Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the habitable zone. (Image Credit: A. Smith, N. Madhusudhan (University of Cambridge) ...read more
Tracking migrants is a challenging task that policymakers, researchers and humanitarian organizations have long struggled to achieve. The data they use is often outdated, incomplete and inconsistent and this hampers efforts to understand movement and respond effectively to global crises and economic changes. Now that looks set to change thanks to the work of Guanghua Chi at Facebook-owner Meta in Menlo Park, and colleagues, who have used anonymized data from three billion Facebook users to estim ...read more
Ask any geologist about the magma reservoir beneath Yellowstone, and they’ll tell you that it’s there. But where, exactly, is a lot tougher to explain.A new paper published in Nature suggests, however, that a team of researchers has finally found the exact location of the upper boundary of Yellowstone’s magma reservoir. Locating the top of the chamber and characterizing its contents, the research reveals important insights into the future activity of the volcano at Yellowstone, indicating ...read more
Although the magnetic field of Mars hasn’t been in effect for billions of years, the evidence it left behind may suggest that the planet’s core is entirely liquid. Magnetic imprints still exist on Mars, but they’re centered around its southern half, raising a mystery that has left scientists scratching their heads for years. Recent research, however, has proposed a promising answer: the molten Martian core likely generated a magnetic field that only covered the Red Planet’s southern hemi ...read more
The Milky Way may have a twin. The discovery of the most distant spiral galaxy to date may change the way we think about both the speed and process in which such systems are birthed, an international team led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) reported in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Astrophysicists have long thought that large spiral galaxies like the Milky Way form over several billion years in a chaotic process and initially form irregular shapes. But the James Webb Space Telesc ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine