A new study casts a haze over a hint of the universe’s first glimmers of starlight. In 2018, researchers claimed that a subtle signature in radio waves from early in…
Author: ID
How Russia’s war in Ukraine hinders space research and exploration
Space exploration may seem like a faraway endeavor from Earth’s surface, but events on the ground ripple into space. The Russian war on Ukraine is no exception. From a rocket…
A fast radio burst’s unlikely source may be a cluster of old stars
In a galaxy not so far away, astronomers have located a surprising source of a mysterious, rapid radio signal. The signal, a repeating fast radio burst, or FRB, was observed…
A rare collision of dead stars can bring a new one to life
Like a phoenix, some stars may burst to life covered in “ash,” rising from the remains of stars that had previously passed on. Two newfound fireballs that burn hundreds of…
Invasive grasses are taking over the American West’s sea of sagebrush
No one likes a cheater, especially one that prospers as easily as the grass Bromus tectorum does in the American West. This invasive species is called cheatgrass because it dries…
Sunlight helps clean up oil spills in the ocean more than previously thought
Sunlight may have helped remove as much as 17 percent of the oil slicking the surface of the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. That means that…
How did we get here? The roots and impacts of the climate crisis
Even in a world increasingly battered by weather extremes, the summer 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest stood out. For several days in late June, cities such as Vancouver,…
Military towns are the most racially integrated places in the U.S. Here’s why
Amber Williams and her husband bought their first house in 2008 for $80,000 in the small military city of Killeen, Texas. “I wanted to go big and bad, but he…
How mindfulness-based training can give elite athletes a mental edge
On yellow poster board, blue letters spell BELIEVE, a nod to the Emmy-winning TV show Ted Lasso. The sign hangs above mindfulness researcher Tommy Minkler’s office door at West Virginia…
Babies may use saliva sharing to figure out relationships
Young children are always watching. That includes when people swap spit through actions like sharing food — helping the tots work out who is in close relationships with one another,…
