A black hole's warped world
A new visualization of a black hole illustrates how its gravity distorts our view, warping its surroundings as if viewed in a funhouse mirror.
Astronomy
New model proposes jets go superluminal in gamma-ray bursts
Blasts that create gamma-ray bursts may actually exceed the speed of light in surrounding gas clouds, but do so without violating Einstein's theory of relativity.
Read moreCould we feed one million people living on Mars?
A provocative new study looks at the resource utilization and technological strategies that would be needed to make a Mars population of one million people food self-sufficient.
Read moreNaming of new interstellar visitor: 2I/Borisov
A new object from interstellar space has been found within the Solar System, only the second such discovery of its kind. Astronomers are turning their telescopes towards the visitor, which offers a tantalising glimpse beyond our Solar System and raises some puzzling questions. The object has been given the name 2I/Borisov by the IAU.
Read moreVisible from outer space, Detroit's unofficial pathways could play important role in land redevelopment
As neighborhood and city planners design ways to reuse vacant land in cities like Detroit, a researcher is urging them to look at the footpaths of people who already live there — literally.
Read morePlasma flow near sun's surface explains sunspots, other solar phenomena
A new model for plasma flow within the sun provides novel explanations for sunspots, the 11-year sunspot cycle, solar magnetic reversals and other previously unexplained solar phenomena.
Read moreSix galaxies undergoing sudden, dramatic transitions
Astronomers observed six mild-mannered LINER galaxies suddenly and surprisingly transforming into ravenous quasars — home to the brightest of all active galactic nuclei. The team's observations could help demystify the nature of both LINERs and quasars while answering some burning questions about galactic evolution. Based on their analysis, the researchers suggest they have discovered an entirely new type of black hole activity at the centers of these six LINER galaxies.
Read moreNew hunt for dark matter
Dark matter is only known by its effect on massive astronomical bodies, but has yet to be directly observed or even identified. A theory about what dark matter might be suggests that it could be a particle called an axion and that these could be detectable with laser-based experiments that already exist. These laser experiments are gravitational-wave observatories.
Read moreSaturn's icy rings are as old as the solar system itself, study suggests
No one knows for certain when Saturn's iconic rings formed, but a new study suggests that they are much older than some scientists think.
Read moreArtificial intelligence probes dark matter in the universe
Physicists and computer scientists have developed a new approach to the problem of dark matter and dark energy in the universe. Using machine learning tools, they programmed computers to teach themselves how to extract the relevant information from maps of the universe.
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