[ad_1] The team used an in-between galaxy to get clear images of quasars consisting of the black holes, with Chandra offering a sharp-enough image to separate the multiple images that resulted from the lensing effect. From there, microlensing (in this case, magnification using individual stars from the galaxy) helped detect the spin in question. The […]
Category: Science
Scientists store data inside molecules that drive your metabolism
[ad_1] The researchers have used this method to store images of an anchor, an Egyptian cat and an ibex. They could retrieve the data with about 99 percent accuracy. That’s not where you’d want it to be (imagine if one percent of your phone’s data was corrupt), but it certainly shows that the idea works. […]
Aircraft lands itself truly autonomously for the first time
[ad_1] The technology uses GPS to navigate, but allies that with both visible light and infrared cameras to spot the runway and obtain an accurate sense of its position even when fog or rain hurts visibility. From there, the aircraft can calculate a glide path and otherwise touch down all on its own. The project […]
AI can simulate quantum systems without massive computing power
[ad_1] It’s difficult to simulate quantum physics, as the computing demand grows exponentially the more complex the quantum system gets — even a supercomputer might not be enough. AI might come to the rescue, though. Researchers have developed a computational method that uses neural networks to simulate quantum systems of “considerable” size, no matter what […]
Social media is revolutionizing how scientists interact with the public
[ad_1] “It was right after the election and I noticed that there was all this energy in the community, thinking about how we could better communicate our science to the public,” University of Connecticut PhD student Sarah McAnulty told Engadget. “I thought we needed some way to engage scientists, in a low time-commitment, high-impact, kind […]
Tiny ‘walking’ motor could help robots build other robots
[ad_1] It’s powerful, too. The initial design can lift seven times its own weight, but you can add more components for extra strength or to handle complex movements. And notably, you can scale the size of the parts to tackle very large or very tiny projects. Until now, you typically needed specialized methods to make […]
NASA’s TESS spacecraft discovers its smallest exoplanet to date
[ad_1] TESS spotted the planets by using transits (regular dips in the star’s brightness caused by passing planets). You might get more information soon, at least. TESS completes its first year of studies in July, and that could be enough to both collect more detail about the known planets and possibly spot more. This isn’t […]
NASA reopens Apollo mission control in time for Moon landing anniversary
[ad_1] The restoration team went out of its way to source authentic material, whether it was wallpaper from the Johnson Space Center or material sourced from eBay. Thankfully, you’re not limited to gazing from afar. Public tours of Apollo mission control will start on July 1st, 19 days before the Moon landing milestone. There’s certainly […]
Curiosity rover finds gas levels on Mars hinting at possibility of life
[ad_1] Just what would produce the methane isn’t clear. It could represent recent or even current microbial life (possibly underground), but it could also geothermal reactions or ages-old methane finally escaping to the surface. The one certainty is that any gas will have appeared relatively recently — reactions with sunlight and chemicals would split the […]
Decades of spy satellite images help track melting Himalayan glaciers
[ad_1] The team also collected historical temperature data to identify any correlations. As for the findings themselves? They don’t look good. Scientists found that the rate of glacier loss between 2000 and 2016, 20 inches per year, was double what it was between 1975 and 2000. And while factors like precipitation and soot (which hastens […]