Paranormal News Network

X-ray free-electron laser sets new record for shortest high-energy pulses

Researchers at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have measured the shortest high-energy X-ray pulses ever recorded at an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). The pulses had photon energies of about 9 kiloelectronvolts (keV) and clocked in at durations of 100 to 400 attoseconds—mere billionths of a billionth of a second. The results are published in Nature Photonics.

Hubble observations challenge supernova winds’ role in cosmic reionization

An international team of researchers, including members from the University of Michigan, has revealed surprising results that could rewrite our understanding of a key transition in the early universe.

Ultrafast light can control ferromagnetism without relying on heating

Despite being known for more mundane uses such as sticking notes to refrigerators or keeping bags shut, magnetization is one of the most fundamental and useful properties of a material. Indeed, it forms the physical basis for storing most of our digital information, encoding the bits used in hard drives, computer memories and credit cards.

Entire Ga. PD resigns; officer alleges mayor put tracker on police chief’s vehicle

Milner PD Chief Lamar Bunn and his entire department will be stepping down; one officer’s resignation letter cited frustration with the mayor and some city council members

Fla. officer accused of renovating home of man he found dead on welfare check, using his identity

The Lauderhill officer allegedly used the homeowner’s identity on permit paperwork and ran seven law enforcement database searches on him

Reexamined Viking 2 signal reveals possible marsquake from region active decades later

Earthquakes and the seismic waves they generate provide some of the best clues to Earth’s interior. To extend that success to other worlds, scientists placed seismometers on the Apollo missions to the moon and on the Viking Mars landers, which reached Mars in 1976. Though the Apollo detectors proved a resounding success, Viking’s results on Mars were less clear: Viking 1’s seismometer failed to deploy properly, and Viking 2 recorded only two ambiguous events.

Fla. university PD adds flying vehicle to its fleet

The vehicle could help police monitor campus, reach hard-to-access areas and assist with post-storm recovery, Florida Polytechnic University said

‘Invisible’ tweak could help make protein shakes less clumpy

Scientists from RMIT University and Riga Technical University in Latvia have shown that static charge left on surfaces can be controlled, which may have big benefits for companies needing to avoid the little zap in production of common household goods. The discovery could even one day help stop powders such as protein, chocolate malt powders and coffee from clumping.

Physicists trap and tame single particle of antimatter for months

For the first time, Northwestern University physicists have coaxed a single positron—the antimatter counterpart of an electron—into an exquisitely controlled quantum state.

Astronomers uncover the engine behind the most powerful stellar flares in the Kepler field

A new study led by researchers at the Konkoly Observatory of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences (HUN-REN CSFK) in Budapest has revealed what makes a distant red giant star the most explosively active in the entire Kepler field—and the answer lies in a surprisingly subtle interplay between a close stellar companion, vast dark starspots and a highly efficient internal magnetic dynamo.

Atomic memory keeps distant ions entangled for about 10 seconds

Quantum networks, systems that connect devices and allow them to exchange information encoded in the quantum states of particles, could enable more secure communications. To build these networks, physicists need to devise strategies that allow distant particles to share quantum states, preserving them long enough to perform calculations or enable communication between devices.

SpaceX turns a profit after a string of losses as its satellite and computer leasing businesses soar

SpaceX reported a bigger quarterly profit than expected Tuesday as its satellite communications operations and its business of leasing computing power to other companies boomed.

A magnetar can be born when two neutron stars touch

All neutron stars have intense magnetic fields. The typical magnetic field of a neutron star is about 100,000 times stronger than the strongest magnetic fields we can create on Earth. But about 1% of neutron stars have even stronger magnetic fields. Known as magnetars, their magnetic fields can be 1,000 times stronger than a regular magnetic field. They are a likely cause of powerful transient events such as soft gamma-ray repeaters and fast radio bursts. A new study looks at how magnetars might form. The findings are published on the arXiv preprint server.

Rare solar radiation storm gives scientists clearest picture yet of flight risks

The most comprehensive data set ever collected from Earth’s atmosphere during a solar radiation event has highlighted the importance of better-coordinated radiation monitoring for aviation safety, according to new research led by the University of Surrey.

‘Terror of kings’: Why the 1066 appearance of Halley’s Comet terrified the medieval world

A sequence on the Bayeux Tapestry shows King Harold alongside a crowd gazing at the sky, beneath the embroidered caption Isti mirant stella (“those people marvel at the star”). Above Harold sits Halley’s Comet, with ghostlike invasion boats in the border below—a Norman framing of Harold as a doomed usurper whose betrayal invited destruction.