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Greer and Ivanov agree that existing, albeit limited, data on tetrataenite’s magnetic properties suggest that it may not match high-performance neodymium-based magnets. But the researchers maintain that optimization of the tetrataenite casting process could improve its magnetic properties and thus make it a worthwhile option. “It is good to have a wider range of permanent magnet materials, because that allows better balancing of such factors as magnetic performance and environmental impact,” Greer says. “A one-for-one swap with rare-earth magnets is not necessarily the goal.”

For now, the team has demonstrated how to make a piece of tetrataenite, but they say that future work will focus on how to consolidate many pieces into a bulk magnet. “The analogy here would be that we have shown we can make a brick—a piece of tetrataenite—but not yet a house—a magnet,” Greer says.

Beyond materials science, the researchers hint that this work may even impact astrophysics research as scientists reconsider how long it takes for tetrataenite to develop in a meteorite and how fast the cooling rate is in that space environment.

An international team of astronomers have turned a new technique onto a group of galaxies and the faint light between them—known as ‘intra-group light’—to characterize the stars that dwell there.

Lead author of the study published in MNRAS, Dr. Cristina Martínez-Lombilla from the School of Physics at UNSW Science, said We know almost nothing about intra-group light.

The brightest parts of the intra-group light are ~50 times fainter than the darkest night sky on Earth. It is extremely hard to detect, even with the largest telescopes on Earth—or in space.

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a detailed molecular and chemical portrait of a faraway planet’s skies, scoring another first for the exoplanet science community.

WASP-39b, otherwise known as Bocaprins, can be found orbiting a star some 700 light-years away. It is an exoplanet — a planet outside our solar system — as massive as Saturn but much closer to its host star, making for an estimated temperature of 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit (871 degrees Celsius) emitting from its gases, according to NASA. This “hot Saturn” was one of the first exoplanets that the Webb telescope examined when it first began its regular science operations.

The new readings provide a full breakdown of Bocaprins’ atmosphere, including atoms, molecules, cloud formations (which appear to be broken up, rather than a single, uniform blanket as scientists previously expected) and even signs of photochemistry caused by its host star.

Human-robot hybrids are advancing quickly, but the applications aren’t just for complete synthetic humans. There’s a lot we can learn about ourselves in the process.

Hosted by: Hank Green.

Continue reading “Why Scientists are Giving Robots Human Muscles” »

WASP-39b could be key to finding much calmer, more habitable worlds.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has just scored another first: a detailed molecular and chemical portrait of a distant world’s skies.

The telescope’s array of highly sensitive instruments was trained on the atmosphere of a “hot Saturn”—a planet about as massive as Saturn orbiting a star some 700 light-years away—known as WASP-39 b. While JWST and other space telescopes, including Hubble and Spitzer, have previously revealed isolated ingredients of this broiling planet’s atmosphere, the new readings provide a full menu of atoms, molecules, and even signs of active chemistry and clouds.

Continue reading “James Webb Space Telescope reveals an exoplanet atmosphere as never seen before” »

“We are going to be able to see the big picture of exoplanet atmospheres.”

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided a detailed molecular and chemical profile of a distant exoplanet’s skies in a world first, a blog post from the space agency reveals.

However, the new observations from James Webb reveal the makeup of the exoplanet’s atmosphere like never before and reveal further details of active chemistry and clouds.

Continue reading “James Webb uncovers the mysteries of an alien world’s atmosphere 700 light-years away” »

In this video we discuss the different types of civilizations mention in the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. This video wont have any major spoilers for the series.

Art: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16JYYq4_SqGtPirGfSc6otg_a…sp=sharing.

Continue reading “The Species That Eats The Universe | Culture” »

Putting humans on the moon is more political than you might think.