This animation of the double detonation scenario shows two white dwarfs in close orbit around one another. When material accumulates onto one member, it can cause a surface thermonuclear reaction, which can then propagate around the star until it triggers...
When people reject science in favor of whatever their preferred ideology is, they can come to absurd and destructive conclusions that harm us all. The fact that, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (and even afterward) people opposed wearing...
When a pulsar, a rapidly-rotating neutron star, finds itself in a tight orbit with another star, it will siphon mass from it, leading to electromagnetic emissions from the pulsar-star system. When the star is low in mass, forming an X-ray...
This illustration shows how black hole jets can be as large as the scale of the cosmic web itself, with Porphyrion, as illustrated here, setting a new cosmic record with its bipolar jets spanning 23–24 million light-years across. (Credit: Erik...
A wormhole is the one way, in the context of General Relativity, that immediate transport between two disparate, disconnected events in spacetime can occur. These “bridges” are mathematical curiosities only at this point in time; no physical wormholes have ever...
Although most large, massive objects in space are spherical, many can be stretched into spheroidal shapes by their rotation. Other shapes, such as cubes, pyramids, or octahedrons are not possible above a certain size/mass threshold that’s dependent on the object...
While humans are typically regarded as the most intelligent thing to ever arise on planet Earth, many are attempting to create an artificial general intelligence that surpasses human limits. Current attempts to measure or assess the “intelligence” of an AI...
This two-panel view of the debris disk around Vega shows Hubble’s (left) and JWST’s (right) views, respectively. Hubble reveals a wide disk of dust, showcasing particles approximately the size of smoke particles, while JWST shows the glow of warm (larger-sized)...
This photo was taken as part of the Dutch festival of Internationale Roodharigen Dag, or International Redhead Day, in 2011. Note the huge variety of straight, wavy, and curly or kinky hair styles and types that are represented here. (Credit:...
Richard Feynman and his family with their custom-painted van in Altadena, California. (Credit: Ralph Leighton/Symmetry Magazine)One of the 20th century’s most famous, influential, and successful physicists is lauded the world over. But Feynman is no hero to me.The 20th century,...
