Jan 16th, 2025 - NASA astronaut Don Pettit has snapped a striking shot of the super-bright comet racing past our planet for the first time in 160,000 years, as it lit up the night skies across the globe. An astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) has snapped a stunning photograph of the super-bright "New Year comet" seemingly shooting behind Earth. The comet , named C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), made its closest approach to Earth on Tuesday (Jan. 14) when it came within 88 million miles (142 million kilometers) of our planet. A day earlier, it reached perihelion, its closest point to the sun, which made ... [Read More]

Jan 16th, 2025 - Female family ties were at the heart of social networks in Celtic society in Britain before the Roman invasion, a new analysis suggests. Genetic evidence from a late Iron Age cemetery shows that women were closely related while unrelated men tended to come into the community from elsewhere, likely after marriage. An examination of ancient DNA recovered from 57 graves in Dorset in southwest England shows that two-thirds of the individuals were descended from a single maternal lineage. The cemetery was used from around 100 B.C. to 200 A.D. "That was really jaw-dropping – it's never been ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2025 - Bird flu is being cited as the cause of the recent deaths of a Chilean flamingo and harbor seal at Lincoln Park Zoo, the zoo announced Wednesday. The flamingo, named Teal, hatched last fall and "was just getting acquainted with her flock and keepers," the zoo said in a statement. The 7-year-old seal, named Slater, "was a beloved seal known for his rambunctious and curious nature. He was a quick learner and often could be seen participating in training sessions with keepers. Both will be deeply missed," the zoo's statement said. The flamingo died Jan. 8, and the seal died Jan. 9, the zoo ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2025 - A "unique" and mysterious collection of engraved stone plaques were seemingly sacrificed by prehistoric people in Scandinavia following a devastating volcanic eruption around 4,900 years ago, a study reports. In the study, published in the journal Antiquity , a team of researchers link the deposition of the enigmatic artifacts—known as "sun stones"—to the eruption, providing fascinating insights into the ritual practices of Europeans in the Neolithic (or New Stone Age) and a prehistoric environmental crisis. The first discovery of the so-called sun stones arrived in 1995 when a ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2025 - Less than six months after beginning its science operations, the Webb Telescope (JWST) unveiled numerous red objects in the sky that puzzled scientists. These objects, initially dubbed "little red dots" (LRDs), appeared small but were abundant across the cosmos. However, their exact nature, the reasons for their striking color, and their significance in understanding the early universe have left astronomers intrigued. Little red dots and black holes In a recent study, experts have compiled one of the largest samples of LRDs to date. Nearly all of these objects existed during the first 1.5 ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2025 - Booz Allen Hamilton's venture capital arm and NordicNinja led the round for SEEQC, which started in 2019 with the idea of integrating classical and quantum computing techniques. SEEQC, a six-year-old startup that makes digital chips to power quantum computing systems, has fetched $30 million in new capital to further accelerate the commercial rollout of its flagship product. Booz Allen Hamilton's venture capital arm and NordicNinja led the funding round announced Tuesday. SIP Capital is a new investor that joins existing investors EQT Ventures, M-Ventures, BlueYard Capital, FAM and Asset ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2025 - Australian scientists have discovered a collapsed star called a neutron star that spins thousands of times slower than expected. The star, called ASKAP J1839-075, is one of a number of recent stellar finds challenging scientists' understanding of how neutron stars form. Next-generation telescopes like Australia's SKA-Low will be able to probe the skies further, hopefully leading to a new understanding of these extreme space objects In our galaxy, about 13,000 light-years away, a dead star called ASKAP J1839-075 is breaking all the rules … extremely slowly. Dead stars — or ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2025 - Astronomers have been captivated by the unusual activities of the supermassive black hole 1ES 1927+654. Located about 100 million light-years away, this particular black hole has a mass that is equivalent to roughly one million Suns.  Initially, in 2018, researchers witnessed a striking event when the black hole 's corona – a cloud of whirling, white-hot plasma – vanished unexpectedly, only to reassemble months later. This dramatic "shut-off" was a first in the study of black holes, setting the stage for further intriguing events. X-ray flashes from a black hole More ... [Read More]