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A twinkling pulsar reveals invisible structures in space

The twinkling stars in the night sky are not just beautiful to look at. Their flickering reveals something about the varying temperatures and densities in the layers of Earth’s atmosphere, which refract the light as it travels toward us. Certain stellar remnants that emit radio waves can exhibit a very similar effect.

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Statistical technique could uncover secrets of ‘ringing’ black holes

Researchers have developed a technique to analyze how black holes “ring” when they collide and merge: one of the universe’s most dramatic events. When black holes merge, the collision produces a new, larger black hole that “rings” like a plucked guitar string or a bell while it settles into its final, stable shape. But instead of sound waves, the new black hole rings with gravitational waves: ripples in spacetime first predicted by Albert Einstein.

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Waterworn chaos on Mars stretches the length of Italy

This month, ESA’s Mars Express takes us to Shalbatana Vallis: a fascinating Martian valley surrounded by signs of water, lava, craters and chaos. Shalbatana Vallis is an impressive channel near Mars’s equator. This image, taken by Mars Express’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), captures the northern part of the channel, which weaves its way across Mars’s surface for some 1,300 km—around the length of Italy.

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Astronomers directly detect how turbulence between stars distorts light

Astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have made the first direct detection of turbulence distorting light in the interstellar medium. The findings will help scientists achieve clearer imaging of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

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TESS reveals fullest night-sky map yet, with nearly 6,000 exoplanet worlds

NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has released its most complete view of the starry sky to date, filling in gaps from previous observations. Nearly 6,000 colored dots scattered across the image show the locations of either confirmed or candidate exoplanets—worlds beyond our solar system—identified by the mission as of September 2025 at the end of TESS’s second extended mission.

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Dual spacecraft capture both hemispheres of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS at once

The Southwest Research Institute-led Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) instruments aboard ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft and NASA’s Europa Clipper made unique observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in late 2025. SwRI leads the UVS instruments on both spacecraft, simultaneously imaging both hemispheres of the comet and detecting the comet’s ultraviolet emissions.

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Recreating dying stars reveals hydrogen’s key role in cosmic dust formation

Silicon carbide (SiC) dust is one of the most important ingredients in cosmic dust, the tiny particles floating throughout the cosmos that eventually give rise to new planets and stars. This compound of silicon and carbon is forged in the atmospheres of dying stars, especially carbon-rich ones, but exactly how has long remained a mystery.

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Quantum geometry provides theoretical limits on measurable properties of solids

Two RIKEN physicists have established new theoretical limits for experimentally measurable quantities by viewing solids through a lens of quantum geometry. Their results shed light both on the physics of solids and on quantum mechanics.

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NASA bets big on nuclear engines to cut journey times to Mars

Nasa is developing ways to use nuclear power to send spacecraft to their destinations. Nuclear propulsion could greatly reduce the journey time to Mars, perhaps cutting a voyage of more than six months to three or four months.

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Tiny forces, big effects: How particle interactions control the flow of soft materials

Sitting in a restaurant, you reach for the ketchup bottle, eyeing the basket of fries in front of you. You give the bottle a shake, then a tap. For a moment, nothing happens—the ketchup clings stubbornly to the glass. Then, all at once, it lets go and rushes out, sometimes in a steady stream, sometimes in a messy surge that threatens to flood the basket.

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Twisted liquid-crystal structures unlock on-demand skyrmions at room temperature

Researchers have recently found a new way to summon useful structures in magnetic materials using light, heat, and electric fields. This new method, described in a new study published in Physical Review Letters, may lead to more energy-efficient and flexible technologies for data storage and optical devices.

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BWC: Suspect flees after shooting Tenn. officer in the face during traffic stop

After Memphis Police Officer Torres-Molina searched the man and removed a firearm, he attempted to detain the suspect in a cruiser; the suspect then pulled out a second handgun and shot the officer

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Were Martian tides strong enough to shape its ancient landscape?

You’re an anaerobic microbe sunbathing on a Martian beach billions of years ago listening to the small waves hit the shoreline as you take in the perchlorates in the Martian regolith. This is because while Mars is warm and wet, it still lacks sufficient oxygen, so anaerobic life like yourself doesn’t need oxygen to survive. You’re chilling for several hours and eventually notice the water hasn’t touched you. You remember overhearing some otherworldly fellows who briefly landed and discussed the landscape didn’t look well formed, so they left.

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Mostly empty foam overturns assumptions of electron beam stopping

When physicists fire beams of fast electrons at materials, they often need to know exactly how much energy those electrons will lose as they travel through. Through new research published in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Ke Jiang at Shenzhen Technology University in China has found that porous, mostly empty foam materials can stop high-current electron beams far more effectively than denser materials—overturning many previous assumptions about how these beams interact with solid materials.

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Torpedo bats may shift baseball’s sweet spot, acoustic analysis shows

In the spring of 2025, baseball fans were treated to a surprise when the New York Yankees began the season with a unique style of bat. Termed “torpedo bats,” these new designs tapered slightly toward the end, so the widest points of the bats were closer to the “sweet spot”—the optimal place to hit to send the ball flying. In theory, this shape was more ergonomic, giving the Yankees an advantage at the plate.

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