A team of physicists devise a model that maps a star’s surprising orbit about a supermassive black hole – revealing new information about one of the cosmos’ most extreme environments. Hundreds of millions of light-years away in a distant galaxy, a star orbiting a supermassive black hole is being violently ripped apart under the black hole’s immense gravitational pull. As the star is shredded, its remnants are transformed into a stream of debris that rains back down onto the black…

Seemingly spontaneously coordinated swarm behaviour exhibited by large groups of animals is a fascinating and striking collective phenomenon. Experiments conducted by researchers at Leipzig University on laser-controlled synthetic microswimmers now show that supposed swarm intelligence can sometimes also be the result of simple and generic physical mechanisms. A team of physicists led by Professor Frank Cichos and Professor Klaus Kroy found that swarms of synthetically produced Brownian microswimmers appear to spontaneously decide to orbit their target point instead of heading…

New study aims to advance quantum computing. An international team of researchers, including scientists from Jena, has succeeded in developing a new and particularly precise type of measurement in tiny quantum systems. Applications are conceivable in semiconductor manufacturing, for example, but also in mobile radio technology or microscopy in the future. Experimental tests to prove the study were carried out on Germany’s first quantum computer, the Fraunhofer “QSystemOne”, among others. The researchers have now published their results in the journal…

Discovery of previously unknown effect makes compact, ultra-fast control of spin qubits possible. Australian engineers have discovered a new way of precisely controlling single electrons nestled in quantum dots that run logic gates. What’s more, the new mechanism is less bulky and requires fewer parts, which could prove essential to making large-scale silicon quantum computers a reality. The serendipitous discovery, made by engineers at the quantum computing start-up Diraq and UNSW Sydney, is detailed in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. “This…

Scientists unveil a unified theory for rocky planet formation. A new theory for how rocky planets form could explain the origin of so-called “super-Earths”—a class of exoplanets a few times more massive than the Earth that are the most abundant type of planet in the galaxy. Further, it could explain why super-Earths within a single planetary system often wind up looking strangely similar in size, as though each system were only capable of producing a single kind of planet. “As…

It’s complicated … Planetary nebulae form when red giant stars expel their outermost layers as they run out of helium fuel — becoming hot, dense white dwarf stars that are roughly the size of Earth. The material that was shed, enriched in carbon, forms dazzling patterns as it is blown gently into the interstellar medium. Most planetary nebulae are roughly circular, but a few have an hourglass or wing-like shape, like the aptly named “Butterfly Nebula.” These shapes are likely…

After several years of operation, the STEREO collaboration published the final results of their antineutrino studies. With their data, the researchers excluded hints for the existence of sterile neutrinos, an additional neutrino state expected in many theories. The result which will appear in the January 11 issue of Nature has important implications for many areas of fundamental physics. In modern particle physics all known elementary particles and their interactions are described in the so-called Standard Model of Particle Physics. The…

Astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have unveiled a first-of-its-kind map that could help answer decades-old questions about the origins of stars and the influences of magnetic fields in the cosmos. The map reveals the likely magnetic field structure of the Local Bubble — a giant, 1,000-light-year-wide hollow in space surrounding our Sun. Like a hunk of Swiss cheese, our galaxy is full of these so-called superbubbles. The explosive supernova deaths of massive stars blow up these bubbles,…

Researchers confirmed an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99% of Earth’s diameter. The research team is led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, both of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The team chose to observe this target with Webb after carefully reviewing targets…

Within the framework of the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, excitons were generated in a topological insulator for the first time. A breakthrough in quantum research, based on material design from Würzburg. An international team of scientists collaborating within the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat has achieved a breakthrough in quantum research – the first detection of excitons (electrically neutral quasiparticles) in a topological insulator. This discovery paves the way for a new generation of light-driven computer chips and quantum…

The development of new laser systems and optics requires established testing methods for optics to be reviewed and adapted. In the cw-LIDT research project, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) is working together with LASEROPTIK GmbH and RAYLASE GmbH to be able to reliably examine high-power laser optics. A limiting factor in developing new laser systems is the optical resilience of the components with which the laser radiation is generated and guided. These are necessary to achieve ever higher optical…

Probing the tau and tubulin protein molecules behind Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Tau and tubulin proteins are one of the leading causes of many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Most of neurodegenerative disease progression is related to the aggregation of these proteins in the brain. Inspired by one of her doctoral students who wanted to explore tau and tubulin proteins, Jiali Li, a physics professor at the University of Arkansas, and her group created a special silicon nitride nanopore-based…

Researchers identified the shortest-period, low-mass stellar binary system ever observed The stars take less than one Earth day to revolve around each other Researcher: ‘It’s amazing to see something happen in the universe on a human time scale’ Northwestern University and the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) astrophysicists have discovered the tightest ultracool dwarf binary system ever observed. The two stars are so close that it takes them less than one Earth day to revolve around each…

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, scientists have identified an Earth-size world, called TOI 700 e, orbiting within the habitable zone of its star – the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet’s surface. The world is 95% Earth’s size and likely rocky. Astronomers previously discovered three planets in this system, called TOI 700 b, c, and d. Planet d also orbits in the habitable zone. But scientists needed an additional year of TESS…

Distant star’s dimming was likely a ‘dusty’ companion getting in the way, astronomers say. By their own admission, Anastasios “Andy” Tzanidakis and James Davenport are interested in unusual stars. The University of Washington astronomers were on the lookout for “stars behaving strangely” when an automated alert from the Gaia survey pointed them to Gaia17bpp. Survey data indicated that this star had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. As Tzanidakis will report on Jan. 10 at the 241st meeting of…

Juno spacecraft discovered magnetospheric fireworks as magnetic field lines merge and snap between the gas giant and its largest moon. In June 2021, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew close to Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, observing evidence of magnetic reconnection. A team led by Southwest Research Institute used Juno data to examine the electron and ion particles and magnetic fields as the magnetic field lines of Jupiter and Ganymede merged, snapped and reoriented, heating and accelerating the charged particles in the region….