Radio Signal Reveals Supernova Origin

Artists impression of a white dwarf accreting matter from a helium rich companion
Artist impression of the double star system with a compact white dwarf star accreting matter from a helium-rich donor companion. The accretion eventually leads to the white dwarf going supernova. (credit: Adam Makarenko/W. M. Keck Observatory)

In the latest issue of the journal Nature, astronomers from Stockholm University reveal the origin of a thermonuclear supernova explosion. Strong emission lines of helium and the first detection of such a supernova in radio waves show that the exploding white dwarf star had a helium-rich companion.

Supernovae of Type Ia are important for astronomers since they are used to measure the expansion of the Universe. However, the origin of these explosions has remained an open question...

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An X-ray look at the Heart of Powerful Quasars

This artist's impression of a quasar shows a bright orange and white disc of material centred around a small black circle. A jet of light emanates from this circle, white and blue in colour.
Artist’s impression of a quasar
Credit
NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva
Licence type
Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

Researchers have observed the X-ray emission of the most luminous quasar seen in the last 9 billion years of cosmic history, known as SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, or J1144 for short. The new perspective sheds light on the inner workings of quasars and how they interact with their environment. The research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Hosted by a galaxy 9.6 billion light years away from the Earth, between the constellations of Centaurus and Hydra, J1144 is extremely powerful, shining 100,000 billion times brighter than the Sun...

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Study finds Cancer Cells use a New Fuel in Absence of Sugar

microscopic image close up colorful blue red yellow
NCI – Visuals Online

Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have discovered a new nutrient source that pancreatic cancer cells use to grow. The molecule, uridine, offers insight into both biochemical processes and possible therapeutic pathways.

The findings, published in Nature, show that cancer cells can adapt when they don’t have access to glucose. Researchers have previously identified other nutrients that serve as fuel sources for pancreatic cancer; this study adds uridine to the catalog.

Pancreatic tumors have few functioning blood vessels and can’t easily access nutrients that come from the bloodstream, like glucose. Costas Lyssiotis, Ph.D...

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Team demonstrates Quantum Advantage on Optimization problems with a 5,000-qubit Programmable Spin Glass

Team demonstrates quantum advantage on optimization problems with a 5000-qubit programmable spin glass
The D-Wave Advantage processor, with more than 5,000 qubits and 40,000 programmable couplers, was used to demonstrate coherent annealing through a quantum phase transition, giving a speedup over simulated annealing. Credit: D-Wave

Over the past decades, researchers and companies worldwide have been trying to develop increasingly advanced quantum computers. The key objective of their efforts is to create systems that will outperform classical computers on specific tasks, which is also known as realizing “quantum advantage.”

A research team at D-Wave Quantum Inc., a Canadian quantum computing company, recently created a new quantum computing system that outperforms classical computing systems on optimization problems...

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