Magellan mission reveals possible tectonic activity on Venus

Magellan mission reveals possible tectonic activity on Venus

Vast, quasi-circular features on Venus’s surface may reveal that the planet has ongoing tectonics, according to new research based on data gathered more than 30 years ago by NASA’s Magellan mission.

On Earth, the planet’s surface is continually renewed by the constant shifting and recycling of massive sections of crust, called tectonic plates, that float atop a viscous interior. Venus doesn’t have tectonic plates, but its surface is still being deformed by molten material from below.

Seeking to better understand the underlying processes driving these deformations, the researchers studied a type of feature called a corona.

Ranging in size from dozens to hundreds of miles across, a corona is most often thought to be the location where a plume of hot, buoyant material from the p...

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Long working hours may alter brain structure, preliminary findings suggest

Night shift
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Long working hours may alter the structure of the brain, particularly the areas associated with emotional regulation and executive function, such as working memory and problem solving, suggest the findings of preliminary research, published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Ultimately, overwork may induce neuroadaptive changes that might affect cognitive and emotional health, say the researchers.

Long working hours have been linked to heightened risks of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and mental health issues. And the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that overwork kills more than 800,000 people every year, note the researchers.

While the behavioral and psychological consequences of overwork are reasonably w...

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Computer scientists discover new security vulnerability in Intel processors

Researchers discover new security vulnerability in Intel processors
To compute faster, a predictor in the computer processor anticipates certain calculation steps. Hackers can exploit these anticipations to bypass security barriers and access confidential information. In the illustration, a hacker manages to overcome the protective measures (privileges) at step 3. Credit: ETH Zurich / COMSEC, HK

Anyone who speculates on likely events ahead of time and prepares accordingly can react quicker to new developments. What practically every person does every day, consciously or unconsciously, is also used by modern computer processors to speed up the execution of programs. They have so-called speculative technologies which allow them to execute instructions on reserve that experience suggests are likely to come next...

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Astrophysicists explore our galaxy’s magnetic turbulence in unprecedented detail using a new computer model

A close up of colourful swirls and lines, a composite image of the Phantom Galaxy.
A composite image of the Phantom Galaxy and (inset) a high-resolution simulation of galactic turbulence with magnetic field lines in white. Photo: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team; Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt; Simulation: J. Beattie.

“Turbulence remains one of the greatest unsolved problems in classical mechanics,” says James Beattie, a postdoctoral researcher at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) in the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto, who also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University.

“This despite the fact that turbulence is ubiquitous: from swirling milk in our coffee to chaotic flows in the oceans, solar wind, interstellar medium, even the plasma between galaxies.

“The key distinction in astro...

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