Huge Antarctic iceberg finally breaks free

Huge Antarctic iceberg finally breaks free

After months of ‘hanging by a thread’, a vast iceberg the size of Norfolk has finally broken off Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf. Around 30 m (98 feet) of this 190 m (623 feet) thick block of ice sits above the sea surface. Scientists now have…

CERN’s LHCb experiment announces observation of a new particle

CERN’s LHCb experiment announces observation of a new particle

At the EPS Conference on High Energy Physics held this week in Venice, the LHCb experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has reported the observation of Ξcc++ (Xicc++) a new particle containing two charm quarks and one up quark. The existence of this…

Previously unknown extinction of marine megafauna discovered

Previously unknown extinction of marine megafauna discovered

Over two million years ago, a third of the largest marine animals like sharks, whales, sea birds and sea turtles disappeared. This previously unknown extinction event not only had a considerable impact on the Earth’s historical biodiversity but also on the…

Sound waves direct particles to self-assemble, self-heal

Sound waves direct particles to self-assemble, self-heal

An elegantly simple experiment with floating particles self-assembling in response to sound waves has provided a new framework for studying how seemingly lifelike behaviors emerge in response to external forces. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s…

Distant earthquakes can cause underwater landslides

Distant earthquakes can cause underwater landslides

New research finds large earthquakes can trigger underwater landslides thousands of miles away, weeks or months after the quake occurs. Researchers analyzing data from ocean bottom seismometers off the Washington-Oregon coast tied a series of underwater landslides…

Study suggests another large planetary body exists in Solar System

Study suggests another large planetary body exists in Solar System

A new study from the University of Arizona suggests that an unknown, and currently unseen planetary body exists in the outer reaches of our solar system. The planet is located far beyond Pluto and has a mass somewhere between that of Mars and Earth. This object is…

Our sun had a twin when it was born, study

Our sun had a twin when it was born, study

According to a new analysis by a theoretical physicist from UC Berkley and a radio astronomer from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard University, our sun, as well as every other sunlike star in the universe, had a twin when it was born. Astronomers…