Dragonfish teeth owe translucence to nanoscale structures Nanoscale structures make the teeth of deep-sea dragonfish translucent so they’re invisible to prey. The sharp, thin teeth are obscured in the dragonfish’s mouths due to the way the nanostructures minimize the scattering of light. Science News 10M-light-year-long magnetic field detected between galaxy clusters Two galaxy clusters appear […]
CO 2 used as water alternative in fracking experiment Researchers in China have used carbon dioxide instead of water in a fracking process that could potentially be more environmentally friendly. CO2 was used in five wells drilled in a Chinese oilfield, producing as much as 20 times more oil than the water method, researchers said […]
Galaxy collisions can sometimes eject supermassive black holes Researchers are on the lookout for supermassive black holes that ended up off-center or got kicked out of their galaxies completely when galaxies merged. The European Space Agency’s launch of its Laser Interferometer Space Antenna in about 15 years could help identify displaced black holes and help […]
Brain responds to rocking during sleep with improved memory A rocking motion may help people sleep better and improve their memory by influencing their brains’ sleep oscillations. “Our volunteers — even if they were all good sleepers — fell asleep more rapidly when rocked and had longer periods of deeper sleep associated with fewer arousals […]
Astronomers may have observed black hole’s birth A strange blast approximately 200 million light-years away may have been the birth of a black hole. Astronomers first thought the blast, dubbed “The Cow” because its official name is AT2018cow, was from a black hole consuming a white dwarf, but “further observations of other wavelengths across the […]
Hidden companion likely stole material from star A close celestial companion of some kind likely siphoned off the mass of a star before it exploded into an unusual supernova, ejecting very little material. “We call this an ultrastripped envelope supernova,” said Mansi Kasliwal of the California Institute of Technology, adding that the observation is “the […]
After all those big discoveries of the latest years (LIGO’s gravitational waves, or NASA’s TRAPPIST system, for example) I felt the need to explain how normal everyday astrophysics is dealt with. To explain the little things behind any discovery, and the scientific journey between seeing something odd in the sky and explaining it with science […]
HIV treatment’s effectiveness affected by type of bacteria in vagina Unhealthy bacteria colonies in the vagina may hinder the effectiveness of tenofovir, a drug used in gel form to prevent HIV infection. “We went from 60% protection if you have good Lactobacillus to 18% — really no protection at all — if you have bad […]
In September 2015 a new scientific field was born. Two colossal experiment confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, measuring the ripple of space-time induced by two very distant black holes merging in a cataclysmic display of gravity waves and radiation . Gravitational wave astronomy was born then, much like neutrino astronomy was born with the […]
Experiment hopes to shine intense light on hydrogen fuel production Nearly 150 powerful lamps that together produce light more intense than natural sunlight are the focus of the Synlight experiment in Germany that scientists hope can help create hydrogen fuel. Researchers suspect that, with the right setup, the “artificial sun” can create a reaction that […]