Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) found quasi-periodic flickers in millimeter-waves from the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. The team interpreted these blinks to be due to the rotation of radio spots circling the supermassive black hole with an orbit radius smaller than that of Mercury. This is an interesting clue to investigate space-time with extreme…
Tag: clue
Learn to recognize the wildlife out your window
With careful observation, you can start to recognize a particular squirrel, or that certain cardinal pair that hangs out on your feeder. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/learn-to-recognize-individual-birds-wildlife…
Scientists find another clue to explain unconventional superconductivity
Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have successfully performed measurements of an iron-based superconductor in an important but difficult-to-reach regime where critical quantum fluctuations dominate the physics. Using a new sensing technique, they accurately mapped quantum phase transition—a phenomenon that is theorized to be closely coupled to superconductivity—deep inside the superconducting state. …
Are giant magnetic bubbles depleting Uranus’ atmosphere?
Researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, looking at old data from Voyager 2, have found evidence that plasmoids are slowly causing Uranus’ atmosphere to leak into space. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/uranus-atmosphere-plasmoids-voyager-2…
Ad Firms Are Exploring Deepfaked Commercials
“With the pandemic having shut down production, companies are asking ad agencies to create commercials made up of digitally altered footage,” reports the New York Times, citing a State Farm commercial that aired during an ESPN documentary starring the anchor of “SportsCenter,” Kenny Mayne:
The producers made the commercial by layering video of Mr. Mayne’s 60-year-old mouth onto footage of his 38-year-old…
Arizona meteorite fall points researchers to source of LL chondrites
The Dishchii’bikoh meteorite fall in the White Mountain Apache reservation in central Arizona has given scientists a big clue to finding out where so-called LL chondrites call home. They report their results in the April 14 issue of Meteoritics and Planetary Science. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-04-arizona-meteorite-fall-source-ll.html…
Ripples on Pluto hint at subsurface ocean
A new study of unusual ripples on Pluto’s far side add to the evidence for a subsurface ocean on this distant and cold dwarf planet. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/pluto-subsurface-ocean-new-horizons…
Researchers provide new clue to solar coronal heating problem
Coronal heating is a topic dedicated to explaining how the corona may be heated up to a temperature of millions of degrees, far above that of the photosphere. To transport magnetic energy into the corona, Alfvén-wave turbulence is a promising candidate. However, how the wave is generated in the corona is still an open question. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-04-clue-solar-coronal-problem.html…
What’s cool about Curiosity’s discovery of organic molecules on Mars
The Curiosity rover has found organic molecules called thiophenes, which, on Earth, are associated with biological systems. Are they evidence for once-living microbes on Mars? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/thiophenes-organic-molecules-curiosity-rover-mars-life…
New clue found in the hunt for dark matter
Scientists may have finally determined what might be behind this mysterious, invisible form of matter. The precise nature of dark matter and dark ener… Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/335170/new-clue-found-in-the-hunt-for-dark-matter…