Science

Webb Measures Massive Black Hole in Tiny Galaxy 700 Million Years After Big Bang

Webb's NIRSpec mapped gas in a z=7.04 'Little Red Dot', finding a 10^7–10^8 solar-mass black hole that may outweigh its primitive host.

#astronomy, #blackhole, #jameswebb, #cosmology, #earlyuniverse

LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA releases GWTC-5.0, expanding gravitational-wave catalog to 390 events

LVK's GWTC-5.0 adds 150 compact-binary candidates from O4b, raising the catalog to 390 events and improving population studies, Hubble estimates and GR tests.

#gravitational-waves, #ligo, #astronomy, #cosmology

AI diffusion model yields 12 computational leads for energetic materials, preprint lacks experimental confirmation

An arXiv preprint says an AI diffusion model generated 12 DFT-validated energetic-material leads and released code, but reports no lab confirmation.

#artificialintelligence, #energeticmaterials, #chemistry, #arxiv

NASA to Name Artemis III Crew During June 9 Event in Houston

NASA will reveal the Artemis III astronaut crew and provide a mission update June 9 from Johnson Space Center in Houston; Artemis III is slated for 2027.

#nasa, #artemis, #space, #moon

JADES releases uniformly modeled catalog of about 500,000 galaxies in GOODS deep fields

JADES DR5 offers a uniform Bayesian catalog of stellar mass, SFR, metallicity and AGN contribution for about 500,000 sources in GOODS-N and GOODS-S.

#jwst, #jades, #galaxies, #astronomy

Fermi Detects Delayed Gamma Rays from Superluminous Supernova SN 2017egm, Supporting Magnetar Power Source

Fermi's LAT saw months-delayed GeV gamma rays from SN 2017egm, offering rare evidence the explosion was powered by a newborn magnetar.

#astronomy, #supernova, #gammarays, #magnetar

Preprint claims first detection of 'moving lens' effect in CMB at 4.8σ

An arXiv preprint reports a 4.8σ detection of the 'moving lens' effect in the CMB using ACT and DESI, a claimed new probe of transverse cosmic velocities.

#cosmology, #cmb, #act, #desi, #astrophysics

Preprint: JWST spectra of K2-18b still consistent with Hycean ocean‑world models

A May 18 arXiv preprint finds JWST transmission spectra of K2-18b can be reproduced by self-consistent Hycean (H2‑rich ocean) atmosphere models without invoking DMS.

#exoplanets, #jwst, #hycean, #k2-18b

CHIME/FRB Finds 30 New Repeating Fast Radio Bursts and No Clear Split Between Repeaters and One‑Offs

CHIME/FRB reports 30 new repeating fast radio burst sources and statistical evidence that repeaters and apparent one‑offs may form a single population.

#frb, #chime, #astronomy, #radioastronomy

Preprint Claims Nearly 147,000 ‘Hallucinated’ Citations in 2025 After Audit of 2.5M Papers

An arXiv preprint reports nearly 147,000 non-existent citations in 2025 after auditing 2.5M papers; findings come from an unreviewed abstract and are unverified.

#research, #ai, #arxiv, #scientificintegrity

JAXA to supply hardware and H3 launch services for ESA’s Ramses mission to Apophis

JAXA will supply solar arrays, a thermal imager and H3 launch services for ESA’s Ramses mission to study asteroid Apophis ahead of its 2029 close approach.

#jaxa, #esa, #apophis, #ramses, #space

JPL Prototype Lithium MPD Thruster Reaches 120 kW in Ground Test

A JPL prototype lithium-fed MPD electric thruster reached 120 kW in a Feb. 24 vacuum test — an early lab milestone toward higher‑power deep‑space propulsion.

#space, #jpl, #electricpropulsion, #mpd

Preprint: DESI spectra identify 10,000+ candidate cold gas inflows into galaxies

An arXiv preprint using DESI DR2 spectra reports more than 10,000 candidate cold-gas inflows in z<0.6 galaxies, offering a large but preliminary sample.

#astronomy, #desi, #galaxies, #arxiv

ArXiv preprint proposes nuclear-spin laser method for >90% single-pass isotope enrichment

An unreviewed arXiv paper proposes using nuclear-spin–sensitive ultrafast lasers to achieve >90% single-pass isotope enrichment in simulations; no experiments yet.

#laser, #isotope, #separation, #nuclearphysics, #arxiv

Study: Possible Thin Atmosphere Detected Around Small Trans‑Neptunian Object 2002 XV93

A May 4 Nature Astronomy paper reports a tenuous atmosphere around plutino (612533) 2002 XV93 based on a single 2024 occultation; independent verification needed.

#transneptunian, #astronomy, #occultation, #pluto