space

Lose Yourself in This Majestic New Hubble Picture of an Entire Cluster of Galaxies

We're now used to seeing beautiful shots of space taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, but that doesn't mean they're not still jaw-dropping in their gorgeousness – and this picture of galaxy cluster Abell 3827 certainly fits that description. What you're looking at here is a cluster of hundreds of galaxies of different shapes and sizes, some 1.4 billion light-years away from Earth, with the e

Ultra High-Definition 85-Megapixel Photo of the Moon Captures Every Tiny Crater

Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy is back with a new high-definition look at the moon. The 85-megapixel image was taken right in McCarthy's backyard and shows all the glorious details that one would expect. In fact, one could pour over the image for hours to pick apart all the craters and geographical markings on the moon's surface. Interestingly, the final image isn't completely as it ap

The Speed of Ocean Currents Is Changing in a Major Way, Scientists Warn

Scientists already know the oceans are rapidly warming and sea levels are rising. But that's not all. Now, thanks to satellite observations, we have three decades' worth of data on how the speeds of ocean surface currents are also changing over time. In research published on 23 April in the journal Nature Climate Change we detail our findings on how ocean currents have become more energeti

Physicists Just Reached a New Speed Limit For Moving Quantum Information

Scientific progress towards a quantum computing future has so far involved lots of different breakthroughs in lots of different (but related) fields, and there's now a new one to report: the discovery of a crucial quantum speed limit. This latest research answers a fundamental question – how fast can a quantum process be? It's a useful piece of information to know if you want to build a quant

The Full Moon Changes How People Sleep Without Us Ever Realising, Says Study

In modern times, a great deal of research has focused on the way that artificial light sources mess up our sleep and health, due to the unnatural effects of illumination after the Sun goes down. But just how unnatural is night-time light anyway? After all, humans have always been exposed to variable levels of light at night, due to reflections of sunlight from the waxing and waning Moon – and

The White Dots in This Image Are Not Stars or Galaxies. They’re Black Holes

The image above may look like a fairly normal picture of the night sky, but what you're looking at is a lot more special than just glittering stars. Each of those white dots is an active supermassive black hole. And each of those black holes is devouring material at the heart of a galaxy millions of light-years away - that's how they could be pinpointed at all. Totalling 25,000 such dots, as

Physicists Propose a ‘Force Field’ to Protect Sensitive Quantum Computers From Noise

Creating a quantum computer requires an ability to stroke the edges of reality with the quietest of touches. Too much 'noise' and the delicate state of the system collapses, leaving you with a very expensive paperweight. One way to reduce the risk of this occurring is to build in checks and balances that help to shield the blurred state of reality at the core of quantum computers - and now scie

Earth’s Magnetic Field Flipped 42,000 Years Ago. The Consequences Were Dramatic

A global period of upheaval 42,000 years ago was the result of a reversal in Earth's magnetic field, new research has found. According to radiocarbon preserved in ancient tree rings, several centuries' worth of climate breakdown, mass extinctions, and even changes in human behaviour can be directly linked to the last time Earth's magnetic field changed its polarity. he research team has name

Quantum Theory May Twist Cause And Effect Into Loops, With Effect Causing The Cause

Causality is one of those difficult scientific topics that can easily stray into the realm of philosophy. Science's relationship with the concept started out simply enough: an event causes another event later in time. That had been the standard understanding of the scientific community up until quantum mechanics was introduced. Then, with the introduction of the famous "spooky action at a

‘Defining Moment’ as Hope Probe Transmits Its Breathtaking First Image of Mars

The United Arab Emirates Space Agency on Sunday released its first photo of Mars, taken by its Hope Probe. "The transmission of the Hope Probe's first image of Mars is a defining moment in our history and marks the UAE joining advanced nations involved in space exploration," Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Twitter. The transmission of the Hope Probe's first image of Mars is a defi