News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
SpaceX just added another 49 satellites to its growing Starlink internet megaconstellation. A Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 new Starlink satellites to orbit today (Feb. 3), lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on the east coast of Florida at 1:13 p.m. EST (1813 GMT). About nine minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 rocket’s … Read more
These are boom times for astronomers hunting black holes. The biggest ones—supermassive black holes that can weigh billions of suns—have been found at the centers of most every galaxy, and we have even managed to image one. Meanwhile, researchers now routinely detect gravitational waves rippling through the universe from smaller merging black holes. Closer to … Read more
Growing numbers of children who test positive for the COVID-causing virus SARS-CoV-2 at hospitals this winter are showing up with a barking cough, the characteristic symptom of croup. Though this respiratory syndrome is usually mild, it may lead to more serious illness. An estimated one in 30,000 croup cases are fatal, according to a 2013 … Read more
A good workout doesn’t just boost your mood—it also boosts the brain’s ability to create new neurons. But exactly how this happens has puzzled researchers for years. “It’s been a bit of a black box,” says Tara Walker, a neuroscientist at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute. Now, Walker and her colleagues think they have … Read more
What you’ve never heard of the Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon? it’s the Lego kit that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs. The Millennium Falcon screams classic Star Wars. Along with the X-Wings and the TIE Fighters, the Millennium Falcon is one of the coolest spaceships in sci-fi. Who hasn’t wondered what … Read more
The Evenlode in Oxfordshire, UK, has been plagued by pollution, but farmers, the water industry and local volunteers are working together to clean it up Environment 2 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan “It’s depressing. It’s something we should be able to put right,” says Mark Purvis, standing next to a brook feeding the Evenlode, a … Read more
The Omicron-driven COVID surge has caused considerable upheaval during this pandemic winter. Despite the availability and efficacy of COVID vaccines, many people with a history of suspected allergies to the first mRNA COVID vaccine dose—reactions such as hives, swelling, shortness of breath and/or low blood pressure—have not gotten their full series. Their fear is understandable. … Read more
Indonesia has yet to start building its new capital, Nusantara, but a slick website shows what the country has in mind. A video shows people strolling on boardwalks through lush greenery, housing perched on the shores of an idyllic lake, stunningly modernistic buildings, elevated mass transit lines, and bicycles on tree-lined boulevards. Dominating the city … Read more
Water flows mysteriously well through narrow carbon nanotubes, but now there is an explanation: it may all be due to quantum friction Physics 2 February 2022 By Chen Ly Narrow carbon nanotubes behave in an unusual way Shutterstock / ustas7777777 Water flows more easily through narrower carbon nanotubes than larger ones and we have struggled … Read more
Trekkies of all persuasions will rejoice with word of the newly announced premiere date for the new “Star Trek: Discovery” spinoff series “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” coming to the streaming service Paramount Plus. During this week’s TCA Press Tour, the streaming platform presented an atmospheric new key art poster and a May 5 debut … Read more