In recent years, scientists have puzzled over a particular class of transients – bursts of intense X-rays and light shot from distant galactic centers. Now, astronomers have discovered a new X-ray transient and are offering an explanation for these outbursts. The new find – located at the center of a galaxy some 500 million light-years away – is early fruit for a new transient detection system that feeds off data produced by the Swift Observatory X-ray telescope.What Are Transients?Astrono ...read more
If you landed on the moon today and conducted a thorough survey of the landscape, you would encounter multiple U.S. flags and a single Chinese one upon its dusty surface.These national symbols, however, bear little weight when it comes to land claims and territorial jurisdiction in this realm. That’s because international terms have established that no nation can claim land in outer space or upon any celestial body – no planet, moon or asteroid.Such places are “the province of all mankind, ...read more
One of the most difficult problems in neuroscience and philosophy is the study of consciousness. How does consciousness arise from physical matter?In a 1995 paper, philosopher David Chalmers dubbed this question "the hard problem." The "easy" problem, he said, is figuring out how the brain does things like see, learn, think and make decisions. While not exactly easy, at least these questions can be approached scientifically and, given the right techniques and technology, might eventually be sol ...read more
Unlike our solitary Sun, most stars form in binary or multiple-star systems. However, astrophysicists haven’t learned a lot about how these complex stellar systems are born because they lack high-resolution observations to distinguish between different theories of formation. But international researchers have now gained some insight with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Northern Chile. Their study of IRAS 04239+2436, a triple system of protostars about 460 light-years ...read more
When the garbage truck drives up to my house every week, my three little dogs can barely contain their excitement. They bark and race from one window to the next. At one point, my chihuahua mix will throw back her head and release a dramatic howl.It seems ridiculous to howl at a garbage collector. However, animal behavior researchers have learned howling is a vital form of communication among wolf packs. This behavior lingers among some domesticated dogs, and scientists are learning that dogs ho ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine