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Virginia Tech engineers have designed an “ice slingshot” that can propel frozen disks of water across a flat, grooved surface without any external force. Previous experiments have demonstrated a similar forceless propulsion of dry ice on a layer of vapor. However, the novel ice slingshot produces a similar motion without harmful CO2. The Virginia Tech team suggests their approach could lead to the development of energy generation devices or micro-transportation systems and potentially offer unique de-icing approaches. In an email to The Debrief, Associate Professor Jonathan Boreyko from Virginia Tech’s School of Mechanical Engineering explained the process relies on a...

By splitting a single photon, scientists confirmed that angular momentum is always conserved — a billion-to-one experiment that reinforces the foundations of quantum physics. Credit: SciTechDaily.com ===================================================================== Physicists have, for the first time, shown that even a single photon obeys one of nature’s strictest rules: conservation of angular momentum. Achieved only once in a billion attempts, this needle-in-a-haystack success not only proves a cornerstone law of physics at the smallest scale but also opens a pathway to advanced quantum technologies, from entangled states to secure communication. Quantum-Level Confirmation of Angular Momentum Conservation Researchers at Tampere University, working with colleagues in...

Artist representation of CAPERS-LRD-z9, home to the earliest confirmed black hole. The supermassive black hole at its center is believed to be surrounded by a thick cloud of gas, giving the galaxy a distinctive red color. Credit: Erik Zumalt, The University of Texas at Austin ================================================================== Astronomers have discovered the most distant confirmed black hole, hidden inside a rare galaxy known as a “Little Red Dot.” Its enormous size and early existence challenge current theories about how galaxies and black holes formed in the young universe. A global team of astronomers, led by The University of Texas at Austin’s Cosmic...

Ultraviolet observations suggest that some heavy white dwarf mergers might be masquerading themselves. A white dwarf interacting with a red giant. Is this how this white dwarf formed? We do not know yet. Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI) Astronomers report the finding of a unique new object that doesn’t fit with categories that were only established in the last few years. They have observed an ultra-massive white dwarf with an outer layer of hydrogen and helium, 10 billion times thinner than other white dwarfs. This object is believed to be the product of a past merger event....

To make fusion reactors, we need materials that can withstand its punishing environment, and a new Chinese-made material can survive reactors’ intense conditions. Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: * The central solenoid is the heart of a fusion reactor, and a "jacket" of meticulously crafted stainless steel—capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and magnetic fields—protects it. * Chinese scientists say that a new super steel, called China high-strength low-temperature steel No. 1, (CHSN01), can operate at a maximum of 20 Tesla, which outperforms the steel jacket that will be used by ITER. * China is incorporating CHSN01...

Astronomers at MIT, Columbia University, and elsewhere have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to peer through the dust of nearby galaxies and into the aftermath of a black hole’s stellar feast. Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF/NASA Unlike active galaxies that endlessly devour nearby matter, these black holes remain in slumber, stirring only momentarily to consume an unlucky passing star. Astronomers from MIT, Columbia University, and other institutions have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to look through thick layers of dust in nearby galaxies and examine the aftermath of black holes consuming stars. According to a new study published on July...

Scientists have long grappled with a fundamental question: what exactly is light?Is it a wave, flowing like ripples across water, or is it made up of tiny particles, like miniature paintballs zipping through space?This fundamental question was at the heart of the double-slit experiment, demonstrating light's dual nature.Just recently, physicists at MIT conducted an experiment using incredible atomic precision.Interestingly, it has definitively resolved a long-standing debate between quantum giants Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr about the elusive nature of light...Einstein believed he could devise an experiment to observe light's particle path and wave interference simultaneously.Bohr, leveraging the uncertainty principle, argued...

Sunspots, those mysterious dark patches on the Sun's surface, have been observed by astronomers for thousands of years. Yet, despite centuries of study, no one fully understood why these spots could remain stable for such extended periods. New research, however, has finally cracked the case, revealing that the secret lies in a delicate balance between the Sun's magnetic fields and the pressure of its plasma. Sunspots have been documented since at least 27 B.C., with Chinese astronomers recording the phenomenon long before Galileo peered at the Sun through his telescope. Some historical records even suggest that Greek philosopher Anaxagoras might...

While the study is intriguing, additional observations will be essential to verify or challenge its findings. Astudy analyzing JWST observations of the early universe has uncovered an intriguing mystery: most galaxies appear to be rotating in the same direction. This unexpected pattern, which defies current cosmological models, has led the study's authors to propose a bold possibility: that our universe might exist inside a black hole. The JWST has allowed astronomers to peer back further into the past than any other infrared or optical telescope, seeing infrared light that was emitted by distant galaxies just 300 million years after the...

