Category Astronomy/Space

New planet candidates from the eighth Kepler planet candidate catalog show numerous terrestrial worlds that are near the size of Earth and within the habitable zone of their stars. The dark green span represents an optimistic estimate for habitable zone, while the brighter green a more conservative estimate. Blue circles are confirmed exoplanets, while yellow circles are new planet candidates that require follow-up observations. Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/Wendy Stenzel

Rocky planets are probably a whole lot more common in our galaxy than astronomers previously believed—according to the latest release of Kepler Space Telescope data last week—a scenario that enhances the prospects for extraterrestrial life in nearby solar systems...

This is an artist’s representation of a conceptual design for the color detector, which uses thermoelectric structures with arrays of nanoscale wires that absorb different wavelengths of light based on their width. Credit: Harry Atwater and Kelly Mauser/Caltech

Engineers at Caltech have for the first time developed a light detector that combines 2 disparate technologies – nanophotonics, which manipulates light at the nanoscale, and thermoelectrics, which translates temperature differences directly into electron voltage – to distinguish different wavelengths (colors) of light, including both visible and infrared wavelengths, at high resolution...

Merging black holes generate gravitational waves. These ripples in space-time might be used to unveil hidden dimensions. Credit: © Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS)

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute/AEI) in Potsdam found that hidden dimensions– as predicted by string theory could influence gravitational waves. In a recently published paper they study the consequences of extra dimensions on these ripples in space-time, and predict whether their effects could be detected.

LIGO’s first detection of gravitational waves from a black-hole binary in September 2015 has opened a new window onto the universe...