When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.
The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts
as with creating images.

— Niels Bohr

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The war in Iran is supercharging an ecological crisis in the Persian Gulf

Scientific American.com - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 7:30am

Despite decades of damage, the Persian Gulf’s ecological marvels remain—for now

Categories: Astronomy

The Universe's Biggest Black Holes Aren't Born, They're Built

Universe Today - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 7:04am

When a massive star dies, it can leave behind a black hole. That much has been understood for decades. But the most monstrous black holes in the universe, the heavyweights detected by the faint ripples they send through the fabric of space and time aren't born that way at all. According to a new Cardiff University study, they're built through repeated, catastrophic collisions in the most densely packed star clusters in the cosmos.

Categories: Astronomy

Deep-Earth diamonds reveal trove of never-before-seen minerals

Scientific American.com - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 7:00am

Flecks of minerals captured in diamonds show hidden connections between Earth’s surface and its deep interior

Categories: Astronomy

The Planet That Shouldn't Exist… But Does

Universe Today - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:56am

Hot Jupiters are the bullies of the planetary world. These colossal gas giants orbit impossibly close to their stars and their gravity is so overwhelming that anything nearby gets scattered, swallowed, or flung into oblivion. Finding a smaller planet surviving inside a hot Jupiter's orbit should be virtually impossible. Yet 190 light years away, that's exactly what astronomers have found.

Categories: Astronomy

We've Been Wasting 99% of Our Supernova Data

Universe Today - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:48am

Every time an astronomer points a telescope at a distant supernova, they're trying to measure how far away it is. But the light from these stellar explosions arrives tangled up with interference from dust, the age of the host galaxy and the chemical make up of the original star . Unpicking it all has always been a painstaking business. Now a team of researchers has used artificial intelligence to cut through the noise in a single step, potentially making cosmological measurements four times more precise. In a universe full of unanswered questions, that's a very significant leap forward.

Categories: Astronomy

Depression scales may not work the same for highly intelligent people

Scientific American.com - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:45am

Research suggests depression assessment questionnaires can’t reliably compare people with differing intelligence

Categories: Astronomy

Melting of Greenland ice sheet could release methane 'fire ice'

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:00am
Seismic surveys and sediment cores suggest that dozens of deep pockmarks on the sea floor were created when Arctic methane stores were disrupted by climate change after the last glacial maximum – and scientists warn it could happen again
Categories: Astronomy

Melting of Greenland ice sheet could release methane 'fire ice'

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:00am
Seismic surveys and sediment cores suggest that dozens of deep pockmarks on the sea floor were created when Arctic methane stores were disrupted by climate change after the last glacial maximum – and scientists warn it could happen again
Categories: Astronomy

Melting of Greenland ice sheet could release large stores of methane

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:00am
Seismic surveys and sediment cores suggest that dozens of deep pockmarks on the sea floor were created when Arctic methane stores were disrupted by climate change after the last glacial maximum – and scientists warn it could happen again
Categories: Astronomy

Melting of Greenland ice sheet could release large stores of methane

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:00am
Seismic surveys and sediment cores suggest that dozens of deep pockmarks on the sea floor were created when Arctic methane stores were disrupted by climate change after the last glacial maximum – and scientists warn it could happen again
Categories: Astronomy

Rebooting stem cells builds aged muscles and assists injury recovery

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:00am
Muscle stem cells, which are crucial for building new muscle, don’t work as well as we get older, but giving them an artificial boost could rejuvenate them
Categories: Astronomy

Rebooting stem cells builds aged muscles and assists injury recovery

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:00am
Muscle stem cells, which are crucial for building new muscle, don’t work as well as we get older, but giving them an artificial boost could rejuvenate them
Categories: Astronomy

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APOD - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 4:00am

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Categories: Astronomy, NASA

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APOD - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 4:00am


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

2026 FIFA World Cup players and fans at risk of extreme heat, climate scientists warn

Scientific American.com - Thu, 05/14/2026 - 12:00am

Heat conditions could exceed dangerous levels at a quarter of the planned 2026 World Cup soccer matches, including the final in New Jersey on July 19

Categories: Astronomy

A Brief-ish History of SETI. Part IV: Arecibo and the WOW! Signal

Universe Today - Wed, 05/13/2026 - 10:49pm

During the 1970s, pioneering experiments were conducted that are known today as Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI). At the same time, NASA launched four spacecraft bound for interstellar space, each carrying "messages in a bottle" intended for extraterrestrial beings.

Categories: Astronomy

Forget Searching for Individual Biosignatures. Instead, Find Their Patterns

Universe Today - Wed, 05/13/2026 - 4:06pm

The search for life elsewhere focuses on biosignatures. These are chemicals in atmospheres that can only be attributed to life. But despite the prowess of the JWST, finding slam-dunk proof of life on other worlds is a confounding exercise. New research suggests that rather than focus on individual chemicals, we should look for statistical patterns.

Categories: Astronomy

Almost half of the objects in Earth’s orbit are junk—and that’s only the stuff we know about

Scientific American.com - Wed, 05/13/2026 - 4:00pm

Debris is a growing threat to orbital infrastructure, and it’s only going to get worse as the number of launches increases

Categories: Astronomy