A 50-year theoretical process to extract energy from a spinning black hole finally has experimental verification. Using an analogue of the required components, physicists have shown that the Penrose process is indeed a plausible mechanism for extracting some of that rotational energy, if we could ever develop the means. That …
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The current pandemic not only affects humans, it also affects wildlife. As the world closes in to prevent further spread of the devastating coronavirus, suddenly there are far fewer cars on the road, planes in the sky, and ships in the water. And nature surely has noticed. Recently, cougars have …
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The murder of Julius Caesar in 44 a. C. caused a power struggle of almost two decades that led to the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. Historical records say the period was marked by strange sightings in the sky, unusually cold weather, and …
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The Moon may be Earth’s closest cosmic neighbor, and the only extraterrestrial body humans have ever trod on, but there are many things we don’t understand. And one of the biggest mysteries is why its two sides are so significantly different. The researchers have proposed a possible new explanation, backed …
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Image of a spiral galaxy. You are probably imagining something like Messier 34: long, spiral arms that move away from a brilliantly bright center, dotted with sparkling star clusters and dotted with dark streaks of dust. But from our point of view, galaxies can be oriented in any way, including …
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