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Water, a molecule essential for life, has unusual properties -- known as anomalies -- that define its behavior. However, there are still many enigmas about the molecular mechanisms that would explain the anomalies that make the water molecule unique. Deciphering and reproducing this particular behavior of water in different temperature ranges is still a major challenge for the scientific community. Now, a study presents a new theoretical model capable of overcoming the limitations of previous methodologies to understand how water behaves in extreme conditions.

Scientists create biodiesel with electrocatalysis and bioconversion.

Researchers have created a headphone prototype that allows listeners to hear people speaking within a bubble with a programmable radius of 3 to 6 feet. Voices and sounds outside the bubble are quieted an average of 49 decibels, even if they're louder than those in the bubble.

Researchers have created a headphone prototype that allows listeners to hear people speaking within a bubble with a programmable radius of 3 to 6 feet. Voices and sounds outside the bubble are quieted an average of 49 decibels, even if they're louder than those in the bubble.

Researchers have devised a mathematical approach to predict the structures of crystals -- a critical step in developing many medicines and electronic devices -- in a matter of hours using only a laptop, a process that previously took a supercomputer weeks or months.

Researchers have devised a mathematical approach to predict the structures of crystals -- a critical step in developing many medicines and electronic devices -- in a matter of hours using only a laptop, a process that previously took a supercomputer weeks or months.

A new study determines that just four policies can reduce mismanaged plastic waste -- plastic that isn't recycled or properly disposed of and ends up as pollution -- by 91% and plastic-related greenhouse gasses by one-third. The policies are: mandate new products be made with 40% post-consumer recycled plastic; cap new plastic production at 2020 levels; invest significantly in plastic waste management -- such as landfills and waste collection services; and implement a small fee on plastic packaging. This policy package also delivers climate benefits, reducing emissions equivalent to taking 300 million gasoline-powered vehicles off the road for one year.

Capturing carbon dioxide from the hot industrial exhaust of cement and steel plants requires cooling the exhaust from around 200 C to 60 C so that liquid amines can react with the CO2. Chemists have now created a new type of metal-organic framework that captures CO2 at high temperatures, avoiding the need to expend energy and water to cool the exhaust. The MOF opens up a new field of high-temperature gas capture.

Satellite images reveal that when conditions are right, the pollution from industrial hotspots can cause snow to fall downwind and punch holes in clouds

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In this special solo episode, Michael Shermer reflects on the 2024 election.

In March 2021, astronomers observed a high-energy burst of light from a distant galaxy. Assigned the name AT 2021hdr, it was thought to be a supernova. However, there were enough interesting features that flagged as potentially interesting by the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE). In 2022, another outburst was observed, and over time the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) found a pattern of outbursts every 60–90 days. It clearly wasn’t a supernova, but it was unclear on what it could be until a recent study solved the mystery.

One idea was that AT 2021hdr was a tidal disruption event (TDE),] where a star strays too close to a black hole and is ripped apart. This can create periodic bursts as the stellar remnant orbits the black hole, but TDEs don’t tend to have such regular patterns. So the team considered another model, where a massive interstellar cloud passes into the realm of a pair of binary black holes.

Simulations show how binary black holes interact with a gas cloud. Credit: F. Goicovic et al. 2016

Computer simulations show that rather than simply ripping apart the cloud, a binary black hole would churn the cloud as it consumes it. This would produce a periodic burst of light as the black holes orbit. The team observed AT 2021hdr using the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and found periodic oscillations of ultraviolet and X-ray light that match the transient bursts observed by ZTF. These observations match the simulations of a binary black hole.

Based on the data, the black holes have a combined mass of about 40 million Suns, and they orbit each other every 130 days. If they continue along their paths, the two black holes will merge in about 70,000 years. Without the passing cloud, we would have never noticed them.

The team plans to continue their observations of the system to further refine their model. They also plan to study how the black holes interact with their home galaxy.

Reference: L. Hernández-García, et al. “AT 2021hdr: A candidate tidal disruption of a gas cloud by a binary super massive black hole system.” Astronomy & Astrophysics 691 (2024)

The post Two Supermassive Black Holes on the Verge of a Merger appeared first on Universe Today.

Researchers have found that under certain conditions, a laser beam can act like an opaque object and cast a shadow, opening new possibilities for technologies that could use a laser beam to control another laser beam.

Researchers look to deep learning techniques in order to streamline the time-consuming process of identifying 2D materials.

Researchers look to deep learning techniques in order to streamline the time-consuming process of identifying 2D materials.

Researchers have developed robotic trousers that enable people to walk more easily while expending measurably less energy. The aim is to keep frail individuals and in particular the elderly mobile and healthy for longer.

How long did it take our Sun to form in its stellar nursery? Scientists are now closer to an answer. They succeeded in the measurement of the bound-state beta decay of fully-ionized thallium ions at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI/FAIR. This measurement has profound effects on the production of radioactive lead in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and can be used to help determine the Sun's formation time.

How long did it take our Sun to form in its stellar nursery? Scientists are now closer to an answer. They succeeded in the measurement of the bound-state beta decay of fully-ionized thallium ions at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI/FAIR. This measurement has profound effects on the production of radioactive lead in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and can be used to help determine the Sun's formation time.

Underwater robots that can predict waves in real-time could reduce the cost of producing offshore renewable energy, a study suggests.

By probing chemical processes observed in the Earth's hot mantle, scientists have started developing a library of basalt-based spectral signatures that not only will help reveal the composition of planets outside of our solar system but could demonstrate evidence of water on those exoplanets.

For a wide variety of emerging quantum technologies, such as secure quantum communications and quantum computing, quantum entanglement is a prerequisite. Scientists have now demonstrated a particularly efficient way in which photons can be entangled with acoustic phonons. The researchers were able to demonstrate that this entanglement is resilient to external noise, the usual pitfall of any quantum technology to date.