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Did you find the squirrel in Berlin? Yes, it was a hard one, and I couldn’t find it until it was pointed out to me.  First, the original:

And then the reveal; I’ve circled the elusive rodent:

News Items: Bird Brains, Indoor Air Quality, Abortions and Infant Mortality, Black Holes Without Singularities, Banning Chemtrails; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Asteroid Hitting the Moon; Swindler's List: Tax Scams; Science or Fiction

First, it’s a cat holiday in Japan!  From Facebook:

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The Kiffness is back, riffing on a cat’s meows. This time it’s “Kitty Caught a Mouse”, with tumpet and keyboard accompaniment. (Not the gratuitous appearance of a d*g.)

 

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In this short video from Instagram, a cat not only makes biscuits, but also delivers them! (Props to whoever finds the original song in Spanish that accompanies this video.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cats Doing Things (@catsdoingthings)

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This event was covered by several British papers, including the times (click below, or find it archived here) as well as the BBC.  Yes, a cat got on a train and left home, but it all ended well.

From The Times:

Tilly had already shown her adventurous streak with solo trips to the local pub and the vet. This time, however, the two-year-old cat from Surrey decided to really go the extra mile.

Hopping aboard a train at Weybridge, Tilly proceeded to hitch an 18-mile ride into London, arriving at Waterloo station.

Michael Hardy and Emma Hill, her owners, said their affable cat had a reputation for straying, having caught buses before as well as climbing behind the bar of his local pub.

But even he admitted he was shocked when he received a call from a station officer informing him that his cat had found her way into central London.

“Luckily, I was working in London that day, but I had to drive across the city to go and collect her,” he said.

“The station staff couldn’t believe it. They said, ‘we have your cat, what the hell is she doing here?’, kind of thing. But she is always at the local station [in Weybridge]. People come from everywhere now to try to find her. The locals all know her.”

Hardy said he wouldn’t be surprised if his intrepid pet had even grander ambitions.

“Waterloo is the furthest she has ever made it. If she manages to get on the other line she could end up in Brighton,” he said.

“Summer is coming up, isn’t it? She might want to go to the beach. But she always comes back at some point.”

Hardy and Hill realised their cat was missing in November, but were in disbelief when they saw their Apple AirTag — which they bought specially to keep an eye on her — revealed that Tilly was on the train to London.

“We didn’t know where she was. We looked on the Apple tag and realised she had gone to Waterloo,” he said.

“The only way she can get there is on the train. You look at the tag and you see it going from one stop to another.”

Tilly’s journey from a Times graphic:

And her obligatory FB page:

Tilly’s reputation for adventure has won her fans from around the world. She has her own Facebook page called “Tilly the adventure cat”, which has more than 4,700 followers.

And a news video recounting Tilly’s Big Adventure:

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Lagniappe: A cat inhabiting what I think is the statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio. Click on it to see the Facebook video.

 

h/t: Amy, Divy, Mark, Chris

I think this is the hardest “spot the. . . ” picture that I’ve seen. It comes from Natalie in Berlin, who came across an Eichhörnchen (“squirrel” in German) while perambulating with her children.  You’ll have to enlarge it (click on the photo) and even then you might have trouble.

If you find it, do not give clues in the comments; let others have the fun. But you can say “I found it” or “I didn’t find it.”

The reveal will be at noon Chicago time.

Have you ever wondered how astronomers manage to map out the Milky Way when it’s so incredibly vast? One of the most powerful tools is something called 21cm radiation.

Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, plays a key role here. When the electrons in hydrogen atoms flip their spin direction, a specific type of electromagnetic radiation is emitted at a wavelength of 21 centimeters.

The Milky Way galaxy is packed with hydrogen atoms, and these atoms are constantly emitting 21cm radiation. The best part is that this radiation can travel long distances through the interstellar dust that often obscures our view of the galaxy in visible light. This makes 21cm radiation an incredibly useful tool for mapping the structure of the Milky Way.

This radiation reveals everything from star-forming gas clouds to the shapes of the galaxy’s spiral arms. Whereas visible light just gets caught up in all the interstellar dust at it tries to traverse the tens of thousands of light-years across the galaxy, 21cm radiation just sails right though.

