Space

Cambridge, MA — An international team of astronomers, including researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, has spotted the most distant astronomical object ever: a galaxy. Named HD1, the galaxy candidate is some 13.5 billion light-years away and is described Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal. In an accompanying paper published in the Monthly Notices of […]

Santa Cruz, CA — If life is abundant in the universe, atmospheric methane may be the first sign of life beyond Earth detectable by astronomers. Although nonbiological processes can generate methane, a new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz establishes a set of circumstances in which a persuasive case could be made for biological […]

Leiden, The Netherlands — Using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands have for the first time detected dimethyl ether in a planet-forming disc. With nine atoms, this is the largest molecule identified in such a disc to date. It is also a precursor of larger organic […]

Chicago, IL — Astronomers are one step closer to revealing the properties of dark matter enveloping our Milky Way galaxy, thanks to a new map of twelve streams of stars orbiting within our galactic halo. Understanding these star streams is very important for astronomers. As well as revealing the dark matter that holds the stars […]

Paris, France — 98.5% of the Sun is made up of two light chemical elements, hydrogen and helium, while the remaining 1.5% consists of other heavier elements such as carbon, oxygen, and iron. The abundance of these heavier elements in a star is called its ‘metallicity’, and varies from star to star. It now turns […]

Charlottesville, VA — Water has been detected in the most massive galaxy in the early Universe, according to new observations from the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA). Scientists studying SPT0311-58 found H20, along with carbon monoxide in the galaxy, which is located nearly 12.88 billion light years from Earth. Detection of these two molecules in […]

Tallahassee, FL — As humanity continues its exploration of the universe, the low-gravity environment of space presents unusual challenges for scientists and engineers. Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have developed a new tool to help meet that challenge — a novel design for […]

Washington, DC — Space missions, such as NASA’s Orion that will take astronauts to Mars, are pushing the limits of human exploration. But during their transit, spacecrafts encounter a continuous stream of damaging cosmic radiation, which can harm or even destroy onboard electronics. To extend future missions, researchers reporting in ACS Nano show that transistors […]

Innsbruck, Austria — Interstellar clouds are the birthplaces of new stars, but they also play an important role in the origins of life in the Universe through regions of dust and gas in which chemical compounds form. The research group, molecular systems, led by ERC prize winner Roland Wester at the Institute for ion physics […]

Pittsburgh, PA — A universe evolves over billions upon billions of years, but researchers have developed a way to create a complex simulated universe in less than a day. The technique, published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brings together machine learning, high-performance computing and astrophysics and will help to usher in […]

Göteborg, Sweden — A microcomb is a photonic device capable of generating a myriad of optical frequencies – colours – on a tiny cavity known as microresonator. These colours are uniformly distributed so the microcomb behaves like a ‘ruler made of light’. The device can be used to measure or generate frequencies with extreme precision. […]

Riverside, CA — New research reveals an essential step in scientists’ quest to create targeted, more eco-friendly fungicides that protect food crops.  Scientists have known for decades that biological cells manufacture tiny, round structures called extracellular vesicles. However, their pivotal roles in communication between invading microorganisms and their hosts were recognized only recently.  UC Riverside […]