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New measurements of radio galaxies reveal that the solar system is racing through the universe at over three times the speed predicted by standard cosmology. Using highly sensitive data from multiple radio telescope arrays, researchers uncovered a surprisingly strong dipole pattern—one that challenges longstanding assumptions about how matter is distributed across cosmic scales. The results echo similar anomalies seen in quasar studies, hinting that something fundamental about our universe’s structure or our motion through it may need rewriting.

New measurements of radio galaxies reveal that the solar system is racing through the universe at over three times the speed predicted by standard cosmology. Using highly sensitive data from multiple radio telescope arrays, researchers uncovered a surprisingly strong dipole pattern—one that challenges longstanding assumptions about how matter is distributed across cosmic scales. The results echo similar anomalies seen in quasar studies, hinting that something fundamental about our universe’s structure or our motion through it may need rewriting.

I have pretty much run out of contributions, but am also allowed to plunder the wonderful photos of Scott Ritchie from Cairns, Australia. Here are some more from his trip to Western Australia. Scott’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. (Scott’s Facebook page is here.)

An update on the WA trip, part III. Here are some of my favourite birds and mammals from my travels through Denmark and Albany. I will also provide an in depth look at the aquatics from Lake Sepping, Albany in the next post. It’s a great area, wonderful trees, intriguing flowers, dramatic landscapes, brilliant cool climate wines and outstanding birds!

Golden or Western Whistler (Pachycephala fuliginosa):

A White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis) declares his patch:

Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus) has to dodge the surf.

That was close!:

Heh, I was first! A Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) stares down an incoming bee at a nectar bar:

While the ever agro honeyeater, the New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), shows off his diving form chasing any other bird that shows up:

Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang). “Red, red robin goes bob, bob bobin away!”:

A Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) shuffles out the rain:

Then flies down for a tasty slug:

I love the icy blue head on the Red-winged Fairywren (Malurus elegans)!:

A Red-eared Firetail (Stagonopleura oculata) lights his afterburner:

 

Before going into high speed orbit!:

Pelicans at Ocean Beach. Turn around or you’ll miss the rainbow!:

A Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides) hovers above Green Pool at Denmark, enjoying a grasshopper for brekkie:

“Watch out, here he comes!”  The kestrel then flies to Elephant Rocks where he is given a rude welcome by a Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena):

Heavy winter rains made for quite a itchy visit! Local mozzies were driving the Western Grey Kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) crazy:

Australian Ringneck (AKA 28 Parrot; Barnardius zonarius) enjoys the flowers in the field:

Material science plays a critical role in space exploration. So many of the challenges facing both crewed and non-crewed missions come down to factors like weight, thermal and radiation tolerance, and overall material stability. The results of a new study from Young-Kyeong Kim of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and their colleagues should therefore be exciting for those material scientists who focus on radiation protection. After decades of trying, the authors were able to create a fully complete “sheet” of Boron Nitride Nanotubes (BNNTs).

Dumbest Thing of the Week: Noah's Ark; News Items: Using AI to Design Viruses, Creatine for Cognitive Function, Earth Digital Twin, Quiet Supersonic Jet, Tet For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Wolf Tool Use; Science or Fiction

Scientists have achieved a breakthrough that seemed impossible just months ago, they have simulated our entire Milky Way galaxy down to each of its 100 billion individual stars. By combining artificial intelligence with supercomputer power, researchers created a model that captures everything from galactic arms to the explosive deaths of individual stars, completing in days what would have taken conventional simulations 36 years. This fusion of AI and physics represents a significant shift in how we model complex systems, with implications reaching far beyond astronomy.

Water trapped inside tiny molecular cavities behaves in a surprisingly energetic way, pushing outward like people crammed in an elevator. When a new molecule enters these narrow spaces, the confined water forces its way out—boosting the strength of the molecular bond that forms in its place. Researchers from KIT and Constructor University have now proven this effect both experimentally and theoretically, showing that these "highly energetic" water molecules can dramatically influence how other molecules interact.

Scientists from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have uncovered new evidence that water once flowed beneath the surface of Mars, revealing that the planet may have remained habitable for life much longer than previously thought.

An expanding universe complicates this picture just a little bit, because the universe absolutely refuses to be straightforward.

I honestly don’t have a decent analogy for you to explain how the universe is expanding without a center and without an edge. It just does, whether we can wrap our minds around it or not. But I CAN give you a way to think about it.

The distant universe might be littered with supermassive stars between 1000 and 10,000 times the mass of the sun, which could solve a cosmic mystery about the origins of extremely large black holes

Spinning vortices of water trapped under the Thwaites glacier ice shelf account for 20 per cent of the ice melt. They’re expected to get worse as the world warms

Satellite megaconstellations are quickly becoming the backbone of a number of industries. Cellular communication, GPS, weather monitoring and more are now, at least in part, reliant on the networks of thousands of satellites cruising by in low Earth orbit. But, as these constellations grow into the tens of thousands of individual members, the strain they are putting on the communications and controls systems of their ground stations is becoming untenable. A new paper from Yuhe Mao of the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and their co-authors hopes to alleviate some of that pressure by offloading much of the control scheme and network decision-making logic to satellites themselves.