But mapping the galaxy’s structure is just one part of the story. Astronomers can also learn about the Milky Way’s rotation by studying the redshift and blueshift of the 21cm radiation. When an object in space moves away from us, the wavelength of the light or radiation it emits gets stretched out, making it appear redder (redshift). Conversely, when an object moves toward us, the wavelength gets compressed, making it appear bluer (blueshift).

By analyzing the redshift and blueshift of the 21cm radiation from different parts of the galaxy, astronomers can determine how fast various regions of the Milky Way are rotating. This information helps them build a more comprehensive picture of our galaxy’s dynamics and motion.

The utility of 21cm radiation isn’t limited to the Milky Way alone. Astronomers can use these same techniques to study distant galaxies as well. By examining the neutral hydrogen gas clouds in far-off galaxies, they can estimate the masses of these galaxies. This is because the amount of 21cm radiation emitted is related to the number of hydrogen atoms present, which in turn gives clues about the galaxy’s overall mass.

21cm radiation is a powerful tool in the field of astronomy that allows astronomers to map the structure of our Milky Way galaxy, understand its rotation, and even estimate the masses of distant galaxies. This technique opens a window into the vast and complex universe, helping us unravel the mysteries of the cosmos with every new observation.

So next time you gaze up at the night sky, remember that there’s a whole lot more going on than meets the eye. Thanks to 21cm radiation, we’re able to peel back the layers of the Milky Way and explore the wonders of the universe in ways that were once unimaginable.

The post How Astronomers Make Deep Maps of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today.

NASA astronomers have been continuing to monitor the trajectory of asteroid 2024 YR4. The initial calculations suggested a 1.3% probability of an Earth impact event, which temporarily increased to 3.1% as more data came in. However, and with a sigh of relief, recent analysis brings encouraging news: the Earth impact probability has decreased significantly to 0.28%, though calculations now show a 1% chance of lunar impact. Observations will continue with the James Webb Space Telescope so stay tuned. 

Asteroids are rocky, airless worlds that are remnants left over from the formation of our Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago. They range in size from tiny pebbles to massive bodies hundreds of kilometres across. Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter although some follow paths that bring them closer to Earth.  Occasionally, they can pose a threat to Earth, which is why astronomers and space agencies closely monitor their orbits and develop potential deflection techniques.

Asteroid Ryugu as seen by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft, which returned a sample of the ancient asteroid to Earth in 2020. Image Courtesy ISAS/JAXA

Asteroid 2024 YR4 is one such asteroid that has had gripped the nations media over recent weeks. It’s a near-Earth object that was discovered on 27 December 2024, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile. Initially, it had an estimated 1.3% chance of impact with Earth in 2032, making it one of the highest-risk asteroids ever recorded. However, further observations raised that risk!

Atlas 2 on Mauna Loa

Astronomers use systems like ATLAS to identify near-Earth objects (NEOs) that could pose a potential threat to our planet. It was developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA and consists of a network of telescopes positioned around the world to provide continuous sky surveys. Its primary goal is to detect asteroids before a potential impact, allowing for timely warnings and mitigation efforts. Since its installation, ATLAS has successfully discovered thousands of asteroids, including hazardous ones just like 2024 YR4. 

Understanding the level of threat from asteroids like 2024 YR4 requires time, time and observations. Imagine a game of tennis and the ball is hit, sending it flying over the net. A photographer sat in the crowd grabs a snapshot of the ball as it flies over the net. The picture is a clear, sharp capture of a point in time however analysis of the image can only reveal the exact location of the ball and not its trajectory. It’s the same with asteroids, once they are discovered, a single observation will reveal where it is but a series of observations are required to understand where it’s going. Ok so this is a simplistic view but it shows how important continued observations are to asteroids like 2024 YR4.

