Astronomy
Roman soldiers defending Hadrian’s Wall had intestinal parasites
NASA Lab Completes Engine Checks on New Aircraft
Two asteroids crashed around a nearby star, solving a cosmic mystery
Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients Are Likely Large Black Holes Shredding Their Massive Companions
In 2024, astronomers discovered the brightest Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT) ever observed. LFBOTs are extremely bright flashes of blue light that shine for brief periods before fading away. New analysis of this record-breaking burst, which includes observations from the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, challenges all prior understanding of these rare explosive events.
The JWST Found A Jekyll-and-Hyde Galaxy In The Early Universe
In a glimpse of the early universe, astronomers have observed a galaxy as it appeared just 800 million years after the Big Bang – a cosmic Jekyll and Hyde that looks like any other galaxy when viewed in visible and even ultraviolet light but transforms into a cosmic beast when observed at infrared wavelengths. This object, dubbed Virgil, is forcing astronomers to reconsider their understanding of how supermassive black holes grew in the infant universe.
Closure of US institute will do immense harm to climate research
Sitting by a window may improve blood sugar levels for type 2 diabetes
Sitting by a window may improve blood sugar levels for type 2 diabetes
Using Bent Light to Map Complex Planetary Architectures
With new technologies comes new discoveries. Or so Spider Man’s Uncle Ben might have said if he was an astronomer. Or a scientist more generally - but in astronomy that saying is more true than many other disciplines, as many discoveries are entirely dependent on the technology - the telescope, imager, or processing algorithm, used to collect data on them. A new piece of technology, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, is exciting scientists enough that they are even starting to predict what kind of discoveries it might make. One such type of discovery, described in a pre-print paper on arXiv by Vito Saggese of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics and his co-authors on the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey Project Infrastructure Team, is the discovery of many more multiplantery exoplanet systems an astronomical phenomena Roman is well placed to detect - microlensing.
Jared Isaacman Confirmed to Head NASA at Pivotal Moment for the Space Agency
Billionaire Jared Isaacman is taking the reins at NASA at a challenging time for the space agency, as it faces budget cuts and technical hurdles that could scuttle its most ambitious missions
Scientists Are Baffled by This Bizarre Lemon-Shaped Exoplanet
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a bizarre-looking exoplanet that defies explanation
New Views of Saturn’s Moon Titan and Jupiter’s Moon Europa Complicate Ocean Worlds Theory
Oceans hiding within the crusts of distant moons are tantalizing targets for scientists looking for life beyond Earth
