ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

How many black holes are out there in the Universe? A new study has investigated the demographics of stellar mass black holes, which are black holes with masses between a few to some hundred solar masses, that originated at the end of the life of massive stars. According to the new piece of research, a remarkable amount around 1% of the overall ordinary matter of the Universe is locked up in stellar mass black holes. Astonishingly, the researchers have found that the number of black holes within the observable Universe (a sphere of diameter around 90 billions light years) at present time is about 40 trillions, 40 billion billions (i.e., about 40 x 1018, i.e. 4 followed by 19 zeros!).

Researchers have achieved a key milestone toward the development of a fault-tolerant quantum computer. They were able to demonstrate a two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.5 percent -- higher than the 99 percent considered to be the threshold for building fault-tolerant computers -- using electron spin qubits in silicon, which are promising for large-scale quantum computers as the nanofabrication technology for building them already exists.

A scientist recently set out to prove that the tiny, innermost moon of Saturn was a frozen inert satellite and instead discovered compelling evidence that Mimas has a liquid internal ocean. In the waning days of NASA's Cassini mission, the spacecraft identified a curious libration, or oscillation, in the moon's rotation, which often points to a geologically active body able to support an internal ocean.

Engineers have discovered that they can actually move deep water and create upward fountains by shining laser beams on the water's surface. The finding, credited to the Marangoni effect, has potential to impact fluid dynamics in many applications.

It turns out sunflowers are more than just a pretty face: the ultraviolet colours of their flowers not only attract pollinators, but also help the plant regulate water loss.

NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, and since then has roamed Gale Crater taking samples and sending the results back home for researchers to interpret. Analysis of carbon isotopes in sediment samples taken from half a dozen exposed locations, including an exposed cliff, leave researchers with three plausible explanations for the carbon's origin -- cosmic dust, ultraviolet degradation of carbon dioxide, or ultraviolet degradation of biologically produced methane.