Calif. city to lay off employees, including within PD, amid budget crisis

The Hollister Police Officers Association stated it was told the city would “lay off every single civilian staff member of our department;” the city denied that claim, but did not describe the extent of the layoffs

Go to Source

How did Mars get its moons? Japan’s MMX space mission aims to solve the puzzle

The Earth got its moon when a small planet collided with our planet more than 4 billion years ago. This impact hurled molten rock into space, which eventually coalesced to form the satellite we can see every night from across our planet.

Go to Source

BWC: 2 N.J. SWAT officers shot while executing search warrant, suspect killed

The suspect, who was paralyzed from a prior shootout with police, opened fire as the Atlantic City PD SWAT team breached the door, striking one officer in the leg and one on his helmet

Go to Source

Okla. officers injured in pursuit after suspect T-bones, flips cruiser

Tulsa Police officers captured the suspect after he fled the scene on foot; the suspect and two officers were hospitalized following the crash

Go to Source

Former NBA All-Star joins Fla. police department

Amar’e Stoudemire played in the NBA for 14 years, finishing with a season playing for the Miami Heat; now, he’s back in Miami, serving with the school district police department

Go to Source

BWC: Suspect in shooting of Colo. officer arrested after 2-day manhunt

Thornton PD credited residents who reported sightings of the suspect and several partner agencies with facilitating the arrest; the wounded officer is expected to recover

Go to Source

Chandra breaks down ‘Treble Clef’s’ galaxy cluster collision

Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to break down the cause of a remarkable formation of radio waves they have nicknamed the “Treble Clef” because its distinct shape strongly resembles the musical symbol.

Go to Source

Laser pulses bring order to a quantum material’s tiny electrical regions

Physicists at Auburn University have used flashes of laser light to bring order to tiny electrically charged “islands” inside a crystal. The discovery helps answer a decades-old question about how the material organizes itself and shows how light could be used to control its behavior—a step toward exploring new technologies for processing and storing information. […]

Quantum calculations reveal how spin defects lose energy

When light hits a tiny defect embedded in a solid material like diamond or silicon carbide, it can kick the defect’s electrons into an excited state. These spin defects have the potential to be used as stable, readable qubits for quantum technologies, for example, quantum sensing. But modeling the full physics of their energetics over […]

Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in attempted robbery identified himself as cop 6 times during attack, DA says

Det. Jose Mercedes was stabbed repeatedly by the pair of muggers, primarily in his arms; he is currently unable to use his left hand

Go to Source

Quantum sensor could measure how Earth drags spacetime

Einstein’s theory of general relativity describes gravity as the bending of spacetime, a mathematical model that combines three-dimensional space and time into a single, four-dimensional continuum. The theory also predicts that a rotating object, such as Earth, slightly drags the surrounding spacetime as it rotates, a phenomenon known as frame-dragging.

Go to Source

[…]

Green, pink and purple: Astronomers reveal the surprising true colors of white dwarf stars

University of Warwick astronomers have shown that white dwarf stars can glow in a range of colors, including the first star ever found that would appear green to the human eye.

Go to Source

NASA develops batteries to power humanity’s return to moon

If you’ve ever had your car start sluggishly, or not at all, on a particularly frigid winter morning, you know standard batteries do not like extreme cold. That’s why NASA researchers are working to develop a battery that could function in the brutal cold of the moon’s south pole, where nighttime temperatures plunge to minus […]

New chip-scale gyroscope measures rotation with unprecedented sensitivity

Researchers have developed a chip-scale optical ring-laser gyroscope that can measure rotation as slow as 37 degrees per hour. This record sensitivity, approaching Earth’s rotation rate of 15 degrees per hour, could eventually be useful for precision navigation and orientation systems, particularly where GPS is unavailable.

Go to Source

A trip to Mars could come at a heartbreaking cost

When astronauts first travel to Mars or anywhere else in deep space, they will have to contend with two problems that our planet protects us from on its surface—radiation and weightlessness. Scientists already know both can have a profound impact on the human body, but the extent of that impact and how long it can […]