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“This is one of the only triple systems where we can tell a story this detailed about how it evolved,” said Dr. Emily Leiner.

What can fast-spinning stars known as “blue lurkers” teach us about star formation and evolution? This is what a recent study being presented at the 245th American Astronomical Society meeting hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated the potential processes responsible for how an unusually fast-spinning blue lurker-white dwarf star within the open star cluster M67 could have evolved into what we see today. This study has the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of stars throughout the cosmos and what mysterious behavior they can exhibit.

Located approximately 2,800 light-years from Earth, M67 is estimated to be between 3.2 and 5 billion years old. While the exact number of stars within M67 remains up for debate, astronomers used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to identify this blue lurker as being part of a triple star system with the appearance of our Sun. However, it’s the unique spin rate of this star that grabbed the attention of astronomers, who postulate that it gathered material from one of the two other stars, resulting in a spin rate of four days. For context, Sun-like stars typically take approximately 30 days to complete one orbit.

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How can computer models help medical professionals combat antibiotic resistance? This is what a recent study published in PLOS Biology hopes to address as a team of researchers from the University of Virginia (UVA) developed computer models that can be used to target specific genes in bacteria to combat antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria. This study has the potential to help scientists, medical professionals, and the public better understand innovative methods that can be used to combat AMR with bacterial diseases constantly posing a risk to global human health.

For the study, the researchers used computer models to produce an assemblage of genome-scale metabolic network reconstructions (GENREs) diseases to identify key genes in stomach diseases that can be targeted with antibiotics to circumvent AMR in these bacterial diseases. The researchers validated their findings with laboratory experiments involving microbial samples and found that a specific gene was responsible for producing stomach diseases, thus strengthening the argument for using targeted antibiotics to combat AMR.

“Using our computer models we found that the bacteria living in the stomach had unique properties,” said Emma Glass, who is a PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering at UVA and lead author of the study. “These properties can be used to guide design of targeted antibiotics, which could hopefully one day slow the emergence of resistant infections.”

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How will NASA conduct its Mars Sample Return (MSR) Program? This is what the renowned space agency recently discussed as it unveiled two potential landing options for MSR with the goal of determining a final option during the second half of 2026. This comes after NASA tasked a Mars Sample Return Strategic Review team to evaluate 11 proposals in September 2024 for returning samples from Mars to Earth while achieving cost-effectiveness while maximizing mission success.

Both options still call for loading the 30 sample tubes that have been collected and dropped across the Martian surface by NASA’s Perseverance rover during its trek on Mars. However, the Mars Ascent Vehicle, which will lift off from the Martian surface and deliver the samples to the orbiting capsule, will be smaller than previous designs. Additionally, past designs of the landed platform called for solar panels for energy, whereas new designs will incorporate a radioisotope power system for energy needs.

“Pursuing two potential paths forward will ensure that NASA is able to bring these samples back from Mars with significant cost and schedule saving compared to the previous plan,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “These samples have the potential to change the way we understand Mars, our universe, and – ultimately – ourselves. I’d like to thank the team at NASA and the strategic review team, led by Dr. Maria Zuber, for their work.”

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“The detected CO2 signal from the first study is tiny, and so it required careful statistical analysis to ensure that it is real,” said Dr. Kazumasa Ohno.

Can exoplanets have metal-rich atmospheres? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated a new type of exoplanet that continues to display differences from planets within our own solar system. This study has the potential to help researchers use new methods for characterizing exoplanets while gaining greater insight into planetary formation and evolution throughout the universe.

For the study, which was led by Dr. Everett Schlawin from the University of Arizona, the researchers used data obtained from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to analyze the atmosphere of GJ 1,214 b, which was discovered in 2009, located approximately 48 light-years from Earth, and has long been hypothesized to be a Neptune-like exoplanet. However, this recent data reveals the atmosphere of GJ 1,214 b contains a metal-rich atmosphere, also known as high metallicity, along with high amounts of hazes, indicating a high carbon dioxide (CO2) content. This suggests that instead of a Neptune-like exoplanet, that GJ 1,214 b is more of a super-Venus exoplanet, which is astounding since its orbital period is only 1.6 days, whereas the orbital period of Venus is 225 days.

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Key Points and Summary: NASA’s X-43A hypersonic research aircraft made history in 2004 by reaching Mach 9.64, or 6,363 mph, at an altitude of 110,000 feet.-Powered by a cutting-edge scramjet engine, the X-43A demonstrated the efficiency of air-breathing propulsion for hypersonic flight.-Developed as part of NASA’s “better, faster, cheaper” program, the X-43A was […].

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It’s expected that the technology will tackle myriad problems that were once deemed impractical or even impossible to solve. Quantum computing promises huge leaps forward for fields spanning drug discovery and materials development to financial forecasting.

But just as exciting as quantum computing’s future are the breakthroughs already being made today in quantum hardware, error correction and algorithms.

NVIDIA is celebrating and exploring this remarkable progress in quantum computing by announcing its first Quantum Day at GTC 2025 on Thursday, March 20. This new focus area brings together leading experts for a comprehensive and balanced perspective on what businesses should expect from quantum computing in the coming decades — mapping the path toward useful quantum applications.

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Astronomers have long sought to find the origin of the building blocks of life, and how elements like carbon, which are essential for life, spread across the universe.

Recent findings using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have unveiled a fascinating process in action.

In the Milky Way, 5,000 light-years away, two massive stars in the Wolf-Rayet 140 system are spewing out massive amounts of carbon-rich dust.

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