Exploring astronomy with X-rays
The recent launches of the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) by NASA and its international partners are excellent reminders that the universe emits light or energy in many different forms. To fully in.....»»
Better energy harvesting with "law-breaking" device
If you take an object and set it out in the sun, it will begin to warm up. This is because it is absorbing energy from the sun's rays and converting that energy to heat. If you leave that object outside, it will continue getting warmer, but only to a.....»»
When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future
About 400,000 years ago, large parts of Greenland were ice-free. Scrubby tundra basked in the sun's rays on the island's northwest highlands. Evidence suggests that a forest of spruce trees, buzzing with insects, covered the southern part of Greenlan.....»»
New legged robots designed to explore planets as a team
Even if one robot fails, the rest of the team can offset its loss. Enlarge / The robots exploring a simulated alien environment. (credit: ETH Zurich / Takahiro Miki) While rovers have made incredible discoveries, their w.....»»
Unlocking secrets of the elusive ghost shark
Researchers from the University of Florida and the Seattle Aquarium are exploring 100 meters underwater in the Pacific Northwest this summer to learn more about mysterious ghost sharks, one of the strangest beasts from the depths of the ocean......»»
Exploring the role of ice sheets for the climate
In recent decades the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have decreased dramatically, and scientific projections suggest an increasing retreat in the future. Ice sheets form on land in regions with sufficient snowfall, which compacts and forms ic.....»»
Exploring the multi-billion-dollar risk to economic activity from climate extremes affecting ports
More than $122 billion of economic activity—$81 billion in international trade—is at risk from the impact of extreme climate events, according to new research from Oxford's Environmental Change Institute......»»
A new type of superresolution for exploring cell division
A new way to see details smaller than half the wavelength of light has revealed how nanoscale scaffolding inside cells bridges to the macroscale during cell division. Unlike earlier superresolution techniques, the one developed and tested at the Univ.....»»
Exploring the macro shifts in enterprise security
The number of successful ransomware attacks and data breach attempts fell by 30% over the last year, the number of reported security incident types at organizations increased, according to the 2023 Cybersecurity Perspectives Survey by Scale. Security.....»»
Chemical cartography reveals the Milky Way"s spiral arms
Keith Hawkins, assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, has used chemical cartography—also known as chemical mapping—to identify regions of the Milky Way's spiral arms that have previously gone undetected. His resear.....»»
Astronomers find new type of stellar object that challenges understanding of neutron star physics
An international team led by astronomers from the Curtin University node of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) has discovered a new type of stellar object that challenges our understanding of the physics of neutron stars......»»
Quantitative analysis of cell organelles with artificial intelligence
BESSY II's high-brilliance X-rays can be used to produce microscopic images with spatial resolution down to a few tens of nanometers. Whole cell volumes can be examined without the need for complex sample preparation as in electron microscopy. Under.....»»
Walking the moral tightrope: Exploring the effect of the Trump presidency on the civil service
During his presidency, Donald Trump and members of his administration repeatedly accused federal civil servants of undermining their agenda through the "deep state." They sought to curtail career employees' workplace protections, sought to severely c.....»»
Measuring nanocomposite structures with neutron and X-ray scattering
Experiments with state-of-the-art scattering instruments reveal an absence of specific patterns in the X-rays scattered by nanocomposite materials. With the help of advanced simulation techniques, a new study suggests that attractive interactions bet.....»»
New XRISM satellite mission to study "rainbow" of X-rays
A new satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, pronounced "crism") aims to pry apart high-energy light into the equivalent of an X-ray rainbow. The mission, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), will do this using a.....»»
Exploring the ingenious science and science fiction of making things invisible
Greg Gbur chats about his book Invisibility: The History and Science of How Not to be Seen. Enlarge / H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man inspired a 1933 film. It's just one cultural example of the human fascination with invisibility......»»
X-rays reveal hidden “first drafts” of ancient Egyptian paintings at Theban Necropolis
Finds include hidden third "ghost hand," alterations to a crown in Ramesses II portrait Enlarge / Portrait of Ramesses II in Nakhtamun tomb, Chief of the Altar in the Ramesseum (possibly 20th Dynasty, circa 1100 BCE). (credit: M.....»»
Exploring the moral foundations of hate speech
Moral values such as purity and loyalty are often linked with hateful language, according to a study published in PNAS Nexus. Scholars in the field of natural language processing (NLP) have, in recent years, focused on improving the automated detecti.....»»
An Astrobiologist’s Search for Life in Space—and Meaning on Earth
In Life on Other Planets, Aomawa Shields talks about her hunt for habitable exoplanets as a classically trained actress and one of the few Black women in astronomy......»»
Machine learning enhances X-ray imaging of nanotextures
Using a combination of high-powered X-rays, phase-retrieval algorithms and machine learning, Cornell researchers revealed the intricate nanotextures in thin-film materials, offering scientists a new, streamlined approach to analyzing potential candid.....»»
Light supergiant reveals a missing evolutionary stage
Dr. Varsha Ramachandran from the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH) and her colleagues uncovered the first "stripped" star of intermediate-mass. This discovery marks a missing link in our picture of stellar evolution toward systems w.....»»