Ancient Egypt breakthrough: Scientists find first evidence of ‘Head Cones’ in tomb. The “Cone Heads” have long been symbolised in Egyptian art, with inscriptions and murals frequently depicting people wearing distinctive cone-shaped headgear.
None of these objects had, until this week been found, with archaeologists coming across what they think might be the remnants of cones used around 200 miles south of Cairo. According to a study published in the journal Antiquity, the cones were found at the archaeological site of Amarna. The site was once an ancient city, built by the pharaoh Akhenaten as a centre for the cult of the sun god, Aten. The ruler promoted this god over the traditional Egyptian polytheistic deities. The city was occupied for a mere 15 years between 1347 and 1332 BC, and was abandoned shortly after the pharaoh’s death.
‘Marsquakes’ reveal red planet’s hidden geology. San Francisco, California The marsquakes are coming fast and furious.
From its landing site near the Martian equator, NASA’s InSight mission is detecting about two quakes per day — and the rate is going up. “We have a lot,” said Bruce Banerdt, a geophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and InSight’s principal investigator. He reported the findings on 12 December at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, California. Since arriving on Mars just over a year ago, InSight has detected 322 marsquakes.
Most of the marsquakes are tiny, much smaller than anything that would be felt on Earth. Two of the biggest marsquakes came from a geologically active area known as Cerberus Fossae, which lies about 1,600 kilometres east of InSight. Other early findings from the mission include mysterious magnetic pulses that appear around midnight each night around the lander.
- The Washington Post. Rocket Lab passes milestone to recover rockets, just like SpaceX. A long exposure photo shows Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket lifting off on the company’s 10th mission.
Sam Toms | Rocket Lab Rocket Lab launched seven spacecraft early Friday as the builder of small rockets completed its main task, but the mission also came with a significant additional achievement. The Universe Remembers Gravitational Waves — And We Can Find Them. Paul M.
Sutter is an astrophysicist at The Ohio State University, host of Ask a Spaceman and Space Radio, and author of "Your Place in the Universe. " Sutter contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Gravitational waves slosh throughout the universe as ripples in space-time produced by some of the most cataclysmic events possible. With facilities like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo, we can now detect the strongest of those ripples as they wash over the Earth.
But gravitational waves leave behind a memory — a permanent bend in space-time — as they pass through, and we are now on the verge of being able to detect that too, allowing us to push our understanding of gravity to the limits. You Cannot Conceive of the Hugeness of This Black Hole. Evidence of an Alien Planet Spotted Around a White Dwarf, a Cosmic First. Dead stars can have planets, too.
For the first time ever, astronomers have spotted evidence of an exoplanet circling a superdense stellar corpse known as a white dwarf, a new study reports. "This discovery is major progress, because over the past two decades, we had growing evidence that planetary systems survive into the white-dwarf stage," study lead author Boris Gaensicke, from the University of Warwick in England, said in a statement. Video: Neptune-Sized Planet Around White Dwarf Discovery Explained Related: The Strangest Alien Planets in Pictures "We've seen a lot of asteroids, comets and other small planetary objects hitting white dwarfs, and explaining these events requires larger, planet-mass bodies further out," Gaensicke added.
This huge galaxy has the biggest black hole ever measured. Making monster galaxies When two spiral galaxies — like our Milky Way and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy — collide, they can merge and form an elliptical galaxy.
In crowded environments like galaxy clusters, these elliptical galaxies can collide and merge again to form an even larger elliptical galaxy. Their central black holes combine as well and make larger black holes, which can kick huge swaths of nearby stars out to the edges of the newly formed galaxy. The resulting extra-large elliptical galaxy usually doesn’t have much gas from which to form new stars, so its center looks pretty bare after its black hole kicks out nearby stars. No One Knows Why Rocks Are Exploding From Asteroid Bennu. Blowing Bubbles: New Way to Launch and Drive Current in Fusion Plasmas Confirmed. An obstacle to generating fusion reactions inside facilities called tokamaks is that producing the current in plasma that helps create confining magnetic fields happens in pulses.
Such pulses, generated by an electromagnet that runs down the center of the tokamak, would make the steady-state creation of fusion energy difficult to achieve. To address the problem, physicists have developed a technique known as transient coaxial helicity injection (CHI) to create a current that is not pulsed. Now, physicist Fatima Ebrahimi of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has used high-resolution computer simulations to investigate the practicality of this technique. The simulations show that CHI could produce the current continuously in larger, more powerful tokamaks than exist today to produce stable fusion plasmas.
Surprising first results from the Parker Solar Probe, NASA’s sun-skimming spacecraft. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s sun-skimming spacecraft, the Parker Solar Probe, is surprising scientists with its unprecedented close views of our star.