Well, this is it, people: the last batch of photos I have on hand. Please send in yours if you have good ones. Thanksgiving break would be a good time to get those snaps together.

Today’s pictures come from Paul Handford, who sent photos of thrushes from British Columbia and Ireland. Paul’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here’s a sampler of members of the Family Turdidae, the thrushes et al.  Some are from our decade living in south central British Columbia, while others are from around here now, in Ireland.

First, BC. As before, all images are from the area around Kamloops, mostly from our yard.

American robin, Turdus migratorius: IMG_7029.

Almost everyone living in North America is familiar with this bird, dubbed “robin” on account of its brick-red underparts, recalling to early European immigrants their familiar Old World robin, a much smaller bird, from a different avian family.  Its vocalizations and general behaviour strongly resemble those of the Eurasian blackbird in the same taxonomic genus, Turdus merula (see below):

Mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides.

A bird of higher-elevations in western parts of the continent.  The males are the very bluest of the three North American. bluebird species.  Like other Sialia species, they are cavity-nesters, and feed primarily on ground invertebrates, spotted from elevated perches on fence-posts and local vegetation.

Females are generally a more subtly beautiful beige & ashy, with blue restricted to wings, rump and tail.

Male:

Female:

Townsend’s solitaire, Myadestes townsendi.

Like the mountain bluebird, this is a species of the mountainous west.  It is a year-round resident in southern BC, but its breeding range extends way north into Yukon and Alaska.  Almost exclusively insectivorous in the breeding season, it overwinters in our area on diverse berries—as here on rowan (Sorbus):

Swainson’s thrush, Catharus ustulatus.

Other than in the mountains and coasts of the western US, this is a breeding bird of forsts and woodlands of Canada and Alaska.  More often heard than seen, this secretive bird has a distinctive haunting, flute-like song [JAC: you can hear its songs here.]

Varied thrush, Ixoreus naevius.

Another strictly western bird, one typical of the deep forest, where its one-note songs, usually repeated at slightly different pitches, provide for a rather eerie ambience.  Though mainly a summer breeder in BC, individuals often would overwinter, subsisting on berries, again in our dependable rowan tree:

Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula:

This species is the rough counterpart of the American robin:  a familiar songster in parks and gardens pretty much all over.  As Paul McCartney memorably told us, they often do produce their lovely fluting song “in the dead of night”. [JAC: A variety of song recordings is here.]

Male.  The male is the one that gives the vernacular name. Apart from crows et al, this is the only common jet black bird in these parts, so the name offers no room for ambiguity:

Female:  The female’s plumage is mostly a rather sooty brown, and it lacks the striking crocus-yellow bill and eye-rign of the male:

Mistle thrush, Turdus viscivorus.  

A large, rather pale greyish thrush, with round spots on the white breast and belly, that forms noisy little gangs during the winter, often giving their distinctive rattling calls.  They have a typical thrush invertebrate + fruit diet, though their names derive from a presumed predilection for the beries of mistletoe, Viscum album:

Song thrush, Turdus philomelos.  
This is the thrush that most closely resembles the form of the typical North American thrushes, with brown-russet back, with streaky-spots on pale under-parts that becoming buffy on flanks and near the throat.  A familiar denizen of gardens and parks, as well as in woodland and forests, this thrush has a distinctive song comprising sequences of repetitions of short whistled phrases:

Around 1000 markings on a slab of rock that was once a seafloor during the Cretaceous period may have been made by sea turtle flippers and swiftly buried by an earthquake

Conventional computing devices will play a crucial role in turning quantum computers into tools with real-world application

New observations show that asteroid 1998 KY26 is a mere 11 meters across and spinning twice as fast as previously thought. The discovery adds complexity to Hayabusa2’s 2031 mission but also heightens scientific interest. The asteroid’s composition remains uncertain, making the encounter even more compelling. Insights from this work could improve future asteroid-defense and exploration efforts.

Scientists have directly measured the minuscule electron sharing that makes precious-metal catalysts so effective. Their new technique, IET, reveals how molecules bind and react on metal surfaces with unprecedented clarity. The insights promise faster discovery of advanced catalysts for energy, chemicals, and manufacturing.

Researchers have discovered a way to store information using a rare class of materials called ferroaxials, which rely on swirling electric dipoles instead of magnetism or charge. These vortex-like states are naturally stable and resistant to outside interference, but until now were almost impossible to control. By using circularly polarized terahertz light, scientists were able to flip these tiny rotational patterns on command, opening the door to a new form of robust, ultrafast, and long-lasting data storage.

Researchers have discovered a way to store information using a rare class of materials called ferroaxials, which rely on swirling electric dipoles instead of magnetism or charge. These vortex-like states are naturally stable and resistant to outside interference, but until now were almost impossible to control. By using circularly polarized terahertz light, scientists were able to flip these tiny rotational patterns on command, opening the door to a new form of robust, ultrafast, and long-lasting data storage.