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Astrophysicists resolve ‘negative superhump’ conundrum of deep-space binary star systems

New UNLV-led research is helping to unravel clues to a cosmic mystery that has eluded scientists for decades. Cataclysmic variables (CVs) are binary star systems in which primary stars—incredibly dense and compact white dwarfs—accumulate material from nearby companion stars. The material spirals in towards the white dwarf through what is known as an accretion disk. These deep space systems are responsible for a number of cosmic phenomena, including sudden bursts of light known as classical novae that temporarily appear to resemble new stars before fading away over time.

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Image: NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes survey the Pinwheel Galaxy

This March 16, 2026, image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope takes a closer look at the core of Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy.

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Stealth superstorms reveal lightning on Jupiter: Beyond the superbolt

Jupiter’s lightning has long been of interest to planetary scientists, as it marks stormy spots where researchers can look to learn more about convection in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Observing lightning from a distance can be tricky, so scientists have focused on the bolts that are easiest to study: strong flashes that strike at night. As a result, some studies have concluded that lightning bolts on Jupiter are all similar to the strongest lightning on Earth, known as “superbolts.” This conclusion was recently questioned, however, when the high-sensitivity star tracker camera on NASA’s Juno spacecraft detected faint, shallow lightning.

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Superconducting chip generates tunable terahertz waves for compact imaging

A tiny crystal chip which uses terahertz radiation to see clearly through a wide range of materials could find applications in health care, biological research, and security screening. Researchers from Scotland and Japan have developed a lightweight superconducting chip, which they say could unlock the full potential of terahertz imaging technologies and lead to the development of more powerful and portable devices.

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Hubble revisits Crab Nebula to track 25 years of expansion

Nearly a millennium ago, astronomers witnessed a brilliant new star blazing in the sky—a supernova so bright it was visible in daylight for weeks. Today, its expanding remnant, the Crab Nebula, continues to evolve 6,500 light-years away. First linked to historical records by Edwin Hubble, the nebula has since been studied in exquisite detail by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which has now revisited this ancient explosion to trace its ongoing expansion and transformation.

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Texas deputy fired, indicted on murder charge in 2025 OIS

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s disciplinary committee found that Deputy Aileen Jimenez Barboza violated multiple department policies in the shooting death of Levincer Swanson

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‘Shots Fired’ podcast: Why the Afroman lawsuit struck a nerve with cops

“Shots Fired” hosts broke down the lawsuit tied to a 2022 search warrant at rapper Afroman’s Ohio home, weighing search warrant tactics, privacy expectations and why the case became a viral punchline

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BWC: Naked man fleeing from Calif. officers tries to attack them with shovel before OIS

Video from the incident shows the suspect initially surrendering to Yuba City officers before resisting, fleeing and arming himself with a shovel

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Saturn-mass world discovered orbiting two low-mass stars

Researchers report the discovery of a Saturn-sized exoplanet orbiting two M-dwarf stars, which are smaller and cooler than our sun. The findings from this discovery were published in the The Astronomical Journal and were made using a lesser-known exoplanet discovery method known as gravitational microlensing, or microlensing for short.

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Hydrogen shell detected around Nova Persei 1901 may be a planetary nebula

Using NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope, astronomers have observed remnants of the eruption of Nova Persei 1901. As a result, they detected a bipolar molecular hydrogen shell around this nova, which may be a large planetary nebula. The finding was detailed in a paper published March 13 on the arXiv pre-print server.

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Quantum computers could have a fundamental limit after all

The performance of quantum computers could cap out after around 1,000 qubits, according to a new analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Through new calculations, Tim Palmer at the University of Oxford has reconsidered the mathematical foundations underlying the quantum principles behind the technology, concluding that restrictions on the information-carrying capacity of large quantum systems could make their computing power far more limited than many researchers predict.

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2 police officers injured after jet crashes into fire truck at LaGuardia Airport, killing pilot and copilot

A fire truck responding to a separate incident was struck by a passenger jet as it landed; the pilot and copilot were killed, and two Port Authority Police officers were treated for broken bones

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Electric current stabilizes spins at unstable points for new types of computing

A research team has discovered a new way to control tiny magnetic properties inside materials using electric current, which could possibly pave the way for new types of computing technologies. The work is based on spintronics, a field that uses not only the electric charge of electrons but also their “spin,” a quantum property that can be thought of as a tiny magnet.

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Superconducting quantum processor performs well with significantly less wiring

Quantum computers, computing systems that process information using quantum mechanical effects, could outperform classical computers on some computational tasks. These computers rely on qubits, the basic units of quantum information, which can exist in multiple states (0, 1 or both simultaneously), due to quantum effects known as superposition and entanglement.

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‘Space archaeology’ reveals first dynamic history of a giant spiral galaxy

A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian have for the first time used galactic archaeology, the study of detailed chemical fingerprints in deep space, to trace the history of a galaxy outside the Milky Way. The study, published in Nature Astronomy, demonstrates a new way to reconstruct the evolution of distant galaxies, and opens up a new field of astronomy, called “extragalactic archaeology.”

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