Comparing data from VLA sky surveys made some two decades apart revealed that the black hole-powered ‘engines’ at the cores of some distant galaxies have launched new, superfast jets of material during the interval between the surveys.

Astronomers using data from the ongoing VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) have found a number of distant galaxies with supermassive black holes at their cores that have launched powerful, radio-emitting jets of material within the past two decades or so. The scientists compared data from VLASS with data from an earlier survey that also used the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to reach their conclusion.

“We found galaxies that showed no evidence of jets before but now show clear indicati...

Prototype tech shrinks AI to deliver brain-like functionality in one powerful device.

Researchers have developed artificial intelligence technology that brings together imaging, processing, machine learning and memory in one electronic chip, powered by light.

The prototype shrinks artificial intelligence technology by imitating the way that the human brain processes visual information. The nanoscale advance combines the core software needed to drive artificial intelligence with image-capturing hardware in a single electronic device.

With further development, the light-driven prototype could enable smarter and smaller autonomous technologies like d...

Scientists have uncovered a method of combining natural organic compounds which can create anticancer drugs with minimal side effects. They have discovered a method of synthesizing organic compounds that are four times more fatal to cancer cells and leave non-cancerous cells unharmed.

In the past decades, cancer has surpassed many other diseases to become the current second leading cause of death globally, with one in six people dying from it. This concerning position has given it a unique and ubiquitous position in global culture, so much so that finding a cure for cancer is considered one of the most noble things any person can do. Sadly, humanity hasn’t arrived at this cure yet; tons of research is being conducted to explore every angle of cancer, trying to find a weakness.

A...

Astronomers have solved the 16-year-old mystery surrounding the Blue Ring Nebula – an unusual, large, faint blob of gas with a star at its center. This object is unlike any they’d ever seen before in our Milky Way galaxy. The team has discovered the nebula appears to be the first known example of a merged star system at this stage.

In 2004, scientists with NASA’s space-based Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spotted an object unlike any they’d seen before in our Milky Way galaxy: a large, faint blob of gas with a star at its center...