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Category: space – Page 361

A simple solution for nuclear matter in two dimensions

Understanding the behavior of nuclear matter—including the quarks and gluons that make up the protons and neutrons of atomic nuclei—is extremely complicated. This is particularly true in our world, which is three dimensional. Mathematical techniques from condensed matter physics that consider interactions in just one spatial dimension (plus time) greatly simplify the challenge.

Using this two-dimensional approach, scientists solved the complex equations that describe how low-energy excitations ripple through a system of dense nuclear matter. This work indicates that the center of stars, where such dense nuclear matter exists in nature, may be described by an unexpected form.

Being able to understand the quark interactions in two dimensions opens a new window into understanding neutron stars, the densest form of matter in the universe. The approach could help advance the current “golden age” for studying these exotic stars. This surge in research success was triggered by recent discoveries of gravitational waves and electromagnetic emissions in the cosmos.

White Dwarf Star Enters Its Crystallization Era, Turning Into A ‘Cosmic Diamond’

To us, stars may resemble cut jewels, glittering coldly against the velvet darkness of the night sky. And for some of them, that may actually be sort of true.

As a certain type of dead star cools, it gradually hardens and crystallizes. Astronomers have found one doing just that in our cosmic backyard, a white dwarf composed primarily of carbon and metallic oxygen just 104 light-years away, whose temperature-mass profile suggests that the center of the star is transforming into a dense, hard, ‘cosmic diamond’ made up of crystallized carbon and oxygen.

The discovery is detailed in a paper accepted into the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and available on preprint website arXiv.

Meta test puts Reels on the Quest

Reels started as Instagram’s solution for competing with TikTok and soon launched on sister-site Facebook — a natural expansion. Meta is now testing Reels on a less expected medium: the Meta Quest. Its VR headset works for internet browsing, watching movies, games and more — but the addition of typically-vertical Reels presents a different viewing experience than these more malleable (and typically screen-wide) options.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the update through a 13-second video on Meta’s Instagram Channel. It featured a Reel from influencer Austin Sprinz’s Instagram account in which he visited the world’s deepest pool. The immersive video is a good choice for VR, taking the viewer underwater into a seemingly bottomless space — and is certainly better than a cooking or dance Reel.

The Reels update comes ahead of Meta Quest 3’s fall release and follows Apple’s new AR/VR Vision Pro headset announcement. Though, with Quest 3’s pricing starting at $499, compared to the Vision Pro’s $3,499, the pair don’t exactly fall into the same category. Meta’s VR headset line first launched as Oculus Quest and subsequently Oculus Quest 2 before the second-generation model was rebranded as Meta Quest 2. The Meta Quest Pro followed soon after the name change. As for Reels, there’s no timeline for if and when it will leave the testing phase and become available across Meta Quest headsets.

Parker Solar Probe Unlocks Solar Wind Secrets for Better Space Weather Forecasts

UNITED STATES: In a remarkable scientific achievement, the Parker Solar Probe (PSP), a NASA spacecraft launched in 2018, has successfully examined the outer corona of the Sun, providing crucial insights into the fine structure of solar winds.

These groundbreaking observations hold the ability to revolutionise our ability to predict and mitigate the impact of solar flares on electronic equipment and vital systems.

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Researchers detect elusive planets with CHEOPS

With the help of the CHEOPS space telescope an international team of European astronomers managed to clearly identify the existence of four new exoplanets. The four mini-Neptunes are smaller and cooler, and more difficult to find than the so-called Hot Jupiter exoplanets which have been found in abundance. Two of the four resulting papers are led by researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Geneva who are also members of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS.

CHEOPS is a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland, under the leadership of the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva. Since its launch in December 2019, the extremely precise measurements of CHEOPS have contributed to several key discoveries in the field of exoplanets.

NCCR PlanetS members Dr. Solène Ulmer-Moll of the Universities of Bern and Geneva, and Dr. Hugh Osborn of the University of Bern, exploited the unique synergy of CHEOPS and the NASA satellite TESS, in order to detect a series of elusive exoplanets. The planets, called TOI 5,678 b and HIP 9,618 c respectively, are the size of Neptune or slightly smaller with 4.9 and 3.4 Earth radii.

Synthetic species created without biochemistry operate according to Darwinian evolutionary principles

Imagine the possibility of life forms on other planets that don’t resemble any on Earth. What might they look like, and why would they be so different?

Juan Pérez-Mercader says it may be possible and the answer may be that they developed from a different type of . For more than 10 years, the senior research fellow in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences and the Origins of Life Initiative at Harvard has studied how to produce synthetic living systems—without relying on biochemistry, or the chemistry that has enabled life on Earth.

“We have been trying to build a non-biochemical system, which unaided is capable of executing the essential properties common to all natural living systems,” Pérez-Mercader explained.

NASA awoke Voyager 1 from 14.6 billion miles away, and the spacecraft responded

Launched in 1977, NASA’s Voyager probes continue their exploration, pushing the boundaries of human understanding. Earlier this year, NASA faced an unsettling situation when Voyager 1, second of the pair to be launched, began sending back distorted communications. This sparked worries about a significant system failure in the spacecraft, now 45 years into its journey. However, NASA recently reported that it had successfully rectified the problem, which in turn has uncovered another mystery to investigate.

Voyager 1’s journey began with a “Grand Tour” of the outer planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune — enabled by a unique planetary alignment. After its journey past Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 1 outran its twin, Voyager 2, eventually becoming the first man-made object to leave the solar system in 2012.

The trouble began when NASA detected issues with the craft’s attitude articulation and control system (AACS), responsible for ensuring the probe’s antenna stays pointed towards Earth. Failure of this system could result in a permanent loss of communication with the aging explorer. While this system returned scrambled updates, the probe was still transmitting valuable data, signaling that something was amiss.

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