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Feb 2, 2024

Astronomers Make Historic Discovery: Oldest Black Hole Ever Observed Detected

Posted by in category: cosmology

The young host galaxy, called GN-z11, glows from such an energetic black hole at its centre. Black holes cannot be directly observed, but instead they are detected by the tell-tale glow of a swirling accretion disc, which forms near the edges of a black hole. The gas in the accretion disc becomes extremely hot and starts to glow and radiate energy in the ultraviolet range. This strong glow is how astronomers are able to detect black holes.

GN-z11 is a compact galaxy, about one hundred times smaller than the Milky Way, but the black hole is likely harming its development. When black holes consume too much gas, it pushes the gas away like an ultra-fast wind. This ‘wind’ could stop the process of star formation, slowly killing the galaxy, but it will also kill the black hole itself, as it would also cut off the black hole’s source of ‘food’

Maiolino says that the gigantic leap forward provided by JWST makes this the most exciting time in his career. “It’s a new era: the giant leap in sensitivity, especially in the infrared, is like upgrading from Galileo’s telescope to a modern telescope overnight,” he said. “Before Webb came online, I thought maybe the universe isn’t so interesting when you go beyond what we could see with the Hubble Space Telescope. But that hasn’t been the case at all: the universe has been quite generous in what it’s showing us, and this is just the beginning.”

Feb 2, 2024

NASA Europa Clipper is Packed Up for its Trip to Jupiter

Posted by in categories: mapping, space

A mission more than a decade in the making, NASA’s Europa Clipper is slated to greatly expand our understanding of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, including whether it could support life. These findings will be conducted by a suite of powerful instruments contributed by a myriad of academic and research institutions across the United States. Recently, NASA JPL finished installing all these instruments on the pioneering spacecraft, bringing it one major step closer to its launch, which is currently scheduled for October of this year.

“The instruments work together hand in hand to answer our most pressing questions about Europa,” said Dr. Robert Pappalardo, who is the project scientist on Europa Clipper. “We will learn what makes Europa tick, from its core and rocky interior to its ocean and ice shell to its very thin atmosphere and the surrounding space environment.”

The nine instruments that will be responsible for accomplishing the fantastic science during the mission include the Europa Imaging System (EIS), Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS), Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM), Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS), Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON), MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX), SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA).

Feb 2, 2024

Unveiling the Power of Air in Revolutionary “Plasmonic Black Gold” Catalysis

Posted by in categories: innovation, sustainability

A breakthrough plasmonic catalyst, stable in air, revolutionizes acetylene semi-hydrogenation, marking a significant advance in sustainable catalysis.

In a significant breakthrough, Prof. Polshettiwar’s group at TIFR, Mumbai has developed a novel “Plasmonic Reduction Catalyst Stable in Air,” defying the common instability of reduction catalysts in the presence of air. The catalyst merges platinum-doped ruthenium clusters, with ‘plasmonic black gold’. This black gold efficiently harvests visible light and generates numerous hot spots due to plasmonic coupling, enhancing its catalytic performance.

Superior Performance in Semi-Hydrogenation.

Feb 2, 2024

Researchers develop algorithm that crunches eye-movement data of screen users

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

Window to the soul? Maybe, but the eyes are also a flashing neon sign for a new artificial intelligence-based system that can read them to predict what you’ll do next.

A University of Maryland researcher and two colleagues have used and a new deep-learning AI to predict study participants’ choices while they viewed a comparison website with rows and columns of products and their features.

The algorithm, known as RETINA (Raw Eye Tracking and Image Ncoder Architecture), could accurately zero in on selections before people had even made their decisions.

Feb 2, 2024

Brain Connection Maps Help Boost Neuromorphic Chips

Posted by in categories: computing, mapping, neuroscience

“Connectomes” among species provide chip-design inspiration.

Feb 2, 2024

Largest Ever Map Of The High-Energy Sources In The Universe Released

Posted by in categories: energy, space

New telescope detects more sources in six months than in the 60-year history of X-ray astronomy.

Feb 2, 2024

Sub-Wavelength Light Confinement Demonstrated in New III-V Semiconductor Nanocavity

Posted by in categories: computing, nanotechnology, quantum physics

New nanocavities pave the way for enhanced nanoscale lasers and LEDs that could enable faster data transmission using smaller, more energy-efficient devices.

As we transition to a new era in computing, there is a need for new devices that integrate electronic and photonic functionalities at the nanoscale while enhancing the interaction between photons and electrons. In an important step toward fulfilling this need, researchers have developed a new III-V semiconductor nanocavity that confines light at levels below the so-called diffraction limit.

“Nanocavities with ultrasmall mode volumes hold great promise for improving a wide range of photonic devices and technologies, from lasers and LEDs to quantum communication and sensing, while also opening up possibilities in emerging fields such as quantum computing,” said the leading author Meng Xiong from the Technical University of Denmark. “For example, light sources based on these nanocavities could significantly improve communication by enabling faster data transmission and strongly reduced energy consumption.

Feb 2, 2024

YOLO World by stevengrove

Posted by in category: futurism

Tencent releases

Real-Time Open-Vocabulary Object Detection


Discover amazing ML apps made by the community.

Feb 2, 2024

GeoMindGPT: Navigating the Convergence of Human and Artificial Minds in the Cybernetic Era

Posted by in categories: quantum physics, robotics/AI, singularity, transhumanism

GeoMindGPT, a customized version of ChatGPT, powered by GPT-4, is p ioneering the frontier of AI-assisted understanding of complex scientific and philosophical concepts with a special focus on Global Superintelligence, Technological Singularity, Transhumanism & Posthumanism, Consciousness Studies, Quantum Gravity, Simulation Metaphysics.

Feb 2, 2024

“Ghostly” neutrinos help us see our Milky Way as never before

Posted by in categories: particle physics, space

A unique photograph of the Milky Way galaxy was captured using the IceCube detector, which observes high-energy neutrinos from space.