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The jet winds are moving at nearly six times the speed of the exoplanet’s rotation.

The farthest planet from the Sun, Neptune, is the windiest place in the solar system, with winds that whip through at speeds reaching more than 0.3 miles per second (0.5 kilometers per second). That’s a relatively pleasant wind speed compared to a giant, puffy planet located around 500 lightyears away from Earth.

Supersonic winds on this exoplanet, designated WASP-127b, travel at a mind-bending 5.5 miles per second (9 kilometers per second). The speed of sound on Earth is roughly 0.21 miles per second (0.34 km/sec), making these winds supersonic by our terrestrial standards. The recently discovered extraterrestrial jet stream is the fastest ever measured on a planet, providing new insight into extreme weather that pummel other worlds.

PRESS RELEASE — Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $71 million in funding for 25 projects in high energy physics that will use the emerging technologies of quantum information science to answer fundamental questions about the universe.

This research will develop and deploy innovative solutions for scientific discovery by applying the unique capabilities and features of the quantum world to the challenges of making new discoveries in fundamental physics. Awards funded under this program will advance theories of gravity and spacetime, develop quantum sensors that can see previously undetectable signals, and build pathfinder experiments to demonstrate increased discovery reach in searches for dark matter and other new particles and phenomena.

“Quantum information science is opening up new ways for us to understand and explore the universe,” said Regina Rameika, DOE Associate Director of Science for High Energy Physics. “With these projects, we are supporting scientists in developing quantum technologies that will empower the next generation of theory and experiment in high energy physics.”

Seismic imaging has revealed two colossal regions deep within Earth’s mantle that could reshape our understanding of the planet’s composition and history. These continent-sized anomalies, known as large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs), lie near the core, beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean.

LLVPs are notable for their unusual makeup and their ability to slow seismic waves, making them mysterious features of Earth’s interior.

Their origins have long baffled geologists, but a groundbreaking study has introduced a bold hypothesis: these subterranean giants might be remnants of Theia, a lost planet that collided with Earth billions of years ago.

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Up until last week, physicists believed that matter is made up of only two types of particles: those whose spin has full-integer values (bosons) and those whose spin comes has half-integer values (fermions). But in a new paper, a group of researchers turned the world of physics upside down by mathematically proving that a third type of particles – the “paraparticles” are possible.

Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158

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