With the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found six galaxies lying around a supermassive black hole when the Universe was less than a billion years old. This is the first time such a close grouping has been seen so soon after the Big Bang and theContinue Reading
Until programmers recognize their own internal biases, the software they create will be problematic “Clow-dia,” I say once. Twice. A third time. Defeated, I say the Americanized version of my name: “Claw-dee-ah.” Finally, Siri recognizes it. Having to adapt our way of speaking to interact with speech-recognition technologies is aContinue Reading
A new study provides substantial evidence that the first fossil feather ever to be discovered does belong to the iconic Archaeopteryx, a bird-like dinosaur named in Germany on this day in 1861. This debunks a recent theory that the fossil feather originated from a different species. The research published inContinue Reading
Since first appearing in late 2019, the novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, has had a range of impacts on those it infects. Some people become severely ill with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and require hospitalization, whereas others have mild symptoms or are even asymptomatic. There are several factors thatContinue Reading
May the roundest boi (or girl) win. Bears are always large and in charge, but during September in southern Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve (KNPP), the brown bears that gather at Brooks River grow cartoonishly round, ushering in a magical time of year — Fat Bear Week. This annualContinue Reading
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX will launch its next big batch of Starlink satellites into orbit for the company’s growing megaconstellation today (Sept. 28), and you can watch the action live online. The Hawthorne, California-based company will loft 60 Starlink internet satellites on its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’sContinue Reading
SpaceX postponed the launch of a new fleet of Starlink internet satellites today (Sept. 28) due to bad weather at the mission’s Florida launch site. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch 60 Starlink satellites from Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:22 a.m.Continue Reading
Seven studies describe progress thus far and challenges ahead for a revolutionary zero-emissions power source Two and a half years ago, MIT entered into a research agreement with startup company Commonwealth Fusion Systems to develop a next-generation fusion research experiment, called SPARC, as a precursor to a practical, emissions-free powerContinue Reading
The true toll is likely much higher. At least 1 million people have now died from COVID-19. This grim milestone comes over eight months after the public first learned that a mysterious respiratory virus was infecting people in China. The novel coronavirus swept quickly across the globe and overwhelmed hospitalsContinue Reading
The Milky Way’s core harbors two giants: the galaxy’s largest black hole and a cluster of tens of millions of stars around the black hole that is denser and more massive than any other star cluster in the galaxy. Most of the cluster’s many stars shine within just 20 light-yearsContinue Reading