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Parker Solar Probe uncovers direct evidence of the sun’s ‘helicity barrier’

New research utilizing data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has provided the first direct evidence of a phenomenon known as the “helicity barrier” in the solar wind. This discovery, published in Physical Review X by Queen Mary University of London researchers, offers a significant step toward understanding two long-standing mysteries: how the sun’s atmosphere is heated to millions of degrees and how the supersonic solar wind is generated.

The solar atmosphere, or corona, is far hotter than the sun’s surface, a paradox that has puzzled scientists for decades. Furthermore, the constant outflow of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun, known as the solar wind, is accelerated to incredible speeds.

Turbulent —the process by which is converted into heat—is believed to play a crucial role in both these phenomena. However, in the near-sun environment, where plasma is largely collisionless, the exact mechanisms of this dissipation have remained elusive.

AI reveals astrocytes play a ‘starring’ role in dynamic brain function

Long overlooked and underestimated, glial cells—non-neuronal cells that support, protect and communicate with neurons—are finally stepping into the neuroscience spotlight. A new Florida Atlantic University study highlights the surprising influence of a particular glial cell, revealing that it plays a much more active and dynamic role in brain function than previously thought.

Using sophisticated computational modeling and , researchers discovered how astrocytes, a “star” shaped glial cell, subtly—but significantly—modulate communication between neurons, especially during highly coordinated, synchronous brain activity.

“Clearly, are significantly implicated in several brain functions, making identifying their presence among neurons an appealing and important problem,” said Rodrigo Pena, Ph.D., senior author, an assistant professor of biological sciences within FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science on the John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter, and a member of the FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute.

Ice in Space Could Do Something We Thought Was Impossible

Water frozen in the darkness of space doesn’t appear to behave the way we thought.

A new research effort using computer simulations and experiments to explore the most common form water takes in the Universe has found that it is not as structureless as scientists had thought. Rather, repeating patterns – otherwise known as crystals – just a few nanometers across are likely embedded in an otherwise frozen jumble of molecules.

Since scientists had thought space too cold for ice crystals to have the energy to form, this discovery comes as a big surprise.

Meteorite challenges the timeline of the early solar system

A small, inconspicuous meteorite may be about to change our understanding of how and when our solar system formed. Tiny shavings from the meteorite Northwest Africa 12264 are challenging the long-held belief that planets near the sun formed earlier than those beyond the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter.

Cold hydrogen clouds discovered inside superheated Fermi bubbles at Milky Way’s center

Researchers have found clouds of cold gas embedded deep within larger, superheated gas clouds—or Fermi bubbles—at the Milky Way’s center. The finding challenges current models of Fermi bubble formation and reveals that the bubbles are much younger than previously estimated.

Detecting Ice Structures from Space

Depending on the temperature and pressure, ice adopts one of 20 different crystalline phases. Researchers can typically tell one ice phase from the other using x rays or neutron beams, but such techniques are impractical for studying ice on distant celestial bodies. Thomas Loerting from the University of Innsbruck in Austria and his colleagues have now shown that infrared spectroscopy can discriminate between two types of high-pressure ice [1]. The results suggest that astronomical observatories in the infrared could probe ice-covered planets or moons, revealing information about their geological evolution and potential habitability.

The ice in your freezer is hexagonal ice, but at lower temperatures, higher pressures, or both, other forms can exist. Ice phases are distinguished by the ordering of oxygen atoms and hydrogen atoms. For example, ice V has oxygens arranged in ring structures, while its hydrogens have random (disordered) positions. This phase, which is stable at pressures of 500 megapascals and temperatures of 253 K, is thought to form in the interior of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and other icy moons.

In the lab, Loerting’s colleague, Christina Tonauer, created ice V, along with a related, hydrogen-ordered version called ice XIII. The team performed near-infrared spectroscopy on both samples and identified several distinguishing features, including a structure-dependent “shoulder” around 1.6 µm, a wavelength associated with stretching modes. According to the team’s calculations, the features are strong enough that astronomical instruments, such as those on the JWST observatory and the Jupiter-visiting JUICE mission, could potentially observe them on a body like Ganymede. “The detection of high-pressure ice phases at or near the surface could point to internal processes such as tectonic activity, cryovolcanism, or convective transport from deeper layers,” Loerting says.

Super-resolution imaging reveals the first step of planet formation after star birth

Identifying the formation period of planetary systems, such as our solar system, could be the beginning of the journey to discover the origin of life. The key to this is the unique substructures found in protoplanetary disks—the sites of planet formation.

A protoplanetary disk is composed of low-temperature molecular gas and dust, surrounding a protostar. If a planet exists in the disk, its gravity will gather or eject materials within the disk, forming characteristic substructures such as rings or spirals. In other words, various disk substructures can be interpreted as “messages” from the forming planets. To study these substructures in detail, high-resolution radio observations with ALMA are required.

Numerous ALMA observations of protoplanetary disks (or circumstellar disks) have been conducted so far. In particular, two ALMA large programs, DSHARP and eDisk, have revealed the detailed distribution of dust in protoplanetary disks through high-resolution observations.

TOI-4465 B: New Giant Exoplanet Discovered 400 Light-Years Away

A unique gas giant has been confirmed through global teamwork, offering insights into planetary formation and future atmospheric research. Researchers from The University of New Mexico, in partnership with colleagues across the United States and internationally, have verified the presence of a ne

“We Finally Found It”: Scientists Reveal the Missing Half of the Universe’s Matter Was Hiding in Plain Sight All Along

IN A NUTSHELL ✨ Scientists have discovered the universe’s missing baryonic matter, solving a decades-long cosmic mystery. 🔭 The missing matter was found in the intergalactic medium, a vast network of hot, diffuse gas between galaxies. 📡 Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) were instrumental in detecting this elusive matter through their interaction with free electrons in

Neuralink Reveals New BLINDSIGHT Implant!

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