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
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
