News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
What we thought were three confirmed exoplanets have just been knocked off their perch – and a fourth one is under serious doubt. According to a new analysis using revised characteristics, the objects Kepler-854b, Kepler-840b, and Kepler-699b seem to be too big to be exoplanets after all. That means they must be stars. The fourth … Read more
You can watch a big asteroid make a safe flyby of Earth today (March 11) from any spot with good internet access. Weather permitting, the Virtual Telescope Project will livestream telescope views of the recently found asteroid 2022 ES3, which will pass by our planet just slightly within the orbit of the moon. The broadcast … Read more
A new telescope taking on the task of staring at the Sun has delivered incredible new images of solar activity. The US National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope commenced science operations for the first time on Wednesday 23 February 2022. It’s the largest solar telescope in the world, and its high-resolution observations of … Read more
Gazing at the night sky can evoke a sense of wonder regarding humanity’s place in the Universe. But that’s not all it can evoke. If you’re knowledgeable about asteroid strikes like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, then even a fleeting meteorite can nudge aside your enjoyable sense of wonder. What if? Luckily, … Read more
There was a time, not so long ago, when computers were so large, they occupied entire rooms. Today, some processing units can come as small as a few specks of dust. Even next to a grain of rice, these stacks of micrometer-sized chips look infinitesimal. Shrinking computer batteries to fit that size, however, has proved … Read more
The way guppy fish behave suggests they can be tricked into believing holes are larger or smaller than they really are – but they don’t always interpret the optical illusions in the same way humans do Life 23 February 2022 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre Two male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) BIOSPHOTO / Alamy Guppies can be fooled … Read more
Researchers have discovered an exceptionally rare, newly hatched “ghost shark” near New Zealand’s South Island, according to the country’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Translucent, gelatinous and crowned with a pair of giant black eyes on its pointed head, the alien-like baby likely belongs to one of the more than 50 … Read more
Earth’s moon is the brightest object in our night sky. But how big is the moon? The moon’s mean radius is 1,079.6 miles (1,737.5 kilometers) and the mean diameter is 2,159.2 miles (3,475 km). Compared to Earth, the moon is less than a third the width of our home planet, according to NASA. The moon’s … Read more
One of the main genetic mutations responsible for small size in certain dog breeds, such as Pomeranians and Chihuahuas, evolved in dog relatives long before humans began breeding these miniature companions. Researchers discovered that the mutation can even be traced back to wolves that lived more than 50,000 years ago. Researchers discovered the mutation, which is found in … Read more
As cats have become domesticated over the last 10,000 years or so, their brains have shrunk significantly in size, a new study confirms – a finding that could lead to important new insights into how animals adapt when they start being regularly kept by human beings. Researchers compared the size of craniums (an indicator … Read more