Science

March Heat Dome Shattered Records Across the West — and Scientists Say Climate Change Made It 800 Times More Likely

A late-March heat dome pushed Phoenix past 100°F and toppled hundreds of records. Researchers say such heat was ‘virtually impossible’ without warming.

#climatechange, #heatwave, #weather, #southwest, #extremeheat

Astronomers Spot Likely Giant Impact as Distant Star’s Light ‘Goes Bonkers’

A University of Washington team says unusual dimming and an infrared surge in a young star point to a rare, Moon-like planetary collision.

#astronomy, #exoplanets, #gaia, #planetaryscience, #space

Oval Orbit Revealed in LIGO’s 2020 Neutron Star–Black Hole Crash

A new reanalysis of GW200105 finds the pair merged on an eccentric orbit, pointing to a chaotic, cluster-like origin rather than a quiet stellar partnership.

#gravitationalwaves, #ligo, #blackhole, #neutronstar, #astrophysics

NASA Rolls Artemis II Moon Rocket Back to Pad 39B, Aiming for April 1 Launch

Artemis II returns to Kennedy’s Pad 39B after helium-system repairs, setting up final tests ahead of NASA’s first crewed lunar mission since 1972.

#nasa, #artemis, #moon, #spacelaunchsystem, #orion

Climate Change Is Slowing Earth’s Spin, Study Finds—Lengthening Days by Milliseconds

New research links ice melt and sea-level rise to a measurable slowdown in Earth’s rotation, with implications for leap seconds and precision tech.

#climatechange, #earthrotation, #sealevelrise, #leapsecond, #timekeeping

A ‘Phantom’ Climate Preprint Spreads Online, Highlighting the Stakes of Sensitivity Estimates

A rumored arXiv paper touting low climate sensitivity can’t be found—raising alarms about verification, statistics, and how fast “good news” travels.

#climatechange, #arxiv, #misinformation, #statistics, #ipcc

Oven-Hot Exoplanet Near ‘Radius Valley’ Shows How Stars Strip Worlds Bare

TOI-5734 b is a dense, Neptune-size world losing its atmosphere under fierce radiation—an ideal test case for models of planetary erosion.

#exoplanets, #astronomy, #tess, #jwst, #planetaryscience

SpaceX’s Starlink Surpasses 10,000 Active Satellites, Reshaping Low Earth Orbit

Two March 17 Falcon 9 launches pushed Starlink past 10,000 working satellites—about three-quarters of active spacecraft—spurring debates over safety and science.

#spacex, #starlink, #satellites, #spacepolicy, #astronomy

Reanalysis of Landmark LIGO Signal Suggests Black Hole–Neutron Star Crash Had an Oval Orbit

A new study finds GW200105 kept a surprisingly eccentric orbit before merging, pointing to formation in dense clusters or triple-star systems.

#gravitationalwaves, #ligo, #blackholes, #neutronstars, #astrophysics

A ‘Hostless’ Gamma-Ray Burst Traced to a Tiny Galaxy in Tidal Debris, Shedding Light on Gold’s Origins

Astronomers used Chandra and Hubble to trace a 2023 short gamma-ray burst to a faint mini-galaxy in a tidal tail, reshaping ideas on hostless blasts and gold.

#astronomy, #gammarayburst, #neutronstars, #hubble, #chandra