The company claims it has cracked a scalable method to make stable gold from mercury. Ever since the discovery of alchemy, or since humans thought gold was a precious object, a worldwide quest to turn common elements into the yellow metal has been ongoing. Folklore and fables sing praises of humans who went on this quest and those who received such blessings. No such claims have yet stood the test of science, and this could change quite soon. An engineering firm from the United States – Marathon Fusion – has claimed that making gold from mercury is possible, and they...

The companion star of Betelgeuse, seen for the first time by the Gemini North Telescope. Betelgeuse has a companion star! Astronomers see it for first time | 1:21 VideoFromSpace | 2.02M subscribers | 5,713 views | July 21, 2025

Japanese researchers observed the transverse Thomson effect for the very first time, and it could groundbreaking. A Thermoelectric Seebeck module (w:en:Thermoelectric generator) manufactured by TECTEG MFR. Gerardtv ====================================================================== Researchers in Japan observed the transverse Thomson effect for the very first time, a thermoelectric phenomenon that allows the control of the direction of heating and cooling flows by changing the direction of the magnetic field. The scientific understanding of how heat and electricity interact stems from the 19th century. At the time, physicists only theorized the existence of a transverse Thomson effect, which refers to the direction in which an electric...

This visualization explores a subset of toe bean-reminiscent structures within a section of the Cat's Paw Nebula, a massive, local star-forming region located approximately 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.This image by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light was released in honor of the telescope's third science operations anniversary. Since it began science operations in July 2022, Webb's observations of our universe have wowed scientists and the public alike.Glide into the lower left toe bean, moving past many small yellow stars along the way, where filaments of gas and dust frame the cavernous area. The region's nebulous...

A new analysis of 'cool' spots in the cosmic microwave background may cast new doubts on a key piece of evidence supporting the big bang theory of how the universe was formed. Two scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) looked for but couldn't find evidence of gravitational "lensing" where you might expect to find it, in the most distant light source in the universe -- the cosmic microwave background. Results of this research by Dr. Richard Lieu, a UAH physics professor, and Dr. Jonathan Mittaz, a UAH research associate, were published Monday in the "Astrophysical Journal." In...

I wondered if any FRiends were interested in prime numbers. You'll know that prime numbers are integers, and those which have only two factors, 1 and themselves. Except for 2, all other primes are odd numbers. By convention, the number 1 is not considered prime (but this is strictly a matter of definition because 1 does not entirely contradict the premise of being a multiple of 1 and itself). I cannot post this entire thread in one post so if you come across it in an early stage, be aware that a number of posts will follow rapidly until I...

In the vast expanse between Uranus and Neptune, a team of researchers have uncovered something really quite extraordinary, a minor planet that has been locked in precise gravitational manouevres with Uranus for at least a million years. This discovery sheds new light on the complex dynamics that govern our Solar System's outer reaches. The object in question, designated 2015 OU₁₉₄, belongs to a class of small bodies called Centaurs, rocky and icy objects that orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. What makes this particular Centaur special is its remarkably stable relationship with Uranus, locked in what is known as a 3:4...

Gravitational waves from massive black holes challenge current astrophysical models The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has detected the merger of the most massive black holes ever observed with gravitational waves using the US National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded LIGO observatories. The powerful merger produced a final black hole approximately 225 times the mass of our Sun. The signal, designated GW231123, was detected during the fourth observing run of the LVK network on November 23, 2023. LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, made history in 2015 when it made the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves, ripples in space-time. In that case, the...

By reconstructing a nearly forgotten 1938 experiment, scientists have uncovered new significance in an early observation of deuterium-tritium fusion that still shapes nuclear science today. (Artist’s concept). Credit: SciTechDaily.com Physicists confirm DT fusion insights from a 1938 experiment. The findings connect past theory with current fusion efforts. A team at Los Alamos National Laboratory has successfully recreated a significant yet largely overlooked physics experiment: the first recorded observation of deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion. Their updated version of the 1938 experiment, recently detailed in Physical Review C, reaffirms the pivotal role of University of Michigan physicist Arthur Ruhlig. Ruhlig’s original work likely...

That’s the conclusion reached by one researcher from the University of North Carolina: black holes can’t exist in our Universe — not mathematically, anyway. “I’m still not over the shock,” said Laura Mersini-Houghton, associate physics professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. “We’ve been studying this problem for a more than 50 years and this solution gives us a lot to think about.” In a news article spotlighted by UNC the scenario suggested by Mersini-Houghton is briefly explained. Basically, when a massive star reaches the end of its life and collapses under its own gravity after blasting its outer layers into space —...

You can manipulate a black hole as much as you like but you’ll never get rid of its event horizon, a new study suggests. This may sound a little odd, the event horizon is what makes the black hole, well… black. However, in the centre of a black hole, hidden deep inside the event horizon, is a singularity. A singularity is a mathematical consequence, it is also a point in space where the laws of physics do not apply. Mathematics also predicts that singularities can exist without an associated event horizon, but this means that we’d be able to physically...