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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Evidence of a new phenomenon: Quantum tornadoes in momentum space

    March 12, 2025, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    Quantum tornado in momentum space: In the quantum material tantalum arsenide (TaAs), electrons form vortices in momentum space. Momentum space is a physics concept used to analyze how electrons behave in solids. A research team from the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat at Würzburg and Dresden has now provided the first experimental evidence of these quantum tornadoes. (Image: think-design | Jochen Thamm)

    A team of researchers from Würzburg has for the first time experimentally demonstrated a quantum tornado. Electrons form vortices in the momentum space of the quantum semi-metal tantalum arsenide.

    Scientists have long known that electrons can form vortices in quantum materials...

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    Seismic clues from Marsquakes suggest liquid water and life potential beneath the surface

    March 10, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Marsquakes and meteorites unveil the potential for subterranean alien lifeforms on Mars
    Figure 1. NASA’s InSight lander is shown above with all of its different devices that have been used for scientific discovery. The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for the Interior Structure) seismometer is shown to the bottom left of the lander. Credit: Ikuo Katayama

    Are subterranean lifeforms viable on Mars? A new interpretation of Martian seismic data by scientists Ikuo Katayama of Hiroshima University and Yuya Akamatsu of Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics suggests the presence of water below the surface of Mars. “If liquid water exists on Mars,” Katayama says, “the presence of microbial activity” is possible.

    This analysis is based on seismic data from SEIS (Seismic Experiment for the Interior Structure), deployed from NASA’s InSight lander that landed on Mars in 2018...

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    The chances of anything coming from Mars

    March 10, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Microscope images of rock samples and a bar chart showing signals from them.
    Mars analogues. Photos and outputs from instruments used for O-PTIR. Researchers can interpret the images on the left, made using different optical sensors, to produce graphs like those on the right, which show the presence of microbial life. ©2025 Suzuki et al. CC-BY-ND

    New method to detect life makes Mars sample return protocols rock solid

    Within the next decade, space agencies plan to bring samples of rock from Mars to Earth for study. Of concern is the possibility these samples contain life, which could have unforeseen consequences. Therefore, researchers in this field strive to create methods to detect life...

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    Gemini South Observes Ultra-Hot Nova Erupting With Surprising Chemical Signature

    March 7, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Astronomers uncover extremely hot and violent eruption from first ever near-infrared analysis of a recurrent nova outside of the Milky Way Galaxy. Using the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, and the Magellan Baade Telescope, astronomers have for the first time observed a recurring nova outside of the Milky Way in near-infrared light. The data revealed highly unusual chemical emissions as well as one of the hottest temperatures ever reported for a nova, both indicative of an extremely violent eruption.

    Nova explosions occur in binary star systems in which a white dwarf — the dense remnant of a dead star — continually siphons stellar material from a nearby compan...

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