Be Older Than The Big Bang, Study Suggests
Johns Hopkins University
Dark matter, which researchers believe make up about 80% of the universe's mass, is one of the most elusive mysteries in modern physics. What exactly it is and how it came to be is a mystery, but a new Johns Hopkins University study now suggests that dark matter may have existed before the Big Bang.
Astronomers reveal true colours of evolving galactic beasts
Durham University
Astronomers have identified a rare moment in the life of some of the universe's most energetic objects.
Outbursts of hot wind detected close to black hole
University of Southampton
An international team of astrophysicists from Southampton, Oxford and South Africa have detected a very hot, dense outflowing wind close to a black hole at least 25,000 light-years from Earth.
ALMA Dives into Black Hole's 'Sphere of Influence'
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
New observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) provide an unprecedented close-up view of a swirling disk of cold interstellar gas rotating around a supermassive black hole.
Missions to Mars, Safer Nuclear Waste Site Clean-Up, Could Be Expedited Thanks to a Discovery Using Fungi
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU)
Thanks to fungi, researchers have made a new discovery that could lead to the development of effective radioprotective drugs for workers cleaning up nuclear contamination zones, like Fukushima and Chernobyl. The discovery could also help astronauts travel to Mars, where severe radiation remains the greatest obstacle.
Researchers calculate soil freezing depth from satellite data
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT)
A team of researchers from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the Institute for Water and Environmental Problems of the Siberian Branch of RAS, and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) has proposed a way to determine soil freezing depth based on satellite microwave radiometry. The findings were published in Studying the Earth From Space*, a Russian-language journal of RAS.
Globus for Extreme-Scale Cosmology
Globus
Globus recently saw the biggest single file transfer in our history: a team led by Argonne National Laboratory scientists moved 2.9 petabytes of data on the Summit system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as part of a research project involving three of the largest cosmological simulations known to date
Hubble Uncovers 'Heavy Metal' Exoplanet Shaped Like a Football
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations reveal magnesium and iron gas streaming from WASP-121b. These Hubble PanCET survey findings represent the first time that so-called heavy-metals--elements heavier than hydrogen and helium--have been spotted actively escaping from a "hot Jupiter," a large, gaseous exoplanet in orbit very close to its star.
TESS satellite uncovers its 'first nearby super-Earth'
Cornell University
NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a mission designed to comb the heavens for exoplanets, has discovered its first potentially habitable world outside of our own solar system - and an international team of astronomers has characterized the super-Earth, about 31 light-years away.
Considering the Container to Strengthen the Weak Force's Signal
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Kurtis Bartlett won the 2018 JSA Thesis Prize for making measurements that helped determine the weak charge of the proton.
