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Simulations hint at a hidden population of companionless black holes

So far, almost all stellar-mass black holes detected by astronomers have been found in binary systems. However, astronomers have long suspected that these binary black holes are the exception and that, within the Milky Way, most exist on their own.

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Astrobiologist uses Apollo lunar samples as mirror onto early Earth

Roll back the tape of Earth’s history, and geologists and astrobiologists remain perplexed about the environmental conditions on early Earth. That’s because conventional pathways for understanding Earth’s history have been lost to time owing to the planet’s active geology and atmospheric weathering.

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Spaceflight could change how astronauts swallow, eat and drink in subtle ways

Imagine trying to swallow a sip of water while your face feels stuffed with congestion, your sense of taste is dulled and your body is floating 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.

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Ultrafast X-ray flashes partially reverse the damage they cause, enabling brighter, more accurate imaging

The interaction between X-rays and matter can be actively controlled, according to an international research team led by the University of Hamburg and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory that has succeeded in producing bright X-ray images with significantly less damage. In an article published in Nature Communications, the researchers report using ultrafast pulses that partially reverse the damage they generate.

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Idaho gunman who killed 3 was distracted by off-duty trooper, bystander who returned fire at him

Chad Williams opened fire at an In-N-Out Burger, killing three people and wounding seven; he was distracted from his rampage by an off-duty officer and an armed bystander

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BWC: Suspect shoots 2 men in front of N.M. officers before fatal OIS

A bystander was also wounded in the Albuquerque Police officer-involved shooting

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N.M. county agrees to $2M settlement in helicopter crash that killed 4 first responders

The lawsuits alleged Bernalillo County knowingly operated an aging helicopter with serious mechanical problems before the deadly crash

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Study lays groundwork for classifying lunar soil

As we move closer to supporting a sustainable human presence on the moon, researchers are investigating how its soils can provide valuable resources and even grow food. An article in the Soil Science Society of America Journal proposes a classification framework to help scientists better understand lunar soils. This emerging science of “planetary pedology,” the study and classification of soils beyond Earth, could help future missions select the best sites for construction, resource extraction and potential cultivation, thereby supporting long-term, sustainable human settlement on the moon.

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Pluto’s hazy atmosphere may be collapsing as it moves farther from the sun

Pluto is on an icy march away from the sun. In 2114, it will turn back, but until then, its elliptical orbit will carry it to colder and darker parts of the outer solar system. This is Pluto’s first time entering the outer solar system since its 1930 discovery, and along this journey, its atmosphere could slowly freeze out.

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Key principle to boost efficiency of artificial photosynthesis and next-generation semiconductors

A research team led by Taeyeon Kim, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Sungkyunkwan University, in collaboration with a team from Yonsei University, has identified a new principle that controls charge separation, a phenomenon that plays a central role in both plants’ generation of electrical energy (photosynthesis) and next-generation molecular semiconductor devices.

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A 21-hour dip could help explain Tabby’s star’s decade-long dimming mystery

Since 2016, an ordinary-looking F-type star called KIC 8462852, nicknamed Tabby’s star, has behaved anything but ordinarily. In a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on July 6, researchers revisited this star to find out what is really causing its irregular dimming.

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What happens to a moon when its planet is stolen?

We have known for a while that the Milky Way is full of homeless worlds. Rogue planets, free-floating planets—call them what you like—but they are planets formed in orderly systems around ordinary stars and then thrown out, either by a gravitational shove from a sibling planet or by a star that strayed too close. What has been much less clear is what happens to any moons they were carrying at the time. Eviction is a violent business, and you would expect a moon to be the first thing lost.

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August’s total solar eclipse will sweep over Spain, Iceland and Greenland

For the first time in more than a century, a total solar eclipse is coming to mainland Spain with an even longer encore next summer.

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Webb reveals warped structure in nearby TW Hydrae’s protoplanetary disk

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers obtained high-contrast coronagraphic images of the protoplanetary disk around the young, nearby star TW Hydrae. Results of the observational campaign, published July 27 on the preprint server arXiv, shed more light on the nature of this disk.

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DESI side project reveals the spectra of disintegrated exoplanets

Using spectral data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), astronomers have gained some of the clearest evidence yet that white dwarf stars are accreting debris from disintegrating exoplanets. Captured while DESI was unable to study its primary targets: distant galaxies, the results provide unprecedented insights into the chemical makeup of rocky exoplanets, revealing compositions remarkably similar to the planets and asteroids of our own inner solar system.

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