Science News

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-source-gw190814-event-black-hole-strange.html JUNE 8, 2021 Could the source of the GW190814 event be a black hole-strange quark star system? On the 14th of August 2019, the LIGO-Virgo collaboration detected a gravitational wave signal believed to be associated with the merging of a binary stellar system composed of a black hole with a mass of 23 times the mass of the sun (M⊙) and a compact object with a mass of about 2.6 M⊙. The nature of GW190814ʼs secondary star is enigmatic, since, according to the current astronomical observations, it could be the heaviest neutron star or the lightest black hole ever observed. Research…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-tardigrades-survive-impacts-meters.htmlMAY 21, 2021 REPORT the paper: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2020.2405 Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed Impacts—Implications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds: Abstract The ability of tardigrades to survive impact shocks in the kilometer per second and gigapascal range was investigated. When rocks impact planetary surfaces, the impact speeds and shock pressures are in the kilometer per second and gigapascal range. This investigation tested whether tardigrades can survive in impacts typical of those that occur natur…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-chinese-cargo-spacecraft-docks-orbital.html Chinese cargo spacecraft docks with orbital station: An automated spacecraft docked with China's new space station Sunday carrying fuel and supplies for its future crew, the Chinese space agency announced. Tianzhou-2 spacecraft reached the Tianhe station eight hours after blasting off from Hainan, an island in the South China Sea, China Manned Space said. It carried space suits, living supplies and equipment and fuel for the station. Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, is third and largest orbital station launched by China's increasingly ambition space program. The station's…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-nihao-mars-china-zhurong-rover.html China lands on Mars in major advance for its space ambitions: In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, members at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center celebrate after China's Tianwen-1 probe successfully landed on Mars, at the center in Beijing, Saturday, May 15, 2021. China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat more difficult than a moon landing, in the latest advance for its ambitious goals in space. (Jin Liwang/Xinhua via China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat mo…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-reveals-microsecond-big.html MAY 21, 2021 Study reveals new details on what happened in the first microsecond of Big Bang: Researchers from University of Copenhagen have investigated what happened to a specific kind of plasma—the first matter ever to be present—during the first microsecond of Big Bang. Their findings provide a piece of the puzzle to the evolution of the universe, as we know it today. About 14 billion years ago, our universe changed from being a lot hotter and denser to expanding radically—a process that scientists have named the Big Bang. And even though we know that this fast expansion created…

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/brazil-e2-80-99s-amazon-has-e2-80-98flipped-e2-80-99-and-now-emits-more-carbon-pollution-than-it-sinks/ar-BB1gjOir?ocid=BingNews

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-juno-mission-expands-into-the-future This view from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft shows two storms merging. The two white ovals seen within the orange-colored band left of center are anticyclonic storms – that is, storms that rotate counterclockwise. The image was taken on Dec. 26, 2019. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Tanya Oleksuik, © CC BY The spacecraft, which has been gathering data on the gas giant since July 2016, will become an explorer of the full Jovian system – Jupiter and its rings and moons. NASA has authorized a mission extension for its Juno spacecraf…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-physicists-neutron-stars-bigger-previously.html Physicists predict neutron stars may be bigger than previously imagined: When a massive star dies, first there is a supernova explosion. Then, what's left over becomes either a black hole or a neutron star. That neutron star is the densest celestial body that astronomers can observe, with a mass about 1.4 times the size of the sun. However, there is still little known about these impressive objects. Now, a Florida State University researcher has published a piece in Physical Review Letters arguing that new measurements related to the neutron skin of a lead nucleus may require scie…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-extraterrestrial-radioactive-isotope-seabed-implications.html MAY 14, 2021 Extraterrestrial radioactive isotope found in seabed has implications for Earth's origins:\ The first-ever discovery of an extraterrestrial radioactive isotope on Earth has scientists rethinking the origins of the elements on our planet. The tiny traces of plutonium-244 were found in ocean crust alongside radioactive iron-60. The two isotopes are evidence of violent cosmic events in the vicinity of Earth millions of years ago. Star explosions, or supernovae create many of the heavy elements in the periodic table, including those vital fo…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-discovery-geologic-plate-tectonic.html Discovery of new geologic process calls for changes to plate tectonic cycle: Geoscientists at the University of Toronto (U of T) and Istanbul Technical University have discovered a new process in plate tectonics which shows that tremendous damage occurs to areas of Earth's crust long before it should be geologically altered by known plate-boundary processes, highlighting the need to amend current understandings of the planet's tectonic cycle. Plate tectonics, an accepted theory for over 60 years that explains the geologic processes occurring below the surface of Earth, holds that its outer…

