Wham! Bullseye! Galactic collision creates a ring of black holes and neutron stars

[Ravindra B]

Top mathematician says he's solved a 160-year-old maths problem worth $1 million

“One of the world's most renowned mathematicians showed how he solved the 160-year-old Riemann hypothesis at a lecture on Monday - and he will be awarded US$1 million if his solution is confirmed.

“Sir Michael Atiyah, who has won the two biggest prizes in mathematics - the Fields Medal and Abel Prize - took the stage at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany on Monday to present his work.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/top-mathematician-sir-michael-atiyah-solved-a-160-year-old-1-million-ma...

[Ravindra B]

Scientists have identified the driving force behind all your darkest impulses

“In a new study, psychologists from Germany and Denmark have mapped this driving force behind all our darkest impulses, and given it a name. Meet D, the newly identified Dark Factor of Personality.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-identified-driving-force-behind-all-your-darkest-impulses-pe...

[Ravindra B]

NASA's Opportunity was spotted from Mars orbit, but things are looking bleak

“When a global dust storm began to envelope Mars about 100 days ago, Opportunity stopped getting enough sunlight to its solar panels. This triggered it to go to sleep on June 10 and conserve battery power, which the rover needs to run heaters that protect its circuits from blistering Martian cold.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/satellite-photo-has-captured-nasas-opportunitys-probable-final-resting-...

[Sharon L]

I recently watched a television programme that said black holes were in question. I wish we had more photos of these objects.

[Rene K]

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@Sharon L wrote:

I recently watched a television programme that said black holes were in question. I wish we had more photos of these objects.

---

 The existence of black holes is pretty much solid. While we cannot really see one from close, both math and experiment pretty much agree on their existence.

A direct photo of a black hole won't be possible since, by essence, these objects emit no light. They can, however, be observed indirectly through their effects on their environment.

[Ravindra B]

CERN scientists say the LHC has confirmed two new particles, and possibly discovered a Third

“Protons consist of two up quarks and one down quark, while neutrons consist of one up quark and two down quarks, for instance. But the two new particles discovered have a slightly different composition.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/cern-large-hadron-collider-beauty-experiment-two-new-bottom-baryon-part...

[Ravindra B]

We just received more mind-melting photos and a video from the surface of an asteroid

“If that wasn't awe-inspiring enough, JAXA has just released not only more images, but even a small video from Ryugu's surface, and all their footage is mind-meltingly wonderful.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/japan-s-rover-just-sent-back-mind-melting-new-video-and-photos-from-the...

[Ravindra B]

Cats are actually terrible at controlling some rat populations, study shows

“On a study of cats performed in New York city, researchers found that the feline hunters, despite their famed hunting prowess, only rarely hunted rats - which could put a pin in the idea of using cats to deal with a growing rat problem, as has been proposed for Chicago.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/feral-cats-new-york-city-norway-rat-predation-urban-ecosystem

[Reinier B]

---

@Rene K wrote:

---

@Sharon L wrote:

I recently watched a television programme that said black holes were in question. I wish we had more photos of these objects.

---

 The existence of black holes is pretty much solid. While we cannot really see one from close, both math and experiment pretty much agree on their existence.

A direct photo of a black hole won't be possible since, by essence, these objects emit no light. They can, however, be observed indirectly through their effects on their environment.

---

  The first direct image of a black hole event horizon is expected to be released later this year, so watch this space. 

[Ravindra B]

Creating hallucinations without drugs is surprisingly easy

“And yet, those 100 billion or so neurons are also incredibly fragile.

“If the tiniest thing goes wrong with a particular connection - maybe something misfires, or a certain neural pathway is blocked - things can fall apart very quickly.

“And, oddly enough, even without any injuries or structural malfunctions, the human brain can get weird all by itself - turns out, it's surprisingly easy to trick it into seeing and hearing things that aren't actually there.”

https://www.sciencealert.com/how-to-create-hallucinations-without-drugs-surprisingly-easy-science