The recurring nova T Coronae Borealis will shine as brightly as the North Star some time in the next five months, astronomers say. Sometime between now and September, a massive explosion 3,000 light years from Earth will flare up in the night sky, giving amateur astronomers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness this space oddity. The … Read more
DESI making observations in the night sky. The Rochester group has been part of DESI since 2017, with members having played key roles in commissioning and operating the instrument. Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinský Scientists have analyzed the first batch of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument’s quest to map the universe and unravel the mysteries … Read more
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain South Africa’s government is calling for public comments on an updated version of its existing biodiversity economy plan. The National Biodiversity Economy Strategy aims to conserve biodiversity while also contributing to job creation and economic growth. It proposes to do this by promoting sustainable use of the country’s natural resources. The … Read more
Chinook salmon are threatened by the decades-long drought gripping the American West. Tens of thousands of endangered salmon being transported by truck to a US river miraculously survived a road crash by escaping into a nearby creek, officials said. A large tanker vehicle transporting the young salmon—or smolts—was traveling in a mountainous area of the … Read more
Ecological reconstruction of Feredocodon chowi (Right) and Dianoconodon youngi (Left). Credit: IVPP Paleontologists have presented a new insight into the initial dental variations across mammaliaforms, providing a fresh perspective on the evolutionary past of these ancient beasts. The discovery, involving a team of international researchers including Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich from the Monash University School of … Read more
Large-scale language models enable AI agents to evolve various types of personalities in social interactions. Credit: Reiko Matsushita While I was assembling and formatting all these links, we had a 4.8-magnitude earthquake here on the East Coast, so apologies in advance for any misaligned text. This week: Gravitationally accelerated stars! AIs that exhibit cooperative and … Read more
NASA’s Loral O’Hara, left, Russia’s Oleg Novitsky and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya, right, are seen inside the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft after they landed in a remote area near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Saturday, April 6, 2024. Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP A Russian space capsule with two women and one man safely landed … Read more
Close up of a cockroach. Credit: Wikipedia/public domain Sex pheromones are vital in facilitating the chemical communication that underpins insect courtship and mating behavior. Among female American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana), two key volatile sex pheromone components, periplanone-A (PA) and periplanone-B (PB), are predominantly released. Previous studies have indicated that PB is the primary component, but … Read more
Credit: Eric Sundström, Helsinki City Museum New research highlights how in the 1930s, the relationship between radio and Finland’s most famous composer Jean Sibelius had an important effect on the development of broadcast operations as well as on the status of Sibelius and Western classical art music. Finland’s most famous art music composer Jean Sibelius … Read more
Royal Research Ship (RSS) Discovery stopped at Azores, Portugal, for supplies during the 29th Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT29). The cruise departed from Southampton in the UK on October 13, 2019 and arrived at Punta Arenas in Chile on November 26, 2019, covering a meridional transect from approximately 50°N to 50°S. Credit: Bo Sha, Department of … Read more
