A mysterious burst of extragalactic light appears to have spawned a small, compact object A cosmic flare-up called the Cow seems to have left behind a black hole or neutron star. When the flash was spotted in June 2018, astronomers debated its origins. Now, astrophysicist DJ Pasham of MIT andContinue Reading
The newfound planet is smaller than Earth, as dense as iron and hot enough to melt A newly discovered exoplanet is really making astronomers prove their mettle. Planet GJ 367b is smaller than Earth, denser than iron and hot enough to melt, researchers report in the Dec. 3 Science. “WeContinue Reading
Probably not. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye. There’s a story that Benjamin Franklin thought the turkey should be the national bird instead of the eagle. In a 1784 letter addressed to Sarah, his daughter, Franklin wrote: “For my own part I wish the bald eagleContinue Reading
“Such inoculation should be common everywhere.” A letter written by Russian empress Catherine the Great on April 20, 1787, stressing the importance of the smallpox vaccine to the count of Malorossiya (modern-day Ukraine), will go up for auction on Dec. 1 at MacDougall’s in London, according to news reports. ThatContinue Reading
Rebel Maccabees stormed and defeated a stronghold of the Seleucid Empire. Archaeologists have discovered the burned remains of an ancient Hellenistic fortress in Israel that fell to Jewish rebels more than 2,000 years ago. A guerrilla army called the Hasmoneans, also known as the Maccabees, defeated and set fire toContinue Reading
The gaseous structure bridges two of the galaxy’s spiral arms A long, thin filament of cold, dense gas extends jauntily from the galactic center, connecting two of the galaxy’s spiral arms, astronomers report November 11 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. This is the first time that such a structure, whichContinue Reading
A recent deathbed confession has the FBI investigating a former toxic waste dump in New Jersey… again. The FBI is surveying a former New Jersey landfill — once condemned as an environmental disaster site — as part of the agency’s long-running investigation into the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the infamousContinue Reading
Minuscule arrangements in cellulose reflect light in specific ways to give rise to vibrant hues All that glitters is not green. Glitter and shimmery pigments are often made using toxic compounds or pollutive microplastics (SN: 4/15/19). That makes the sparkly stuff, notoriously difficult to clean up in the house, aContinue Reading
The mass grave held the remains of about 25 people, mostly women who were likely “dedicated to textiles.” In the 15th century, a group of elite women in the ancient city of Chan Chan spent their days making textiles while living … and in death. Archaeologists recently uncovered a massContinue Reading
Who left them behind is a mystery. More than 5,500 silver coins buried by a river about 1,800 years ago are now in the hands of archaeologists, following the hoard’s discovery in Augsburg, Germany. At the time of the coins’ burial, the Roman Empire was in full swing, with itsContinue Reading