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Timeline: How the July 7, 2016 Dallas ambush unfolded

What began as a peaceful demonstration ended with five officers killed, several others wounded and a historic SWAT operation

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New Horizons watches the solar wind as it slows down

Where does the solar system end and interstellar space begin? That’s a question scientists have been working to answer using spacecraft traveling beyond the sun’s influence. A team of researchers from the Southwest Research Institute, led by Heather Elliott, is using the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument aboard New Horizons to track the solar wind in the outer reaches of the solar system.

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JWST finds the most distant barred galaxy candidate in the early universe

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified what may be the most distant barred spiral galaxy ever discovered, dating to a time less than 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. The paper outlining its properties was posted to the arXiv preprint server on June 23.

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Metallic rutile oxides break the rules of cooling

Physicists have long puzzled over a strange contradiction inside a family of minerals called rutile oxides. These materials all share the same crystal structure—but while some of them, like titanium dioxide, are firmly insulating, others, like ruthenium dioxide, conduct electricity like a metal. So far, physicists have had little idea of why this happens.

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‘Cosmic wallflowers’ may hold the key to the origin of globular clusters

Astronomers using computer simulations have investigated whether a class of star clusters nicknamed “cosmic wallflowers” could be the long-sought ancestors of the globular clusters we see orbiting galaxies today. Their paper, posted to the arXiv preprint server on June 25, suggests that where a cluster is born and how fast it spins may determine its fate.

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Researchers break a fundamental rule to create a new concept: Heat that can be directed and ‘programmed’

Normally, a material absorbs and emits heat in a linked way: A surface that absorbs heat well at a certain wavelength and direction will also emit heat in the same way. This fundamental relationship, known as reciprocity, limits the ability to independently control heat absorption and heat emission.

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It’s disturbingly easy to trick AI into seeing aliens, say researchers

Are we alone in the universe? Consider mysterious “extraterrestrial” radio signals. Unexplained gases on other planets. Things mistaken for UFOs.

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Bulk ferromagnetic quasicrystals emerge without rapid quenching, unlocking stable magnetic studies

Ferromagnetism has long been studied in a wide range of periodic crystals and amorphous materials. In quasicrystals (QCs), which possess long-range quasiperiodic order and unconventional rotational symmetries, such as 10-fold symmetry, ferromagnetism remained elusive until recently, when it was finally realized in gold (Au)-based icosahedral QCs. These discoveries establish QCs as a third platform for magnetism beyond periodic crystals and amorphous materials.

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Scientists just measured the smallest possible contacts for future computer chips

The rise of AI has created an almost insatiable appetite for computing power. Training and running AI systems requires vast numbers of transistors, and engineers are now racing to pack more of them onto every chip. With their existing designs, however, silicon transistors are rapidly running up against physical limits on how small they can get.

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How an interstellar comet sheds light on universe’s ‘cosmic noon’

Last year, an interstellar traveler entered our solar system. Some speculated that it was an alien spacecraft, but it turned out to be a comet, 3I/Atlas, and it provoked interest from astronomers and astrophysicists eager for insights into galaxies far, far away. Detailed observations from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shot down the alien spacecraft idea, but recent NASA analysis holds clues about the comet’s ancient and, literally, alien origins.

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Quantum computing: Laser-optical system offers full control over 2,000 trapped Rydberg atoms

Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen has developed a highly complex laser-optical system for a quantum computer currently under construction at the 5th Institute of Physics at the University of Stuttgart. This system enables 2,000 Rydberg atoms to be positioned with submicrometer precision in the computer’s highly compact vacuum chamber. To do this, the system projects an array of 2,000 individually controllable laser beams into the chamber. These beams act as optical tweezers and hold the trapped Rydberg atoms precisely at the distance required for them to interact with each other. The computer’s quantum logic processes are based on these interactions.

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Ohio officer killed, 4 others wounded in shooting during disturbance call

Rittman Sgt. Scott Ries was killed, four officers and a Wayne County sheriff’s K-9 were wounded, and the suspected gunman was found dead inside the home

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Former Utah officer testifies about finding ‘sniper pad’ on nearby rooftop after Charlie Kirk assassination

A former Utah Valley University officer testified he found evidence of a prone firing position overlooking the shooting scene as prosecutors seek to send the capital murder case to trial

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A new net-membrane could clean up some tricky space debris

We’ve reported on all kinds of wacky ideas for capturing and deorbiting space debris safely. From electric tethers to lasers, engineers and scientists have been trying everything they can think of to deal with the ever-increasing orbital debris problem. But one simple design keeps popping up over and over again—a net. A new paper from researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China details one of the most advanced net concepts yet—but whether we can actually build one remains to be seen.

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The square kilometer array will revolutionize the hunt for alien life

With new technologies come new opportunities. And that is especially true in astronomy—with every new advanced telescope, we have the potential to see (or in some cases, listen) farther and more clearly than ever before. That is certainly the case for the new Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which is currently undergoing a multiyear rollout phase. Despite that drawn-out process, astronomers are already excited about its potential, and a new book chapter from Dr. Chenoa Tremblay and her co-authors details how this new technology could be used to answer one of the most fundamental questions: Are we alone?

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