Scientists released the first results from the mission Wednesday. They observed bursts of energetic particles never seen before on such a small scale as well as switchback-like reversals in the outflowing solar magnetic field that seem to whip up the solar wind. NASA’s Nicola Fox compared this unexpected switchback phenomenon to the cracking of a whip. “They’re striking and it’s hard to not think that they’re somehow important in the whole problem,” said Stuart Bale of the University of California, Berkeley, who was part of the team. Physicists Just Created Long-Sought Dark Matter Quasiparticle. Here's Why That's a Big Deal. Scientists have finally found traces of the axion, an elusive particle that rarely interacts with normal matter.
The axion was first predicted over 40 years ago but has never been seen until now. Scientists have suggested that dark matter, the invisible matter that permeates our universe, may be made of axions. But rather than finding a dark matter axion deep in outer space, researchers have discovered mathematical signatures of an axion in an exotic material here on Earth.
The newly discovered axion isn't quite a particle as we normally think of it: It acts as a wave of electrons in a supercooled material known as a semimetal. But the discovery could be the first step in addressing one of the major unsolved problems in particle physics. Meteor Shower Was a Dud, But Showing Up Was Half the Fun. The Alpha Monocerotids happened as predicted, even if not quite as we expected.
Michael Boyle Sr. caught an Alpha Monocerotid speeding through Orion last night. I saw 20 meteors in an hour (not 400) from a dark sky site. But they were faint," writes Boyle. Michael Boyle Sr. Astronomy is just so weird. Google Scientists Are Using Quantum Computers to Study Wormholes. There’s a Violent Battle Between Solar Wind and Cosmic Rays, and Voyager 2 Just Passed Through it. Solar wind is not exactly our friend. The flood of hot, electric particles constantly gushing out of the sun bathes the entire solar system in radiation, frying the occasional satellite and making life impossible on any planet not shielded by an atmosphere. In both a literal and figurative sense, the solar wind blows — but, as new observations from the edge of our solar system suggest, it also protects everything it touches from the even more damaging forces of interstellar space.
Hubble Eyes an Emitting Galaxy. For this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope turned its powerful eye toward an emission-line galaxy called NGC 3749. When astronomers explore the contents and constituent parts of a galaxy somewhere in the universe, they use various techniques and tools. One of these is to spread out the incoming light from that galaxy into a spectrum and explore its properties. This is done in much the same way as a glass prism spreads white light into its constituent wavelengths to create a rainbow. By hunting for specific signs of emission from various elements within a galaxy’s spectrum of light —so-called emission lines — or, conversely, the signs of absorption from other elements — so-called absorption lines — astronomers can start to deduce what might be happening within.
While not all galaxies display strong emission lines, NGC 3749 does. Text credit: ESA (European Space Agency)Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Our Solar System Is Blanketed in a Giant Wall of Fire. NASA asteroid horror: Radars track potential impact date in May 2022 with 230 kiloton rock. The NASA-tracked object threatens to hit the planet with the force of 230 kilotons or 230,000 tons of TNT on May 6, 2022. For comparison, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 carried a charge of approximately 15 kilotons of TNT. An asteroid this big is likely deadly enough to wipe out a large city off the face of the planet. Astronomers have dubbed the approaching object Asteroid 2009 JF1, after its date of discovery 10 years ago.
According to NASA, JF1 is a Near-Earth Object or NEO, meaning it orbits the Sun close to Earth. NASA said: “Some asteroids and comets follow orbital paths that take them much closer to the Sun and therefore Earth – than usual. Asteroid warning: NASA reveals 10 dates 'God of chaos' asteroid Apophis could hit Earth. Asteroid: Stephen Hawking's warning over 'Apophis' revealed The imposing Asteroid Apophis is the third biggest space rock currently tracked by NASA’s automated warning systems.
NASA estimates Apophis measures around 1,214ft (370m) across, making it a potentially cataclysmic threat to Earth. A 2018 White House report on the dangers posed by asteroids found objects on this scale threaten “regional” to “continental” damage upon impact. Asteroid warning: Earth WILL be hit by rock size of dinosaur-ending strike - expert claim. The dinosaurs’ reign on Earth was brought to an end 66 million years ago when a 10mile wide asteroid came crashing into the planet. Magnitude 11 earthquakes ensued along with a sudden climate shift, destroying the giant beasts.
And the same will happen again in the future, one expert has claimed. Hologram Within a Hologram Hints at Solution to Black Hole Information Paradox. ESA studies human hibernation for space travel. Fictional image of hibernating astronauts, via ESA. Choice page. A whole new world: astronomers draw first global map of Titan. Astronomers have used data from NASA’s Cassini mission to map the entire surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, for the first time.
Their charts reveal a diverse terrain of mountains, plains, valleys, craters and lakes unlike anywhere in the Solar System outside Earth. Gravitational Waves Could Uncover Missing-Link Black Holes. A Mysterious New Kind of Gravitational Wave Seemed to Hit Earth this Week — But It Was Just a Glitch. Thursday (Nov. 14) marked the end of a thrilling, mysterious and ultimately disappointing five days in astrophysics. 'Possibility of life': scientists map Saturn's exotic moon Titan. WASHINGTON — Scientists on Monday unveiled the first global geological map of Saturn’s moon Titan, including vast plains and dunes of frozen organic material and lakes of liquid methane, illuminating an exotic world considered a strong candidate in the search for life beyond Earth. Blue Origin. Niccolò Machiavelli. Italian politician, writer and author Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (, ; Italian: [nikkoˈlɔ mmakjaˈvɛlli]; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, writer, playwright and poet of the Renaissance period.[2][3][4] He has often been called the father of modern political philosophy[5][6][7] and political science.
