There May Be a “Super-Earth” Orbiting the Nearest Star to the Sun
A low-mass planet candidate orbiting Proxima Centauri at a distance of 1.5 AU. An analysis of cyclical changes in the light spectrum emitted by Proxima…
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Biology Textbooks May Be Wrong: Newly Discovered Driver of Plant Cell Growth Contradicts Current Theories
The shape and growth of plant cells may not rely on increased fluidic pressure, or turgor, inside the cell as previously believed. Rather, a new…
“Substantially Human” – Bioscientific Advancements Requires Determining Boundaries of What’s Human
Recent and rapid developments in the biosciences continually blur the lines between human beings and other living organisms, while straining the legal definitions of what…
First Image of a Black Hole Named Science’s 2019 Breakthrough of the Year
Honoring a feat that was once considered impossible, Science has named the Event Horizon Telescope’s image of a supermassive black hole as its 2019 Breakthrough…
High Above Storm Clouds, Lightning Powers Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Ultraviolet ‘Elves’
Using instruments onboard the International Space Station, researchers have observed millisecond pulses of gamma-rays produced by thunderstorms, clarifying the process by which these flashes are…
Illuminating Seafloor Seismology With Existing ‘Dark’ Fiber-Optic Cables and Distributed Acoustic Sensing
A new fault system on the seafloor was discovered off California’s coast by temporarily transforming a pre-existing underwater fiber optic cable into an array of…
Solar Spicules Launched by Magnetic Reconnection on Sun’s Surface
New observations of solar spicules, ubiquitous jet-like plasma features that punctuate the Sun’s atmosphere, suggest they are generated by the energy released as the two…
Precision Measurements of Gravity by Trapping Atoms in a Laser Beam – Could Test General Relativity and Fundamental Physics
Trapped atoms, suspended aloft on a lattice of laser light for as long as 20 seconds, allow for highly sensitive measurements of gravity, according to…
Faint Filaments of the Cosmic Web Revealed by Glowing Gas
Faintly glowing wisps of gas, excited by the intense light of surrounding star-forming galaxies, have given astronomers a rare glimpse of one of the Universe’s…
Global Climate Catastrophe If Nuclear War Between India and Pakistan
Rapidly expanding nuclear arsenals in Pakistan and India portend regional and global catastrophe. With ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan raising concerns about the possibility…
Planet Formation Theory Challenged by Massive Exoplanet Orbiting Tiny Star
Astronomers have discovered a giant Jupiter-like exoplanet in an unlikely location — orbiting a small red dwarf star. The newly identified gas giant, designated GJ…