For the first time, pressure more than 100 times found in the Earth’s core has been generated in a lab, setting a new record. Using the highest energy laser system in the world, physicists have subjected short solid hydrocarbon samples to pressures up to 450 megabars, which means 450 million …
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There’s a lot going on in the center of our galaxy. The core of the Milky Way is home to a supermassive black hole as massive as 4 million Suns named Sagittarius A *, and the surrounding environment is intense. Blowing from this region is a nuclear galactic wind. It …
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In 1604, a white dwarf star went supernova. This is very normal behavior for a white dwarf star; but this one, at a distance of just 20,000 light-years from Earth, was visible to the naked eye, and documented by astronomers around the world, including the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. Kepler’s …
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About 15,000 light-years away, an active black hole periodically appears to illuminate another unremarkable cloud of gas with gamma rays. But there is a catch. The gas cloud is about 100 light-years from the black hole – and just how the cloud pulsates with it in time is a mystery. …
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The benefits of wearing face masks to support the spread of COVID-19 are now well understood, but scientists are still looking for better materials to use – and a ‘filter paper’ made of titanium oxide nanowires shows much promise. The new material is so good at capturing pathogens, and destroying …
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