Amaris McCarver, an intern at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Remote Sensing Division, and a team of astronomers have discovered a rapidly spinning neutron star that is beaming radiation across the universe like a cosmic lighthouse. The rapidly spinning neutron star, or “pulsar,” is located in the dense star cluster Glimpse-CO1, which lies in … Read more
NASA’s Viking was the first American spacecraft to land on Mars, sending back images of craters, massive volcanoes and giant canyons from its surface. In the 1970s, NASA launched two identical robots — Viking 1 and Viking 2, each equipped with landers and orbiters — to the Red Planet. After the mission, NASA reported that … Read more
Enlarge / The Milky Way’s central black hole is in a very crowded environment. Supermassive black holes are voracious. Clumps of dust and gas are often disrupted by turbulence and radiation when they get pulled too close. So why are some of them orbiting the edge of the Milky Way’s own supermassive monster, Sgr A*? … Read more
Resume: Researchers have identified a key mechanism that senses when the brain needs an energy boost, involving astrocytes and the molecule adenosine. The discovery could lead to new therapies to maintain brain health and longevity, particularly in the fight against cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. The study found that astrocytes monitor neuronal activity and activate … Read more
Geologists exploring the vast West Antarctic ice sheet have discovered the remains of an ancient river system that once stretched nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers). The discovery offers a glimpse into Earth’s history and hints at how extreme climate change could reshape the planet, according to their findings published June 5 in the journal Science … Read more
A beautiful new wonderland has been discovered, hidden deep beneath the ocean waves of the Arctic Circle. Off the coast of Svalbard, Norway, a field of hydrothermal vents unfolds more than 3,000 meters deep along the Knipovich Ridge, an underwater mountain range previously considered fairly inconspicuous. Instead, like underfloor heating, the volcanic activity beneath the … Read more
This infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was taken by the Near-Infrared Camera for the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey program – Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CfA) For two years, an international team has been studying what astronomers call … Read more
Researchers investigated three mysterious objects in the early universe. Shown here are their color images, compiled from three NIRCam filter bands aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. They are remarkably compact at red wavelengths (giving them the name “little red dots”), with some evidence of spatial structure at blue wavelengths. Credit: Bingjie Wang/Penn State; JWST/NIRSpec. … Read more
The temperature reading at the outlet of the black smoker showed fluid temperatures in excess of 300°C. Credit: University of Bremen Hydrothermal vents are found all over the world at the intersections of floating tectonic plates. But there are still many hydrothermal fields yet to be discovered. During a 2022 MARIA S. MERIAN expedition, the … Read more
The monster black hole The center of our Milky Way can unleash huge, gaseous explosions – and now astronomers think they’ve found the exact spot where that superheated gas flows into the Milky Way. Acting as a giant exhaust vent, the newly discovered feature is a bright region of X-ray energy located nearly 700 light-years … Read more