Spacetime With Stuart Gary

Stream episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly) *New questions about dark matter and dark energy A new study is raising fresh questions about dark matter and dark energy -- two of the most mysterious and least understood features in the universe. A new hypothesis attempts to explain both the accelerating expansion of the universe and the movement of stars in galaxies without needing to draw on the concepts of dark matter and dark energy. *Murchison Widefield Array construction completes phase two The Murchison Widefield Array has reached a key milestone in its ongoing development, with the completion of its phase two expansion. The work which has taken nearly 16 months, includes 128 new antenna stations at the observatory site in outback Western Australia. *Is antimatter the hidden face of lightning Terrestrial Gamma Rays Flashes produced in lightning from thunderstorms can also generate antimatter. New research claims Terrestrial Gamma Rays Flashes react with the air to produce radioisotopes

*Recurring Martian Streaks could be just sand rather than water A new study claims dark streaks often seen on the Sun facing slopes of Martian gullies and ravines could be caused by moving sand rather than melting sub-surface permafrost. The conclusions provide an alternative to previous speculation that the features – known as recurring slope lineae or RSLs – were caused by flowing meltwater from permafrost layers seeping out from the sides of gullies and ravines. *Could cosmic dust be transporting life between worlds? A new study suggests that life on Earth might have originated from biological particles brought to the planet in streams of cosmic dust particles. The findings would mean fast-moving flows of interplanetary dust that continually bombard Earth’s atmosphere could deliver tiny organisms from far-off worlds, or send Earth-based organisms to other planets, according to the research. *Listening for alien signals. Way back on August the 15th 1977 astronomers at Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio t

*More clues about our interstellar visitor Astronomers have released new details about a mysterious interstellar visitor which sped through our solar system during September and October. The new observations show the object -- known as 1i/2017 U1 -- measures some 180 by 30 meters and is shaped like a fat cigar, half a city block long. *Why the star Regulus is almost ripping apart A new study of the star Regulus indicates it’s almost spinning fast enough to literally rip itself apart. The findings reported in the journal Nature Astronomy show the star has a spin rate of 96.5 per cent of its angular velocity needed for break-up. *Another gravity wave discovery from merging black holes Scientists have confirmed another detection of gravitational waves generated by the collision of two stellar mass back holes. This latest detection involved the merger of two relatively light black holes, with 7 and 12 times the mass of the Sun -- a billion light years away. *Pluto’s freezer explained A new study of Pluto’s atmosp

*Monster planet discovery rewrites the text books Astronomers have discovered a large Jupiter sized planet orbiting around a small red dwarf star. It’s the first time such a large planet has been seen orbiting such a low mass host star. *Possible ancient ocean remnants found on Ceres Scientists have detected widespread reserves of minerals containing water on the dwarf planet Ceres. The discovery by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft suggests that the 945 kilometre wide world may have once had a global ocean and may still have liquid today. *The Rochechouart Astrobleme Geologists have begun an intense core drilling campaign at Rochechouart in central France to study an astrobleme. The Rochechouart Astrobleme is thought to be the remains of a 20 to 30 kilometre wide 207 million year old impact crater. *New clues to the origin of life on Earth Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute have found a compound that may have been a crucial factor in the origins of life on Earth. Origins-of-life researchers have hypothesized th

*The star that wouldn’t die Astronomers have discovered a zombie star that that appears to have risen from the grave. The strange star appears to have somehow survived its initial brush with death to undertake a second supernova explosion fifty years later. *Hunting dark photons Scientists are searching for signs of new particles that might help fill in some big blanks in sciences understanding of the universe. The new research is hunting for the hiding places for one type of theorized particle known as the dark photon - that was proposed to help explain the mystery of dark matter. *The link between a galaxy’s shape and its spin. Astronomers have discovered a link between a galaxies shape and how fast it rotates. The findings follow the recent discovery by a separate team linking a galaxy’s rotation in a galactic cluster to its mass rather than the density of the surrounding cluster. . *Juno completes its eighth orbit of Jupiter NASA’s Juno spacecraft has successfully completed its eighth swoop down towards t

