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New Results About the Transformations of Elusive, Ghostlike Neutrinos

The international Daya Bay Collaboration, which includes researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has announced new results about the transformations of elusive, ghostlike neutrinos, particles that carry invaluable clues about the makeup of the early universe.

26 Aug 2013

Study Results Explain Strange Magnetic Behavior at Semiconductor Interfaces

They’re not exactly the peanut butter and jelly of semiconductors, but when you put them together, something magical happens.

26 Aug 2013

Rare Carbonaceous Chondrite Meteorite Containing Cosmic Dust to be Preserved for Scientific Discoveries

The main mass of a rare meteorite that exploded over California’s Sierra foothills in April 2012 will be preserved for current and future scientific discoveries, thanks to the collaborative efforts of five U.S. academic institutions.

23 Aug 2013

Ultra-Stable Ytterbium Lattice Atomic Clock Sets New Record for Stability

A pair of experimental atomic clocks based on ytterbium atoms at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has set a new record for stability.

23 Aug 2013

Time-Lapse Movies Show Superheated Gas Ejected From Supermassive Black Hole

Astronomers have assembled, from more than 13 years of observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a series of time-lapse movies showing a jet of superheated gas -- 5,000 light-years long -- as it is ejected from a supermassive black hole.

23 Aug 2013

NASA to Revive Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to Characterize Near-Earth Objects

A NASA spacecraft that discovered and characterized tens of thousands of asteroids throughout the solar system before being placed in hibernation will return to service for three more years starting in September, assisting the agency in its effort to identify the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects, as well as those suitable for asteroid exploration missions.

22 Aug 2013

Flickering Light of Star Enables Measurement of Stellar Gravity

Astronomers have found a clever new way to slice and dice the flickering light from a distant star in a way that reveals the strength of gravity at its surface.

22 Aug 2013

New Type of Telescope Camera Helps Address Longstanding Questions About Planet Formation

A team of astronomers from three institutions has developed a new type of telescope camera that makes higher resolution images than ever before, the culmination of 20 years of effort. The team has been developing this technology at telescope observatories in Arizona and now has deployed the latest version of these cameras in the high desert of Chile at the Magellan 6.5m (21 foot) telescope.

22 Aug 2013

NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Enters Extended Phase of Mission

During its five-year primary mission, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has given astronomers an increasingly detailed portrait of the universe's most extraordinary phenomena, from giant black holes in the hearts of distant galaxies to thunderstorms on Earth.

22 Aug 2013

Twin Jets of Matter from Newborn Star Blast out Into Space at Record-Breaking Speed

While observing a newborn star, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope discovered twin jets of matter blasting out into space at record-breaking speed. These surprisingly forceful molecular "winds" could help refine our understanding of how stars impact their cloudy nurseries and shape their emerging stellar systems.

22 Aug 2013

New Understanding of Neutrino Oscillations from Daya Bay Experiment

The international Daya Bay Collaboration has announced new results about the transformations of neutrinos - elusive, ghostlike particles that carry invaluable clues about the makeup of the early universe. The latest findings include the collaboration's first data on how neutrino oscillation – in which neutrinos mix and change into other "flavors," or types, as they travel – varies with neutrino energy, allowing the measurement of a key difference in neutrino masses known as "mass splitting."

22 Aug 2013

New Theory Shows How Zombie Vortices Lead to Birth of New Star

A new theory by fluid dynamics experts at the University of California, Berkeley, shows how “zombie vortices” help lead to the birth of a new star.

22 Aug 2013

ALMA Views Material Streaming Away From Newborn Star

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have obtained a vivid close-up view of material streaming away from a newborn star. By looking at the glow coming from carbon monoxide molecules in an object called Herbig-Haro 46/47 they have discovered that its jets are even more energetic than previously thought.

21 Aug 2013

Some Free-Floating Planets May Have Formed On Their Own

Tiny, round, cold clouds in space have all the right characteristics to form planets with no parent star. New observations, made with Chalmers University of Technology telescopes, show that not all free-floating planets were thrown out of existing planetary systems. They can also be born free.

20 Aug 2013