That great void of space is growing quieter as the universe dies — but how long do we have before The End?
Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 972
Dec 4, 2015
Evidence that our Sun could release ‘superflares’ 1000x greater than previously recorded
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: physics, space
Oh, joy.
What the Sun might look like if it were to produce a superflare. A large flaring coronal loop structure is shown towering over a solar active region. (credit: University of Warwick/Ronald Warmington)
Astrophysicists have discovered a stellar “superflare” on a star observed by NASA’s Kepler space telescope with wave patterns similar to those that have been observed in the Sun’s solar flares. (Superflares are flares that are thousands of times more powerful than those ever recorded on the Sun, and are frequently observed on some stars.)
Dec 4, 2015
Controversial experiment sees no evidence that the universe is a hologram
Posted by Jeremy Lichtman in category: space
Dec 3, 2015
Russia Is Planning To Build A Permanent Manned Base On The Moon
Posted by Dan Kummer in category: space
Dec 3, 2015
Junk-Eating Rocket Engine Could Clear Space Debris
Posted by Andreas Matt in category: space
The risks associated with space debris are rising. An efficient way to clear the skies of junk is desperately needed, and a team of Chinese engineers think they have the answer.
Dec 1, 2015
How to encrypt a message in the afterglow of the big bang
Posted by Andreas Matt in categories: encryption, physics, space
Physicists have come up with a way to make secret codes based on the cosmic microwave background, the afterglow of the birth of the universe.
Nov 30, 2015
Missing link found between turbulence in collapsing star and hypernova, gamma-ray burst
Posted by Andreas Matt in categories: space, supercomputing
A supercomputer simulation of a mere 10 milliseconds in the collapse of a massive star into a neutron star proves that these catastrophic events, often called hypernovae, can generate the enormous magnetic fields needed to explode the star and fire off bursts of gamma rays visible halfway across the universe.
The results of the simulation, published online Nov. 30 in advance of publication in the journal Nature, demonstrate that as a rotating star collapses, the star and its attached magnetic field spin faster and faster, forming a dynamo that revs the magnetic field to a million billion times the magnetic field of Earth.
A field this strong is sufficient to focus and accelerate gas along the rotation axis of the star, creating two jets that ultimately can produce oppositely directed blasts of highly energetic gamma rays.
Nov 30, 2015
NASA — The Fusion Driven Rocket: Nuclear Propulsion through Direct Conversion of Fusion Energy
Posted by Andreas Matt in categories: nuclear energy, space
Nov 30, 2015
Researchers find new phase of carbon, make diamond at room temperature
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: engineering, materials, space
Researchers from North Carolina State University have discovered a new phase of solid carbon, called Q-carbon, which is distinct from the known phases of graphite and diamond. They have also developed a technique for using Q-carbon to make diamond-related structures at room temperature and at ambient atmospheric pressure in air.
Phases are distinct forms of the same material. Graphite is one of the solid phases of carbon; diamond is another.
“We’ve now created a third solid phase of carbon,” says Jay Narayan, the John C. Fan Distinguished Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State and lead author of three papers describing the work. “The only place it may be found in the natural world would be possibly in the core of some planets.”
Nov 27, 2015
NASA Digs This Idea for Robots to Build Igloos on Mars
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: robotics/AI, space
The double-walled, translucent space igloos feature a “contemplative yard” meant to feel like the outdoors.