*Dust cloud discovered around nearest star Astronomers have discovered a dust ring around Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun. A report claims the dust ring’s detection could point to a significant planetary system around the star. *Why massive galaxies don't dance in crowds A new study has discovered that the rotational movement of a galaxy in a galactic cluster is determined by its mass rather than galactic density. The findings are based on a detailed study of over than 300 galaxies. *Introducing the quarksplosion Scientists have discovered the quarksplosion -- a blast that could be eight times more powerful than any thermonuclear bomb. Physicists have discovered that fusing two sub atomic elementary particles -- known as beauty or bottom quarks -- could result in the creation of a new primary particle, a secondary particle known as a nucleon and the release of huge amounts of energy -- some eight times more -- than a nuclear fusion reaction. *Powering Enceladus active ocean Heat from friction

*Solving a black hole mystery Astronomers have for the first time measured the acceleration zone of a powerful jet of plasma being shot deep into space by a feeding black hole. The findings indicate these intense plasma streams are charged within 30 thousand kilometres of the black hole itself. *Mars 2020 Rover will have 23 eyes NASA says improvements in camera technology mean its next rover to Mars will have no fewer than 23 cameras, to create sweeping panoramas, reveal obstacles, study the atmosphere, and assist science instruments. *Rare Mariner’s astrolabe discovered Marine archaeologists have recovered a rare Mariner’s Astrolabe in a shipwreck off the coast of Oman. The astrolabe -- stamped with the Portuguese royal coat of arms -- was found in the wreckage of the 500-year-old Portuguese ship Esmeralda -- part of a fleet of 20 vessels under the command of the explorer Vasco da Gama who in 1498 discovered a direct route from Europe to India. *Strange auroral activity discovered on Jupiter It’s been discov

*First confirmed interstellar visitor to our solar system Astronomers have confirmed their first interstellar visitor to the solar system. The 400 metre wide newly discovered asteroid or comet has been designated A/2017 U1. *Asteroid Itokawa’s violent past Samples of the Asteroid Itokawa indicate the 500 metre wide space rock has had a violent history. The samples were collected by Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft in 2005. *Rosetta’s comet provides missing link in planet formation Scientists have confirmed that planets are created by small particles of matter coming together over time to form progressively larger and larger bodies. The findings provide an important missing link in sciences understanding of how planets are formed. *Galaxies wobble at the centres of galaxy clusters Existing models on dark matter claim the super dense cores of the largest galaxy clusters contain massive galaxies with so much dark matter that that they never move. However new observations have shown that this density is much smaller t

*Filling the early universe with knots could explain why it’s three-dimensional Have you ever wondered why your ear bud wires, ropes, garden hoses, even knitting yarn tend to get all knotted and jumbled up. Well, a team of scientists think it’s a basic cosmic characteristic – which may just explain why we live in a universe with three spatial dimensions. and it may even explain how the universe formed. *Titan’s noxious ice clouds Scientists have discovered a toxic band of high altitude ice clouds above the south pole of Saturn’s largest moon Titan. The noxious stratospheric cloud cover was detected floating about 160 to 210 kilometres above the surface -- far higher than the methane rain clouds in Titan’s troposphere. *Whatever happened to the Beagle 2 A new scientific paper looking at the discovery of Britain’s Beagle 2 Mars lander has been published in the open science journal of the Royal Society. The findings detail efforts to locate the 32 kilogram probe which disappeared after being deployed from the Eu

*The mysteries of antimatter continue to puzzle physicists New super-precise measurements by physicists have placed new constraints on the differences between matter and antimatter. The new result improves by a factor 350 the precision of the previous measurement and allows physicists to compare matter and antimatter with an unprecedented accuracy. *New ways to determine the size of monster black holes Astronomers have discovered what could be an easy way to determine the size of a spiral galaxies supermassive black hole. The findings claim there’s a direct relationship between the geometry of some types of spiral galaxies and the hidden super massive black hole at their centres. *The origins of rich organic material on the dwarf planet Ceres A new study claims organic rich material discovered on the dwarf planet Ceres is most likely native to the tiny frozen world. The organics were detected by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft and were originally thought to have been deposited there by comet or asteroid impacts. *Dawn