https://phys.org/news/2021-05-space-telescope-golden-mirror-wings.html Space telescope's golden mirror wings open one last time on Earth: The process of deploying, moving, expanding and unfurling all of Webb's many movable pieces after they have been exposed to a simulated launch is the best way to ensure they will perform as intended once in space. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn For the last time while it is on Earth, the world's largest and most powerful space science telescope opened its iconic primary mirror. This event marked a key milestone in preparing the observatory for launch later this year. As part of the NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's …

Article about Tokomaks in Britain and America Interestingly set in the business section, not the science section of the BBC. However it does offer some useful up to date facts and figures. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56843149

NASA has found water on the Moon's lit surface. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/26/927869069/water-on-the-moon-nasa-confirms-water-molecules-on-our-neighbors-sunny-surface?t=1603753199805 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-01222-x#_blank Abstract from Nature Astronomy: Interesting news, though not Earth-shattering, probably.

A new report has provided new estimates for COVID-19 deaths. Verified death numbers obviously are a lower estimate. By looking at excess deaths and accounting for non-COVID-19 related deaths the authors estimate a current death toll of 6.9 millions globally (more than double of verified cases). In the US the estimated total deaths are over 900k. In the UK both numbers are closer (209k vs 150k).

Another piece of the puzzle of life. Seems to present very primitive form of cell differentiation, with only two types of cells. A billion year old fossil, which provides a new link in the evolution of animals, has been discovered in Torridon, Scotland. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-billion-year-old-fossil-reveals-link-evolution.html The organism was spherical in shape, suggesting also that cellular differentiation, "tissue" formation, and body plan were very primitive. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00424-3

A new attempt to find the universe's age revealed troubling flaws. https://futurism.com/hubble-broke-understanding-universe

Interesting side effect of covid pandemic protocols:

Just heard the news that Michael Collins from Apollo 11 has died. He was 90 years old and will be remebered as being the "lonliest man in the world" orbiting the Moon while his two companions, the late Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the surface. Condolences to his family and friends.

What is to happen when the batteries wear out ? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56574779

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-astronomers-hint-silhouette-spaghettified-star.html Astronomers see first hint of the silhouette of a spaghettified star: For decades astronomers have been spotting bursts of electromagnetic radiation coming from black holes. They assumed those are the result of stars being torn apart, but they have never seen the silhouette of the actual material ligaments. Now a group of astronomers, including lead author Giacomo Cannizzaro and Peter Jonker from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research/Radboud University, has for the first time observed spectral absorption lines caused by strands of a spaghettified star. Publication in Monthl…

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-scientists-dark-energy.html Scientists make further step towards understanding dark energy: The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) collaboration has released its latest scientific results. These results include two studies on dark energy led by Prof. Zhao Gongbo and Prof. Wang Yuting, respectively, from National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). The study led by Prof. Zhao was recently published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Based on eBOSS observations, Prof. Zhao's team measured the history of cosmic expansion and structure growth in a huge …

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/exotic-compact-objects-could-soon-break-physics-new-study-suggests/ar-BB1fTnjz?ocid=BingNews

We have had several threads and discussions about this topic this news qwould seem to indicate we are not yet there.

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-comprehensive-emdrive.html In a comprehensive new test, the EmDrive fails to generate any thrust: The EmDrive is a hypothetical rocket that proponents claim can generate thrust with no exhaust. This would violate all known physics. In 2016, a team at NASA's Eagleworks lab claimed to measure thrust from an EmDrive device, the news of which caused quite a stir. The latest attempt to replicate the shocking results has resulted in a simple answer: The Eagleworks measurement was from heating of the engine mount, not any new physics. The EmDrive is a relatively simple device: It's an empty cavity that isn't perfectly symmetric…

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-whitest-hereand-coolest-literally.html The whitest paint is here—and it's the coolest. Literally: In an effort to curb global warming, Purdue University engineers have created the whitest paint yet. Coating buildings with this paint may one day cool them off enough to reduce the need for air conditioning, the researchers say. In October, the team created an ultra-white paint that pushed limits on how white paint can be. Now they've outdone that. The newer paint not only is whiter but also can keep surfaces cooler than the formulation that the researchers had previously demonstrated. "If you were to use this paint t…