Your “friendly neighborhood astrophysicist” Becky Smethurst is enthusiastically exploring the universe and educating us along the way.
ESO instrument finds closest black hole to Earth
A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1000 light-years from Earth.
Inertial Frame Dragging in an Acoustic Analogue Spacetime
The Lense–Thirring effect, originating in rotating curved spacetimes, involves the precession of a spinning gyroscope around the axis of rotation relative to a Copernican frame. The rotating spacetime around the earth also exhibits the weaker version of this effect;...
Could a nuclear explosion set Earth’s atmosphere on fire?
A pair of nuclear astrophysicists explore this question, assessing the risk of this outcome back when nuclear physics was still in its infancy.
Searching for dark matter in our solar system
Sending atomic and nuclear clocks into the inner reaches of our solar system could help scientists find proof of elusive dark matter.
Detecting ultralight dark matter particles using supermassive black holes
Is it time to start looking for alternatives to WIMPs?
Are nuclear energy and natural gas sustainable investments?
We need a means of reducing carbon emissions and tackling the climate crisis, but is painting nuclear energy and natural gas as “sustainable” the way forward?
Dark matter could be composed of primordial black holes
A new theory for the origin and nature of dark matter resolves some inconsistencies between cosmological predictions and astronomical data.
Shirley Meng: “This is materials science, it is the bread and butter of our work”
The materials scientist talks about the challenges in finding work/life balance, her research in sustainable energy storage, and how Chinese calligraphy has shaped her way of thinking.
Cosmic bursts unveil universe’s missing matter
Bright bursts of radio waves help astronomers locate a type of matter that researchers have been searching for for the past 30 years.