*First evidence of Quantum fluctuations in deep space Evidence of a strange quantum effect first predicted in the 1930 may have been detected by astronomers studying the light emitted from an extraordinarily dense and strongly magnetised neutron star The polarisation of the observed light suggests that the empty space around the neutron star is subject to a quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence. *Out of control Chinese space station about to crash back to Earth China has confirmed that its Tiangong-1 orbiting space lab is out of control and likely to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at any moment. Beijing says the eight and a half tone orbiting outpost is expected to re-enter the atmosphere between now and April next year -- depending on orbital decay rates. *Back to the Moon US Vice President Mike Pence has called on NASA to return humans to the Moon. The call comes in the wake of Russia’s announcement that it will join the United States in building the new Deep Space Gateway space station which will b

*First neutron star merger confirmed through gravitational waves Astronomers have for the first time detected gravitational waves generated by merging neutron stars. The findings involved the detection on August 17 of the collision of two neutron stars each slightly more massive than the Sun -- in a relatively nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 4993, about 130 million light-years away. *Mapping the far side of the Milky Way Astronomers have for the first time directly measured the distance to a star-forming region on the far side of the Milky Way Galaxy. The study reaches deep into the Milky Way’s terra incognita and nearly doubles the previous record for distance measurement within the galaxy. *CERN smashes Xenon ions The Large Hardon Collider at CERN the European Organization for Nuclear Research has undertaken its first Xenon ion collisions. The eight-hour event allowed the, ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb experiments situated around the 27-kilometre-long underground ring to record xenon nuclei collisions for the fir

*A radio for dark matter Scientists are developing a new device that instead of searching for dark matter particles – will search for dark matter waves. A prototype of the new device is now being tested to listen for the sounds of mysterious dark matter particles. *Ring found around dwarf planet Haumea Astronomers have detected another ringed world in our solar system. As well as the gas giants; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the Kuiper Belt dwarf planet Haumea has now also been found to have a ring system. *JUNO’s eighth Jovian flyby NASA’s Juno spacecraft has completed its eighth close encounter with Jupiter -- flying just 7576 kilometres above the giant planet’s swirling cloud tops. The new observations show close-up images of two points of interest, known as ‘Whale’s Tail’ and ‘Dan’s Spot.’ *Asteroid 2012 TC4 zooms past Earth An asteroid the size of a house passed just 50,150 kilometres above the South Pacific Ocean on Thursday travelling at over 7.6 km per second relative to Earth. Known as a NEO

*A possible cradle of life discovered on Mars Evidence of massive ancient sea floor hydrothermal vent deposits have been discovered on Mars. Hydrothermal vents found on the mid ocean ridges of Earth, pump a rich chemical soup into the surrounding oceans, which many scientists believe could be where life on Earth began. *Chemical signatures for life discovered near and far Freon-40, a chemical signature of life has been detected -- both around a distant star -- and much closer to home – in a comet orbiting the Sun. The discovery includes the first ever detection of a saturated organohalogen chemical compound in interstellar space. *Cosmic rays from distant galaxies A fifty year long debate has finally been resolved with confirmation that the highest energy cosmic rays originate from sources far beyond our galaxy. The findings are based on the uneven distribution of high energy cosmic rays bombarding the Earth from different positions across the sky. *Mysterious Dimming of Tabby's Star May Be Caused by Dust Ast

*Narrowing down on Dark Energy A new study looking at pressure waves generated in the primordial universe has revealed possible evidence of dynamical dark energy. The potential discovery means dark energy could behave differently from the cosmological constant model first proposed by Professor Albert Einstein a hundred years ago to allow his general theory of relativity to work in cosmology. *Strange comet like binary asteroid discovered A strange comet like asteroid first discovered more than a decade ago has turned out to actually consist of two asteroids orbiting each. The findings represent the first known binary asteroid also classified as a comet. *More evidence that mega eruptions caused the great dying A team of scientists has found new evidence that the Great Permian Mass Extinction event 250 million years ago, was caused by the massive volcanic eruptions of the Siberian Trap. Known as the great dying – the Permian Mass Extinction killed over 90 percent of all species on Earth. *Deep Space Gateway ga