Further observations of asteroid 2024 YR4, conducted during the night of 19-20 February have revealed encouraging results. NASA’s planetary defence team have reported that the probability of an Earth impact has decreased to 0.28%. Monitoring will of course continue to refine trajectory predictions, but current calculations indicate a slight increase in the possibility of lunar impact, now estimated at 1%. These percentages are of course tiny and pose no cause for alarm but 2024 YR4 will continue to be observed over the coming months, just to be sure.

Source : Additional Observations Continue to Reduce Chance of Asteroid Impact in 2032

The post NASA Downgrades the Risk of 2024 YR4 to Below 1% appeared first on Universe Today.

A hybrid microscope allows scientists to simultaneously image the full 3D orientation and position of an ensemble of molecules, such as labeled proteins inside cells. The microscope combines polarized fluorescence technology, a valuable tool for measuring the orientation of molecules, with a dual-view light sheet microscope (diSPIM), which excels at imaging along the depth (axial) axis of a sample.

Agricultural fertilizers are critical for feeding the world's population, restoring soil fertility and sustaining crops. Excessive and inefficient use of those resources can present an environmental threat, contaminating waterways and generating greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Now, researchers have addressed those challenges with glass fertilizer beads. The beads control nutrient release, and the researchers say they're environmentally compatible.

Researchers are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology.

Researchers are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology.

Some exoplanets have characteristics totally alien to our Solar System. Hot Jupiters are one such type. They can have orbital periods of less than 10 days and surface temperatures that can climb to well over 4,000 K (3,730 °C or 6,740 °F). Unlike any planets in our system, they’re usually tidally locked.

Astronomers probed the atmosphere of one hot Jupiter and found some strange winds blowing.

The planet is WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos. It is about 860 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Puppis. It has about 1.16 Jupiter masses and a radius about 1.75 times that of Jupiter. It’s extremely close to its main sequence star and completes an orbit every 1.27 days. Tylos is tidally locked to its star, and its dayside temperature is 3,000 Kelvin (2,730 °C or 4,940 °F), qualifying it as an ultra-hot Jupiter.

“It feels like something out of science fiction.”

Julia Seidel, European Southern Observatory

Since its discovery in 2015, Tylos’ atmosphere has been studied many times. Researchers found water in its stratosphere and hints of titanium oxide and vanadium oxide. They’ve also detected iron and chromium, though some subsequent studies failed to replicate some of these findings.

In new research, scientists examined Tylos’ atmosphere in greater detail with the four telescopes that make up the VLT. With help from the VLT’s ESPRESSO instrument, the researchers found powerful winds blowing through the exoplanet’s atmosphere and confirmed the presence of iron and titanium. The results are in two new papers.

“Even the strongest hurricanes in the Solar System seem calm in comparison.”

Julia Seidel, European Southern Observatory

The first paper, “Vertical structure of an exoplanet’s atmospheric jet stream,” was published in Nature. The lead author is Julia Seidel, a researcher at the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

The second is “Titanium chemistry of WASP-121 b with ESPRESSO in 4-UT mode,” which was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The lead author is Bibiana Prinoth, a PhD student at Lund University, Sweden, who is also with the European Southern Observatory.

Some of the researchers involved are co-authors of both papers.

“Ultra-hot Jupiters, an extreme class of planets not found in our solar system, provide a unique window into atmospheric processes,” the authors of the Nature paper write. “The extreme temperature contrasts between their day- and night-sides pose a fundamental climate puzzle: how is energy distributed?”

An artist’s impression of Tylos, also known as WASP-121 b. Image Courtesy: NASA, ESA, Q. Changeat et al., M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

“This planet’s atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works — not just on Earth, but on all planets. It feels like something out of science fiction,” said Julia Seidel, the lead author of the study published in Nature.

With the power of the VLT and ESPRESSO, the researchers were able to study Tylos’ atmosphere in detail. No other exoplanet atmosphere has ever been studied in such detail and to such depth. The researchers created a 3D map of the atmosphere, revealing distinct layers and winds.

Tylos’ atmosphere is divided into three layers, with iron winds at the bottom, followed by a very fast jet stream of sodium, and finally, an upper layer of hydrogen winds. This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

“What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates material around the planet’s equator, while a separate flow at lower levels of the atmosphere moves gas from the hot side to the cooler side. This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet,” said Seidel. The observed jet stream spans half of the planet, gaining speed and violently churning the atmosphere high up in the sky as it crosses the hot side of Tylos. “Even the strongest hurricanes in the Solar System seem calm in comparison,” she adds.

