What is a quasar?

A quasar is an extremely bright and distant point-like source visible to radio telescopes. The source is a so-called Active Galactic Nucleus, fueled by a supermassive black hole. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-quasar…

Meet Elizabeth Ann, the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret

Her birth represents the first cloning of an endangered species native to North America, and may bring needed genetic diversity to the species. From a report: Last year, Ben Novak drove across the country to spend New Year’s Eve with a black-footed ferret. Elizabeth Ann had just turned 21 days old — surely a milestone for any ferret but a particularly…

Watch giant pandas frolic in the snow

Watch giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian sliding and rolling around in snow in their habitat at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington in this video. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/watch-giant-pandas-frolic-in-snow-national-zoo-video…

Hackers Threaten To Leak Plastic Surgery Pictures

Hackers have stolen the data of a large cosmetic surgery chain and are threatening to publish patients’ before and after photos, among other details. From a report: The Hospital Group, which has a long list of celebrity endorsements, has confirmed the ransomware attack. It said it had informed the Information Commissioner of the breach. On its darknet webpage, the hacker group…

Major quantum computational breakthrough is shaking up physics and maths

MIP* = RE is not a typo. It is a groundbreaking discovery and the catchy title of a recent paper in the field of quantum complexity theory. Complexity theory is a zoo of “complexity classes”—collections of computational problems—of which MIP* and RE are but two. …

Physicists say they’ve found a ‘tetraquark’

On July 1, scientists announced the discovery of a new exotic particle – a so-called “tetraquark” – a finding that marks a major breakthrough in a search of almost 20 years, carried out in particle physics labs all over the world. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/cern-physicists-discovery-new-particle-tetraquark…