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Dec 26, 2018

Runners-up

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics

New kinds of messengers from the distant universe are joining the photons collected by telescopes—and revealing what light can’t show. So-called multimessenger astrophysics got started with high-speed particles called cosmic rays and gravitational waves, the ripples in space-time first detected in 2015 that Science named Breakthrough of the Year in 2016. This year, another messenger has joined the party: neutrinos, tiny, almost massless particles that are extraordinarily hard to detect.

Snaring one of these extra-galactic will-o’-the-wisps took a cubic kilometer of ice deep below the South Pole, festooned with light detectors to record the faint flash triggered—very rarely—by a neutrino. Known as IceCube, the massive detector has logged many neutrinos before, some from outside the Milky Way, but none had been pinned to a particular cosmic source. Then, on 22 September 2017, a neutrino collided with a nucleus in the ice, and the light sensors got a good fix on the direction it had come from.

An alert sent out to other telescopes produced, after a few days, a match. As the researchers reported in July, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope found an intensely bright source known as a blazar right where the neutrino appeared to come from. A blazar is the heart of a galaxy centered on a supermassive black hole, whose gravity heats up gas swirling around it, causing the material to glow brightly and fire jets of particles out of the maelstrom.

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Dec 26, 2018

NASA’s Hubble telescope delivers new space stunners

Posted by in category: space

See the Surfboard galaxy and gorgeous star clusters glow in 12 new NASA Hubble telescope images showing astronomical objects from the Messier catalog.

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Dec 25, 2018

What If Humans Could Hibernate?

Posted by in category: futurism

What’s the longest you’ve ever slept?

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Dec 25, 2018

A desert explosion helps scientists plan earthquake-detecting balloons on Venus

Posted by in category: space

Balloons that pick up sounds from artificial earthquakes could one day explore Venus.

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Dec 25, 2018

In Space, Astronaut Anne McClain Draws on Rugby, US Army Experience for Super-Productivity

Posted by in category: space

Here’s why astronaut Anne McClain is so productive on the ground and in space.

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Dec 25, 2018

US SpaceX First National Security Mission

Posted by in categories: security, space travel

SpaceX continues making news in 2018. The company first broke its own record from 2017 when it passed 18 launches in year. On Sunday, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX launched another record-setting rocket… this one for U.S. national security. Arash Arabasadi reports.

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Dec 25, 2018

Merry Christmas

Posted by in category: space

This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of a bipolar star-forming region reminds us of a soaring, celestial snow angel. The outstretched “wings” aren’t snow at all, but are actually twin lobes of super-hot gas: https://go.nasa.gov/2EFQMFh

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Dec 25, 2018

Unwrapped a new device?

Posted by in category: space

We’ve got lots of FREE eBooks and apps ready for you to download! Add some space to your life:

EBooks: https://go.nasa.gov/2EFZ2or Apps: https://go.nasa.gov/2EHwjj4

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Dec 25, 2018

Mathematicians Disprove Conjecture Made to Save Black Holes

Posted by in categories: cosmology, mathematics, physics

‘’As a result, it’s nonsensical to ask what happens to space-time beyond the Cauchy horizon because space-time, as it’s regarded within the theory of general relativity, no longer exists. “This gives one a way out of this philosophical conundrum,” said Dafermos.


Mathematicians have disproved the strong cosmic censorship conjecture. Their work answers one of the most important questions in the study of general relativity and changes the way we think about space-time.

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Dec 25, 2018

Could We Be Outgrowing the Scientific Method?

Posted by in category: physics

Do all scientific theories require evidence? Some disciplines, like physics, might be outgrowing the scientific method.

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