*Rare meteorite rocks scientific community A rare meteorite discovered by prospectors in far north Queensland (Australia) is providing new clues about the internal structures of large asteroids and possibly even some terrestrial planets. The 15 kilogram space rock was uncovered three years ago, about two metres below the surface, by a couple fossicking for gold with a metal detector. *New theory on the creation of supermassive black holes Scientists using computer simulations have shown how a supermassive black hole could be created from supersonic gas streams left over from the Big Bang. The findings reported in the journal Science, shows this simulated black hole could be the source of the birth and development of the largest and oldest supermassive black holes ever recorded. *Record setting comet NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the farthest active inbound comet ever seen. The comet, called C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS is still a whopping 2.4 billion kilometres from the Sun – placing it beyond the orb

*Fourth gravitational wave detection Astronomers have achieved a fourth gravitational wave detection of merging stellar mass black holes. The new discovery was a combined effort between the existing LIGO Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detectors in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington together with the New European VIRGO detector near Pisa in Italy. *Discovery of a pitch black planet that eats light. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observed a planet outside our solar system that looks as black as fresh asphalt because it eats light rather than reflecting it back into space. This light-eating prowess is due to the planet's unique capability to trap at least 94 percent of the visible starlight falling into its atmosphere. *New Pluto mission proposal NASA has received a new proposal for a surface mission to Pluto. The new plan would follow on from the highly successful New Horizons spacecraft which undertook an historic close flyby of Pluto its binary partner Charon, and their fiv

*Australia to finally establish a space agency The Australian Federal Government has announced plans to finally establish its own space agency in an attempt to cash in on the growing 420 billion dollar global space industry. The new agency will co-ordinate strategic long term plans supporting domestic aerospace industries currently worth over four billion dollars -- but which are often uncoordinated and fragmented, often developing similar competing systems. *Discovery of the nearest supermassive black hole binary Astronomers have detected the nearest ever binary supermassive black hole system. The twin monsters which are separated by only one light year -- were located just 400 light years away in a spiral galaxy named NGC 7674. *Fast Radio Bursts could be very common A new study claims mysterious nanosecond flashes of intense energy known as Fast Radio Bursts of FRBs may be firing off every second. When FRBs, were first discovered by the Parkes Radio Telescope in 2001, astronomers had never seen anything li

*Could interstellar ice provide the answer to the birth of DNA? Molecules brought to Earth in meteorite strikes could potentially be converted into the building blocks of DNA. A report in the Chemical Communications claims researchers found that organic compounds, called amino nitriles, the molecular precursors to amino acids, were able to use molecules present in interstellar ice to trigger the formation of 2-deoxy-D-ribose -- the backbone molecule, , of DNA. *The mysterious night side of Venus The winds and upper cloud patterns on the night side of Venus have been characterised for the first time- giving scientists some surprising results. A report in the journal Nature Astronomy claims the atmosphere on Venus’ night side behaves very differently to that on the side of the planet facing the Sun -- exhibiting unexpected and previously-unseen cloud types, morphologies, and dynamics -- some of which appear to be connected to features on the planet’s surface. *WASP 19B an inferno world with titanium skies Astro

*The best estimates yet of Earth’s composition Astronomers have determined the most accurate estimate yet of the Earth’s core, finding it makes up 32.5 per cent of the planet’s total mass. The findings are part of a new understanding of the Earth’s composition, which will help scientists develop new methods to determine if exoplanets orbiting distant stars are likely to be capable of supporting life. *New supernovae study reframes the Dark Energy debate A new study claims the accelerating expansion of the universe may not be real, but could just be an apparent effect. The study claims the fit of Type Ia supernovae to a model universe with no dark energy appears to be very slightly better than the fit for the standard dark energy model. *Curiosity climbing a Martian ridge NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has begun the steep ascent up an iron-oxide-bearing ridge that's grabbed scientists' attention since before its arrival on the red planet in 2012. The Vera Rubin Ridge stands prominently on the north western flank