“It’s truly mind-blowing that we’re able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance.”

Bibiana Prinoth, Lund University and the European Southern Observatory

The VLT has an interesting design and is billed by the European Southern Observatory as “the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory.” It has four main units with 8.2-meter primary mirrors and four smaller, movable auxiliary ‘scopes with 1.8-meter primary mirrors. When working together with the ESPRESSO instrument, the VLT operates as a single, powerful telescope. This combined power meant that the VLT gathered ample data during a single transit of Tylos in front of its star.

“The VLT enabled us to probe three different layers of the exoplanet’s atmosphere in one fell swoop,” said study co-author Leonardo A. dos Santos, an assistant astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The researchers traced the movement of the winds by tracking the movements of different elements: iron, sodium, and hydrogen correspond to the deep, mid, and shallow layers of the atmosphere. “It’s the kind of observation that is very challenging to do with space telescopes, highlighting the importance of ground-based observations of exoplanets,” he adds.

This diagram shows the structure and motion of the atmosphere of the exoplanet Tylos (WASP-121b). The exoplanet is shown from above in this figure, looking at one of its poles. The planet rotates counter-clockwise in such a way that it always shows the same side to its parent star. One side is perpetual day, and the other is perpetual night. The transition between night and day is the “morning side,” while the “evening side” represents the transition between day and night; its morning side is to the right, and its evening side is to the left. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

The observations revealed an exoplanet atmosphere with unusual complexity.

When Tylos crosses in front of its host star, known as a transit, atoms in the planet’s atmosphere absorb specific wavelengths of starlight, which was measured with the VLT’s ESPRESSO instrument. With that data, astronomers reconstructed the composition and velocity of different layers in the atmosphere. An iron wind blows in the deepest layer, away from the point of the planet where the star is directly overhead. Above the iron layer is a very fast jet of sodium that moves faster than the planet rotates. The sodium jet accelerates as it moves from the planet’s morning side to its evening side. The upper layer is made of hydrogen, where the wind blows outwards. The hydrogen layer overlaps with the sodium jet below it.

The authors explain that this unusual planet is more than just an oddity. Its unusual characteristics make it a great testbed for Global Circulation Models. “By resolving the vertical structure of atmospheric dynamics, we move beyond integrated global snapshots of the atmosphere, enabling more accurate identification of flow patterns and allowing for a more nuanced comparison to models,” the authors explain.

The study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics is also based on data from the VLT and ESPRESSO. It uncovered more details of Tylos’ atmosphere, including its chemistry. “The transmission spectrum of WASP-121 b has been extensively studied using the cross-correlation technique, resulting in detections and confirmations for various atoms and ions, including H I, Mg I, Ca I, V I, Cr I, Fe I, Ni I, Fe II, Ca II, and K I, Ba II,” the authors write. “We confirm all these detections and additionally report detections for Ti I, Mn I, Co I Sr I, and Sr II.”

“This experience makes me feel like we’re on the verge of uncovering incredible things we can only dream about now.”

Bibiana Prinoth, Lund University and the European Southern Observatory

The researchers found titanium just below the jet stream. This finding is interesting because previous research detected titanium and subsequent research refuted that. “We attribute the capability of detecting Ti I to the superior photon-collecting power enabled by using ESPRESSO in 4-UT mode compared to a single 1-UT transit and to improvements in the application of the cross-correlation technique,” the authors explain.

The cross-correlation technique is a powerful method for studying exoplanet atmospheres. Light from the atmosphere is much fainter than light from the star and can be obscured by the much stronger starlight. The cross-correlation technique helps overcome this by comparing the observed spectrum with the known “template” spectrum of specific molecules and atoms expected to be present in the atmosphere.

