White dwarf star circled by 65 objects may host a planet in its habitable zone

Astronomers have found 65 evenly spaced rocks orbiting a white dwarf star in its habitable zone, hinting that a planet’s gravity may be holding them there Space 11 February 2022 By Leah Crane Illustration of the white dwarf star WD 1054-226 orbited by clouds of planetary debris and a major planet in the habitable zone … Read more

Astronomers Spot The Youngest Pair of Asteroids Ever Discovered in The Solar System

A pair of asteroids orbiting the Sun formed less than 300 years ago, a new study has revealed. This makes them the youngest pair of asteroids ever discovered in the Solar System, by a factor of 10. The discovery could tell us more about how asteroids crumble, while raising some intriguing new questions.   “It’s … Read more

Breathtaking New Chandra Pics Show Cosmic Objects Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Human vision may be limited to a specific range of wavelengths, but that doesn’t mean we’ll never understand the full complexity of light in our Universe. Instruments can peer into the cosmos in regimes that are otherwise invisible to our eyes, showing us not just the dynamics of the stars, but their absolutely awe-inspiring beauty. … Read more

Everyday objects can run artificial intelligence programs | Science

Imagine using any object around you—a frying pan, a glass paperweight—as the central processor in a neural network, a type of artificial intelligence that loosely mimics the brain to perform complex tasks. That’s the promise of new research that, in theory, could be used to recognize images or speech faster and more efficiently than computer … Read more

Fascinating objects illuminate the European Space Agency’s history

By Gege Li ESA/Remedia Agency ESA/Remedia THIS selection of objects appears random, but it reflects the history, achievements and ambitions of the European Space Agency’s key establishment, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC). ESA ESTEC in 99 Objects is an online project that uses a diverse collection of items amassed from ESA missions … Read more

Laser scanner creates 3D colour images of surfaces or objects

Lidar uses lasers to create 3D images, but these can be hard to interpret because they are black and white. A new scanner adds cameras to make colour images that could be useful for infrastructure inspection or robot vision Technology 14 January 2022 By David Hambling A new portable scanner combines laser scanning technology with … Read more

5 Out-of-This-World Telescope Photos of Space to Get You Excited For The JWST Launch

The forthcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope offers unprecedented new opportunities for astronomers. It’s also a timely opportunity to reflect on what previous generations of telescopes have shown us.   Astronomers rarely use their telescopes to simply take pictures. The pictures in astrophysics are usually generated by a process of scientific inference and … Read more

Astronomers Detect Up to 170 Rogue Planets Hurtling Aimlessly Through Space

Interstellar space is a graveyard of lost souls. Adrift far from any star, these planets float in the darkness like ghost ships in the night. Catching sight of one requires patience, and a good eye. But a new approach based on tens of thousands of images collected by the European Southern Observatory’s facilities has resulted … Read more

Weird quantum objects known as Q balls could explain why we exist

One of the biggest cosmological mysteries is why the universe is made up of way more matter than antimatter, essentially why we exist. Now, a team of theoretical physicists says they know how to find the answer. All they need to do is detect the gravitational waves produced by bizarre quantum objects called Q balls.  Every … Read more