Boston MA (SPX) Feb 06, 2025
Superconducting materials are similar to the carpool lane in a congested interstate. Like commuters who ride together, electrons that pair up can bypass the regular traffic, moving through the material with zero friction. But just as with carpools, how easily electron pairs can flow depends on a number of conditions, including the density of pairs that are moving through the material. This

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 10, 2025
SFL Missions Inc. has been selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to conduct a conceptual design study for the High-Altitude Aerosols, Water Vapour, and Clouds (HAWC) satellite mission. This initiative represents Canada's contribution to NASA's Atmosphere Observing System (AOS), which is scheduled for launch in 2031. "The HAWC mission will collect atmospheric data that will support ex

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 05, 2025
This latest NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month showcases HH 30 with extraordinary clarity. Set within the dark cloud LDN 1551 in the Taurus Molecular Cloud, this edge-on protoplanetary disc features both jets and a disc wind, emphasizing the turbulent environment in which stars and planets form. Herbig-Haro objects, like HH 30, appear as luminous markers in star-f

Image: A lab with a view

London, UK (SPX) Feb 06, 2025
An international team of scientists has successfully modeled the formation and evolution of some of the most powerful magnetic fields in the Universe. Led by researchers from Newcastle University, the University of Leeds, and institutions in France, the study was recently published in Nature Astronomy. The findings reveal that the Tayler-Spruit dynamo, activated by fallback material from s

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 06, 2025
Can copper be turned into gold? While ancient alchemists pursued this elusive goal, modern science knows such a transformation requires nuclear reactions. However, some materials, like graphite and diamond, share the same atomic composition-pure carbon-yet differ vastly due to atomic arrangement. While converting graphite into diamond demands extreme heat and pressure, a more practical material

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 06, 2025
In a significant technological milestone, ESA has commenced the large-scale migration of Galileo's Control Centres, a complex endeavor that engaged over 200 experts from ESA, industry partners, and the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). This marks the start of a comprehensive modernization effort aimed at upgrading Galileo's Ground Segment, a globally dispersed network of operational sit

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 06, 2025
For the first time, astronomers have successfully detected and analyzed the magnetic field surrounding a young star in a region where planetary formation is believed to be underway. By using dust as a tracer, researchers have mapped out the three-dimensional structure of the magnetic field, shedding new light on the processes that shape planetary systems. Planets emerge within swirling clo

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 06, 2025
Researchers using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission have identified an enormous exoplanet and a brown dwarf, marking a first in planetary discovery via Gaia's ability to detect stellar wobbles caused by gravitational interactions. These objects, found orbiting low-mass stars, present an unusual scenario that challenges established theories of planetary formation. A new stu

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 10, 2025
The search for life beyond Earth is among the most ambitious scientific quests. One promising method is to locate motile microorganisms, capable of self-propelled movement, which serves as a strong biological indicator. If such movement is driven by a specific chemical, it is referred to as chemotaxis. A team of German researchers has now introduced a new and simplified technique to stimul