An artistic illustration showing how the magnetic fields would corral the torus and “feed” the black hole. (Credit: NASA/SOFIA/Lynette Cook)
For the first time ever, astronomers have observed a magnetic field surrounding and feeding a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy.
The researchers’ observations might shed light on the relationship between black holes and magnetic fields and why some black holes are more active and “hungry” than others. Whereas ...read more
(Credit: Anton_Ivanov/shutterstock)
As the largest land mammal on the planet, elephants eat a lot of food. On average, the giants consume more than 440 pounds of vegetation per day, or the equivalent of about two corncobs per minute. And now, scientists have figured out how the beasts are able to eat so much so fast. Elephants make joints with their trunks to press down on and scoop up food. Researchers say the discovery could even help engineers build better robots.
Elephants are massive ...read more
Aboriginal paintings adorn the walls of a cave in Kimberley, Western Australia. (Credit: paulmichaelNZ/shutterstock)
Nothing stirred in the relentless midday heat. The gum trees appeared exhausted, nearly drained of life. The hunters crouched in the foliage, their long, sharp spears poised to unleash at a moment’s notice. The giant birds that were the objects of their attention strode slowly, elegantly, unsuspecting. Most of these creatures were about 7 feet tall. The meat from even one ...read more
Powerful superflares from young red dwarf stars, like the one shown in this artist’s concept, can strip the atmospheres from fledgling planets, spelling disaster for any potential life. (Credit: NASA/ESA/D. Player (STScI))
Red dwarfs are small, slowly burning stars that can live for trillions of years before they run out of fuel. And thanks to their generous lifespans, the planets around them (at least those close enough to stay warm) are often considered prime locations for the developm ...read more
Black holes in binary systems can suck matter off their companion star, forming an accretion disk that shines brightly. Studying the light from this disk using simple techniques could allow astronomers to more easily find these black hole systems. (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada)
Black holes are fascinating and cosmically important objects, but because light cannot escape them, they must instead be detected indirectly, such as through their gravitational effects. Discovering black holes this wa ...read more
A Japanese white-eye clings to a flower on Kauai. Though not native to Hawaii, these birds may help spread the seeds of threatened Hawaiian plants. (Credit: Mike’s Birds via flickr)
(Inside Science) — Ecologists call them the living dead: trees that stand across the tropics and beyond, in the midst of transformed landscapes where they can no longer reproduce. They may appear healthy for centuries, but eventually they will fall — and then their lineage will vanish.
One reason ...read more
Food expiration labels use many different wordings — but for the most part, they don’t really tell you when items are truly no good. (Credit: Knowable Magazine)
In August 2011, a can of Great Value peas joined the nonperishables in my pantry, one of several panic purchases as Hurricane Irene barreled toward my home on the northeast US coast. But the emergency passed, and the can, with its unassuming blue-on-white outline font, remains on my shelf seven years later.
Its continued p ...read more
Scientists think that these dark, narrow slopes on Mars could have been created by flowing water. One new study suggests that, if briny water exists on Mars, it could contain enough oxygen to support life. (Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
Just below the surface of Mars, scientists suspect that there might be briny waters that, according to a new study, could hold enough molecular oxygen to support certain types of life.
As light breaks down carbon dioxide on Mars, a little bit of oxyge ...read more
This artist’s illustration shows what plumes shooting out of Europa’s surface might look like. However, in one new study, scientists found a lack of hotspots on Europa that might signal the existence of plumes. (NASA/ESA/K. Retherford/SWRI)
Io, Enceladus, Earth — our solar system holds a number of locations where plumes of gas erupt. And for years, scientists have suspected that such plumes also exist on Jupiter’s moon Europa. However, according to one new study done us ...read more