For many years he served as a senior official in the Florentine Republic with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He wrote comedies, carnival songs, and poetry. As Leonids meteor shower peaks, Staten Islander captures amazing photo - silive.com. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When Staten Islander Krystle Reilly went to take photos of the moon on Saturday night, she saw an unexpected sight. Curiosity's 'mind-boggling' new Mars mystery: oxygen. 'Killer' asteroids: How to know when space rocks are as scary as they sound. Melancholia. Alien Hunters Need the Far Side of the Moon to Stay Quiet. Planet-Hunting Satellite Spots Rare Hot Neptune. Take a Fun Trip into a Black Hole: What's It Like Inside? How the Sun transfers energy into its upper atmosphere.
How We Learned to Predict Solar Eclipses. WFIRST Coronagraph ‘Starglasses’ May Be the Most Complicated Astronomical Instrument Ever Flown. Curiosity's 'mind-boggling' new Mars mystery: oxygen. Hubble Captures Peculiar Galaxy Pulled out of Shape by a Nearby Satellite. Max Q: SpaceX starts building out its production Starlink constellation. Exoplanet that 'should not exist' discovered by researchers. NASA to Unveil New Private Moon Lander Partners Today. How to Listen In. Aurora over Esjan. Real-time 3-D reconstruction of complex scenes from long distances are shaping our present and future. 2019 November 15 - M16 and the Eagle Nebula. Alien Hunters Need the Far Side of the Moon to Stay Quiet. Aurora over Esjan. Scientists back planetary defence mission to 'nudge' asteroid out of orbit
Astronauts complete bonus objectives in first in series of AMS repair spacewalks. Gravitational Wave Detector Breakthrough Dampens Quantum Noise for Precise Measurements. Leonids Meteor Shower Will Peak in Night Skies. Hubble Space Telescope Spots a Rival to the Milky Way. Magnetic-fields-trigger-superhot-sun-spicules. Parker-solar-probe-first-sun-data-goes-public. Breaking carbon dioxide faster, cheaper, and more efficiently. China Mars Lander Undergoes Simulated Touchdown. 1st Methane, Now Oxygen: Another Possible 'Biosignature' Gas Is Acting Weird on Mars. US vice president to Boeing, SpaceX: You've got until the spring. Leonid-meteor-shower-2019-what-to-expect. Strange, Luminescent Galactic Creatures at Play. 2019 November 15 - M16 and the Eagle Nebula. 10 years 10 suns. Syfy. Syfy. Improbable-exoplanet-survive-engulf-red-giant-star. Why There Could Be A Black Hole In Our Solar System. Before-finding-extraterrestrial-life-humanity-questions. Mars here we come: China completes lander test for 2020 mission.
Irreversibly split photons by freezing them in a Bose-Einstein condensate. Today's Spacewalk Will Repair a Crucial Dark Matter Experiment. 1st Methane, Now Oxygen: Another Possible 'Biosignature' Gas Is Acting Weird on Mars. How to spot the SpaceX Starlink satellite train overhead this week. How to Peer Through a Wormhole. Satellites Watched Mercury's Transit From Space, Confirming That Yes, the Sun Has At Least One Planet. Archaeology news: How ‘genesis of Stonehenge’ was found after Scottish bay scan. Thomas Kuhn and the paradigm shift - Philosopher of the Month. Watch spacewalk on Friday November 15.
10 years 10 suns. Intense Meteor Outburst Expected from the Alpha Monocerotids. Strange, Luminescent Galactic Creatures at Play. Quantum transition makes electrons behave as if they lack spin. A Black Hole Threw a Star Out of the Milky Way Galaxy. New study proposes light signature for detecting black hole mergers. Mysteries behind interstellar buckyballs finally answered. Mercury Just Passed The Sun For The Last Time Until 2032. Here Are The Epic Photos. Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math. How to Peer Through a Wormhole. Could the mysteries of antimatter and dark matter be linked? 1st Methane, Now Oxygen: Another Possible 'Biosignature' Gas Is Acting Weird on Mars. Intense Meteor Outburst Expected from the Alpha Monocerotids. Japan's Asteroid Probe Is Finally Returning to Earth With Its Precious Cargo. Full Moon In Taurus November 2019: Astrology Meaning.
Hubble Space Telescope Scientists See Milky Way Galaxy Absorbing Extra Gas from Space. Asteroid news: 100% certainty of impact warns space expert - We need to leave Earth. Horoscopes for the Full Moon in Taurus - November 2019 ~ Chani Nicholas. Galactic fountains and carousels: order emerging from chaos. Big Bang Theory Explained. What Shape Is the Universe — Closed or Flat?