ScienceDaily: Top Technology News

Unusual team finds gigantic planet hidden in plain sight

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 04:41 PM PST

An astronomer and a group of eagle-eyed citizen scientists have discovered a giant gas planet hidden from view by typical stargazing tools.

Copper-based chemicals may be contributing to ozone depletion

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:14 PM PST

As Earth's ozone layer recovers from past emissions of now-banned CFCs and halons, other chemicals are emerging as major causes of stratospheric ozone depletion. Atmospheric scientists have been searching for the sources of about one-third of the major threats, methyl bromide and methyl chloride. New research shows that copper-based compounds in common use generate these compounds when interacting with soil and seawater, with sunlight boosting production by a factor of 10.

Newly-found planets on the edge of destruction

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:14 PM PST

Astronomers have found three Jupiter-like exoplanets that are dangerously close to being 'swallowed up' by their host stars. The discovery gives new insight into how planetary systems evolve over time, helping to reveal the fate of solar systems like our own.

Martian meteorite’s organic materials origin not biological, formed by geochemical interactions between water and rock

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:13 PM PST

Organic molecules found in a meteorite that hurtled to Earth from Mars were synthesized during interactions between water and rocks that occurred on the Red Planet about 4 billion years ago, according to new analysis.

New insights into seasons on a planet outside our solar system

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 09:07 AM PST

Imagine being in a place where the winds are so strong that they move at the speed of sound. That's just one aspect of the atmosphere on XO-3b, one of a class of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), known as hot Jupiters. The eccentric orbit of the planet also leads to seasonal variations hundreds of times stronger than what we experience on Earth.

When water is coming from all sides

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST

Researchers have developed the first three-dimensional operational storm surge model. The model simulates compound surge and flooding -- especially hard in transition zones where the river meets the sea. Since April 2021, NOAA has run daily 2D and 3D compound flood models on the Frontera supercomputer. During Tropical Storm Claudette (June 2021), the three-dimensional, real-time storm surge model closely matched observations across the Gulf Coast.

New explanation for Moon’s half-century magnetic mystery

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST

A new study reveals how the diminutive Moon could have been an occasional magnetic powerhouse early in its history, a question that has confounded researchers since NASA's Apollo program began in the 1960s.

ALMA catches 'intruder' redhanded in rarely detected stellar flyby event

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST

Scientists made a rare detection of a likely stellar flyby event in the Z Canis Majoris (Z CMa) star system. An intruder -- not bound to the system -- object came in close proximity to and interacted with the environment surrounding the binary protostar, causing the formation of chaotic, stretched-out streams of dust and gas in the disk surrounding it.

'Slushy' magma ocean led to formation of the Moon’s crust

Posted: 13 Jan 2022 06:21 AM PST

Scientists have shown how the freezing of a 'slushy' ocean of magma may be responsible for the composition of the Moon's crust.

Machine learning for morphable materials

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 12:49 PM PST

Flat materials that can morph into three-dimensional shapes have potential applications in architecture, medicine, robotics, space travel, and much more. But programming these shape changes requires complex and time-consuming computations. Now, researchers have developed a platform that uses machine learning to program the transformation of 2D stretchable surfaces into specific 3D shapes.

Listening to the leaves: Adding bioinspired veins to foamed polymers

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 11:51 AM PST

Vascular systems found in trees transport vital nutrients from root, to branch, to leaf. In a new study, researchers have developed a chemical process to mimic this arboreal architecture in foamed polymers, enabling directional fluid transport and adding structure throughout the material.

Cosmic 'spider' found to be source of powerful gamma-rays

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 11:50 AM PST

Astronomers have discovered the first example of a binary system where a star in the process of becoming a white dwarf is orbiting a neutron star that has just finished turning into a rapidly spinning pulsar. The pair is a 'missing link' in the evolution of such binary systems.

Oxygen ions in Jupiter's innermost radiation belts

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 11:50 AM PST

Researchers find high-energy oxygen and sulfur ions in Jupiter's inner radiation belts -- and a previously unknown ion source.

Face masks cut distance airborne pathogens could travel in half, new study finds

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 09:15 AM PST

The effectiveness of face masks has been a hotly debated topic since the emergence of COVID-19. However, a new study offers more evidence that they work. Researchers found that face masks reduce the distance airborne pathogens could travel, when speaking or coughing, by more than half compared to not wearing a mask.

New theory finds upcoming satellite mission will be able to detect more than expected

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 09:15 AM PST

Researchers have theorized that in addition to the gravitational waves originating from vacuum fluctuations during inflation, a large amount of gravitational waves can be sourced by the quantum vacuum fluctuations of additional fields during inflation.