This figure shows the two-dimensional cross-correlation function of H I, Li I, Na I, Mg I, K I, Ca I, Ti I, V I, Cr I, Mn I, Fe I, Fe II, Co I, Ni I, Ba II, Sr I and Sr II. The last panel shows the cross-correlation function for the entire atmospheric model. Image Credit: Prinoth et al. 2025.

“It’s truly mind-blowing that we’re able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance,” said Bibiana Prinoth, lead author of the Astronomy and Astrophysics paper.

“The 4-UT mode of ESPRESSO, with its effective photon collecting area equivalent to that of a 16-meter class telescope, serves as a valuable test-bed for pushing the limits of S/N on relatively faint targets,” the authors write in their conclusion.

The study of exoplanet atmosphere with ground-based telescopes will soon get a big boost. In 2028, the long-awaited Extremely Large Telescope should begin operations. It will have a 39.3-metre-diameter primary mirror, giving it 250 times more light-gathering area than the Hubble. It will also feature powerful instruments to probe exoplanet atmospheres.

“The present analysis also allows us to anticipate the observational capabilities of the soon-to-be-commissioned ELT, particularly with regard to time-resolved studies of exoplanet atmospheres,” the authors write.

Who knows what further strangeness is waiting to be discovered in exoplanet atmospheres?

“The ELT will be a game-changer for studying exoplanet atmospheres,” said Prinoth. “This experience makes me feel like we’re on the verge of uncovering incredible things we can only dream about now.”

• Press Release: First 3D observations of an exoplanet’s atmosphere
• Research: Vertical structure of an exoplanet’s atmospheric jet stream
• Research: Titanium chemistry of WASP-121 b with ESPRESSO in 4-UT mode

The post Strange Winds Blow Through this Exoplanet’s Atmosphere appeared first on Universe Today.

Hair conditioner made using lignin, a polymer found in wood and bark, works just as well as a commercial product - as long as you don't mind the smell

Rock dust, compost and biochar can all help capture carbon dioxide and boost crop yields when spread on soil – but researchers are discovering they may be even more effective when used in combination

The US withdrawal from the World Health Organization formally takes one year, but the country has already stopped sharing influenza surveillance with the international body, which could impact the efficacy of the next flu vaccine

Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly large language models like GPT-4, has shown impressive performance on reasoning tasks. But does AI truly understand abstract concepts, or is it just mimicking patterns? A new study reveals that while GPT models perform well on some analogy tasks, they fall short when the problems are altered, highlighting key weaknesses in AI's reasoning capabilities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly large language models like GPT-4, has shown impressive performance on reasoning tasks. But does AI truly understand abstract concepts, or is it just mimicking patterns? A new study reveals that while GPT models perform well on some analogy tasks, they fall short when the problems are altered, highlighting key weaknesses in AI's reasoning capabilities.

Scientists have now mapped the forces acting inside a proton, showing in unprecedented detail how quarks -- the tiny particles within -- respond when hit by high-energy photons. The international team includes experts who are exploring the structure of sub-atomic matter to try to provide further insight into the forces that underpin the natural world.

Rubidium could be the next key player in oxide-ion conductors. Researchers have discovered a rare rubidium (Rb)-containing oxide-ion conductor with exceptionally high conductivity. Identified through computational screening and experiments, its superior performance stems from low activation energy and structural features like large free volume and tetrahedral motion. Its stability under various conditions offers a promising direction for solid oxide fuel cells and clean energy technologies.

Rubidium could be the next key player in oxide-ion conductors. Researchers have discovered a rare rubidium (Rb)-containing oxide-ion conductor with exceptionally high conductivity. Identified through computational screening and experiments, its superior performance stems from low activation energy and structural features like large free volume and tetrahedral motion. Its stability under various conditions offers a promising direction for solid oxide fuel cells and clean energy technologies.

Optical atomic clocks can increase the precision of time and geographic position a thousandfold in our mobile phones, computers, and GPS systems. However, they are currently too large and complex to be widely used in society. Now, a research team has developed a technology that, with the help of on-chip microcombs, could make ultra-precise optical atomic clock systems significantly smaller and more accessible -- with significant benefits for navigation, autonomous vehicles, and geo-data monitoring.