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Gas Around Young Galaxies Found to be Almost Barren

An international team of astronomers has discovered that gas around young galaxies is almost barren, devoid of the seeds from which new stars are thought to form—molecules of hydrogen.

16 Jul 2014

First Recorded Impact Between Cosmic Bodies Observed Twenty Years Ago

Twenty years ago, human and robotic eyes observed the first recorded impact between cosmic bodies in the solar system, as fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into the atmosphere of Jupiter.

16 Jul 2014

Data from Van Allen Probes Help Explain What Creates Gigantic Donuts of Radiation

One of the great, unanswered questions for space weather scientists is just what creates two gigantic donuts of radiation surrounding Earth, called the Van Allen radiation belts. Recent data from the Van Allen Probes -- two nearly identical spacecraft that launched in 2012 -- address this question.

16 Jul 2014

Weak Lensing Mass Peaks Analysed on Dark Matter Mass Map

A number of studies have shown that Dark Matter is the principle mass component of the Universe making up about 80% of the mass budget. The most direct technique to reveal the Dark Matter distribution is by using the gravitational lensing technique. Indeed, following Einstein's theory of Gravitation, we know that a mass concentration will deform locally the Space-Time and the observed shapes of distant galaxies seen through the such concentration will be deflected and distorted.

16 Jul 2014

Researchers Analyse Pseudogap Phenomenon in Copper-Based Superconductors

Superconductors are futuristic materials that will hopefully have a broad range of technological applications at some time in the future (medical imaging, transport…). Today's use is limited by the extremely low temperatures (close to absolute zero) required for superconductivity to manifest.

15 Jul 2014

Planet Hunters Discuss Boom in Discovery of Exoplanets

Planet-hunting telescopes have recently taken a huge leap in their ability to find “exoplanets,” or planets orbiting other stars. In just the past six months, astronomers have announced the discovery of more than 700 such worlds, bringing the total to more than 1,700.

15 Jul 2014

Sheath of X-ray-Emitting Gas Surrounds Particle Jet Blasting Through Star's Surface

Astronomers analyzing a long-lasting blast of high-energy light observed in 2013 report finding features strikingly similar to those expected from an explosion from the universe's earliest stars. If this interpretation is correct, the outburst validates ideas about a recently identified class of gamma-ray burst and serves as a stand-in for what future observatories may see as the last acts of the first stars.

15 Jul 2014

Massive MicroBooNE Particle Detector Moved Into New Building

If you want to see neutrinos change flavors, you need a hefty detector.

15 Jul 2014

AAS Honors Cornell Astronomy Professor with Gerard P. Kuiper Prize

Peter Gierasch, Cornell professor of astronomy, an appraiser of atmospheres within our solar system’s distant worlds and a scientist on some of history’s famous space missions, was awarded astronomy’s prestigious Gerard P. Kuiper Prize by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) on July 2.

15 Jul 2014

Physicists Harness 'Spin Current' to Speed up Data Storage

A hard drive stores bits in the form of tiny magnetic domains. The directions of the magnetic north and south poles of these domains, which are referred to as the magnetization, determine whether they are a 0 or a 1. Data is stored by changing the direction of the magnetization of the associated bits. At present this is done using a write head to create a local magnetic field, which makes a bit change direction.

14 Jul 2014