Scientists from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility have uncovered crucial details about the Earth’s core-mantle boundary and the evolution of super-Earths. By using advanced high-energy X-ray diffraction, they found that variations in iron content in molten rock do not significantly impact its density.
Researchers based at the Paris Observatory led by Yu-Dai Tsai of the University of California and Luca Visinelli of the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute (TDLI), are using precise tracking data from near-Earth asteroids like Bennu to explore the possibility of a fifth fundamental force, which could reshape our understanding of gravity and the universe. This study began in 2022 with full findings expected to be published by 2025.
Laniakea, the supercluster that includes our Milky Way, may just be the start of something even grander, with astronomers finding a 60% chance it belongs to the gigantic Shapley concentration.
Astronomers have discovered that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS), the largest storm in the solar system, is undergoing a surprising oscillation in shape. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope collected over 90 days, researchers observed fluctuations in the storm’s size, shape, and speed.
Earth’s oldest continental crust, once believed to be geologically stable, has been gradually eroding over the past 200 million years due to tectonic shifts and mantle processes. Research led by Professor Shaofeng Liu of the China University of Geosciences into the North China Craton suggests that similar tectonic forces may have impacted other cratons worldwide, including those in North and South America. The gradual disintegration of these ancient cratons could alter Earth’s geological stability and potentially affect long-term environmental conditions.
Researchers at the University of Toronto found that photons can appear to escape atoms before the atomic excitation process is complete, leading to the concept of “negative time.”
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit Tewksbury Township, New Jersey, on April 5, 2024, causing vibrations throughout the northeastern United States. Surprisingly, the most vigorous shaking was observed in New York City, far from the epicenter.
The NA62 experiment at CERN, backed by researchers from Lancaster University, has observed a rare decay process, happening in less than one in ten billion charged kaons. This discovery, presented at a CERN EP seminar on September 24, 2024, may shed light on new physics, taking us closer to breakthroughs in particle interactions beyond the Standard Model.
Geoscientists at the University of Toronto, working with Turkish experts, have discovered lithospheric ‘dripping’ beneath Turkey’s Central Anatolian Plateau. This phenomenon occurs when dense parts of the mantle lithosphere descend into the overlying asthenosphere, reshaping the region’s surface by deepening the Konya Basin and elevating surrounding places.
A new study published in the Russian Journal of Pacific Geology looks into geomagnetic excursions over the last 10 000 years utilizing peat deposits from Russia’s Khabarovsk Territory. The study called into attention the importance of understanding these transitory shifts in Earth’s magnetic poles, which differ from total geomagnetic reversals and impact climatic and environmental circumstances.