1,000-light-year wide bubble surrounding Earth is source of all nearby, young stars

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 09:15 AM PST

The Earth sits in a 1,000-light-year-wide void surrounded by thousands of young stars -- but how did those stars form? For the first time, astronomers have retraced the history of our galactic neighborhood, showing exactly how the young stars nearest to our solar system formed.

Newly discovered type of 'strange metal' could lead to deep insights

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 09:14 AM PST

A new discovery could help scientists to understand 'strange metals,' a class of materials that are related to high-temperature superconductors and share fundamental quantum attributes with black holes.

Rubber material holds key to long-lasting, safer EV batteries

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 09:14 AM PST

For electric vehicles (EVs) to become mainstream, they need cost-effective, safer, longer-lasting batteries that won't explode during use or harm the environment. Researchers may have found a promising alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries made from a common material: rubber.

Rugby ball-shaped exoplanet discovered

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 08:01 AM PST

With the help of the CHEOPS space telescope, an international team was able to detect the deformation of an exoplanet for the first time. Due to strong tidal forces, the appearance of the planet WASP-103b resembles a rugby ball rather than a sphere.

Recycling already considered in the development of new battery materials

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 07:56 AM PST

Enormous potential consists in the circular value chain of batteries. A review article on battery recycling provides an overview of the challenges of new material concepts for battery recycling and 'Design for Recycling' as a promising approach of a sustainable battery economy.

Thaw of permafrost has vast impact on built environment

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 07:56 AM PST

Permafrost has a central role in the sustainable development of the Arctic region. The thaw of permafrost is set to damage buildings and roads, leading to tens of billions of euros in additional costs in the near future, according to an international review.

Photon pairs are more sensitive to rotations than single photons

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 07:56 AM PST

Quantum states of light have enabled novel optical sensing schemes, e.g., for measuring distance or position, with precisions impossible to achieve with classical light sources such as lasers. The field of quantum metrology has now been pushed even further as a team of researchers showed that photons that are engineered to be entangled in complex spatial structures have, due to quantum phenomena, an advantage for sensing the smallest rotations. The new method allows for more precise measurement than what could be achieved by conventional means.

New evidence of a gravitational wave background

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 07:56 AM PST

The results of a comprehensive search for a background of ultra-low frequency gravitational waves has been announced by an international team of astronomers.

Black hole at center of Milky Way unpredictable and chaotic

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 06:40 AM PST

Researchers have found that the black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, not only flares irregularly from day to day but also in the long term.

Clothes dryers are an underappreciated source of airborne microfibers

Posted: 12 Jan 2022 06:39 AM PST

No one likes when their favorite clothes develop holes or unravel after many laundry cycles. But what happens to the fragments of fabric and stitching that come off? Although it's known that washing clothes releases microfibers into wastewater, it's unclear how drying impacts the environment. Now, a pilot study reports that a single dryer could discharge up to 120 million microfibers annually -- considerably more than from washing machines.

Computer model seeks to explain the spread of misinformation, and suggest counter measures

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 12:37 PM PST

Researchers have come up with a computer model that mirrors the way misinformation spreads in real life. The work might provide insight on how to protect people from the current contagion of misinformation that threatens public health and the health of democracy.

Wearable air sampler assesses personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 09:04 AM PST

Researchers have developed a passive air sampler clip that can help assess personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2, which could be especially helpful for workers in high-risk settings, such as restaurants or health care facilities.

Terahertz radiation source: Compact and simple

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 08:20 AM PST

Researchers have now succeeded in producing an extremely simple and compact source of terahertz radiation: An oscillator with double resonant-tunneling diodes. Its radiation power significantly outperforms similar devices.

Ions in the machine: How simple liquids like water can perform complex calculations

Posted: 11 Jan 2022 07:00 AM PST

To demonstrate the potential of chemical dynamics as a computing resource, researchers developed a method for building physical reservoirs based on the electrochemical reactions of solutions placed on electrodes. Polyoxometalate in solution was found to predict periodic signals well. In contrast, distilled water was suitable for solving a second-order nonlinear problem. These findings demonstrate the potential for electrochemical ion reactions in low-cost and energy efficient reservoir computing systems.

Migrating holes help catalysts be productive

Posted: 10 Jan 2022 03:48 PM PST

A theoretical model suggests electron holes that propagate at active sites on a catalyst migrate, triggering other sites that continue the process.