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Sudden quantum jolts may not break adiabatic behavior after all

In thermodynamics, an “adiabatic process” is a system change that transfers no heat in or out of the system. Any and all energy change in that system are therefore accomplished by doing work on the system, work being action that moves matter over a distance. (An example is a bicycle tire pump or lifting a box from the floor.)

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Near-relativistic swarm could image Proxima b at 20-meter resolution and scan for biosignatures, paper says

Laser sail propulsion is an idea that won’t go away. By aiming powerful Earth-based lasers at tiny spacecraft with light sails, tiny spacecraft can be accelerated to near-relativistic speeds without carrying fuel or an energy source, and without carrying any kind of propulsion system at all. There are clear advantages to this idea, if it can be implemented.

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Laser-plasma accelerators can preserve polarization of Helium-3 ions

Particle accelerators such as those at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva are typically highly complex large-scale devices. In these ring-shaped facilities, which are often several kilometers in length, magnets and radio-frequency cavities are used to accelerate elementary particles. An alternative approach is now emerging: compact laser–plasma accelerators that can be built and operated at a fraction of the cost. These accelerators can achieve acceleration gradients up to around 1,000 times higher than those of conventional accelerators. Researchers at HHU contributed significantly to this development.

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LHAASO discovers new extreme particle accelerator in the Milky Way

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) has made a breakthrough in exploring the extreme universe. For the first time, the LHAASO collaboration has detected ultra-high-energy (UHE) gamma rays—with energies exceeding 100 trillion electron-volts (TeV)—from a gamma-ray binary system, LS I +61° 303. The discovery challenges existing theories of particle acceleration in extreme astrophysical environments.

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Quantum computing’s next dark horse emerges from a frozen surface, where almost nothing behaves as expected

Quantum bits (qubits) are the fundamental building blocks of quantum information processing. A novel qubit platform invented at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory exhibits noise levels thousands of times lower than those of most traditional qubits. “Noise” refers to disturbances in the environment that diminish a qubit’s performance. The platform was built by trapping single electrons on the surface of frozen neon gas. The recent finding positions Argonne’s platform as a strong contender in the field of high-performance quantum technologies.

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A lost galaxy called ‘Loki’ may be hiding inside the Milky Way

The Milky Way galaxy grew into its current form with the help of smaller galaxies over time, which it has “consumed” or merged with. Astronomers are able to pick out which stars in the Milky Way came from other galaxies by identifying certain features, like the eccentricities of their galactic orbits and how many heavier elements they contain. Properties of some of the merged galaxies can then be determined when astronomers find collections of stars with similar features.

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Hubble reveals spiral galaxy 53 million light-years away in striking detail

In this new image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a spiral galaxy glittering with star clusters is the center of attention. NGC 3137 is located 53 million light-years away in the constellation Antlia (The Air Pump). As a nearby spiral galaxy, this target offers astronomers an excellent opportunity to study the cycle of stellar birth and death, as well as giving researchers a glimpse of a galactic system similar to our own.

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Suspect in fatal shooting of Chicago officer smuggled gun into hospital using skin folds, sources say

Alphanso Talley has been charged with murder after he allegedly snuck a gun through multiple searches and used it to shoot officers once his handcuffs were removed

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Denver Sheriff’s Department recruit dies after suffering medical emergency during training

Dorbor Mulbah had “expressed discomfort and became unwell” during physical training; Mulbah was transported to a hospital, where he died the next morning

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One overlooked mineral may have quietly powered a crucial step toward life on early Earth

Manganese dioxide can convert amino acids into hydrogen cyanide (HCN) without requiring methane, a finding that solves a long-standing puzzle about the origin of this key prebiotic molecule on early Earth. Although HCN is central to origin-of-life theories, recent evidence suggests early Earth’s atmosphere didn’t contain sufficient methane needed for classic HCN-producing reactions. The newly found chemical pathway, reported by researchers from Science Tokyo, shows that HCN could instead have been continuously supplied from abundant amino acids.

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New Orleans sheriff indicted on 30 felony counts in connection with escape of 10 inmates

Louisiana A.G. Liz Murrill said a state probe found that Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson’s poor management of the jail allegedly led to the escape

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European rocket puts Amazon internet satellites in orbit

Europe’s most powerful rocket Ariane 6 successfully released 32 satellites into orbit Thursday for Amazon’s internet constellation, which is bidding to rival Elon Musk’s giant Starlink.

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XXP instrument back online, marking a key milestone in high-energy upgrade to SLAC’s X-ray laser

XPP, the X-ray Pump Probe instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), is back online and welcoming researchers after a complete rebuild. The overhaul has readied XPP for the significant increase in X-ray output expected from the ongoing high-energy upgrade to LCLS at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. LCLS is a pioneering X-ray free-electron laser facility used by scientists around the world to capture ultrafast snapshots of natural processes.

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Room-temperature multiferroic could pave way to low-energy computing

A team of researchers at Rice University has engineered a new version of a well-known multiferroic that exhibits orders of magnitude higher performance at room temperature than its parent material. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes a modified version of bismuth ferrite that shows a 10-fold increase in magnetization and 100-fold increase in magnetoelectric coupling compared to standard varieties.

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GP Com observations sharpen picture of a rare ultracompact binary system

Using the Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgarian astronomers have conducted optical photometric observations of an ultracompact binary known as GP Com. Results of the observational campaign, presented in the Proceedings of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, shed more light on the properties of this system.

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