Balloons that pick up sounds from artificial earthquakes could one day explore Venus.
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Year: 2018
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This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope of a bipolar star-forming region reminds us of a soaring, celestial snow angel. The outstretched “wings” aren’t snow at all, but are actually twin lobes of super-hot gas: https://go.nasa.gov/2EFQMFh
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‘’As a result, it’s nonsensical to ask what happens to space-time beyond the Cauchy horizon because space-time, as it’s regarded within the theory of general relativity, no longer exists. “This gives one a way out of this philosophical conundrum,” said Dafermos.
Mathematicians have disproved the strong cosmic censorship conjecture. Their work answers one of the most important questions in the study of general relativity and changes the way we think about space-time.
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Scientists have created a rubbery, shape-shifting material that morphs from one sophisticated form to another on demand.
The shapes programmed into a polymer appear in ambient conditions and melt away when under heat. The process also works in reverse.
The smooth operation belies a battle at the nanoscale, where liquid crystals and the elastomer in which they’re embedded fight for control. When cool, the shape programmed into the liquid crystals dominates, but when heated, the crystals relax within the rubber band-like elastomer, like ice melting into water.
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Water scarcity is a global security risk. Researchers are developing ways to forecast risks to prevent conflicts.
A plant grows between cracked mud at the Theewaterskloof dam near Cape Town, South Africa, on Jan. 21, 2018. The dam, which supplies most of Cape Town’s potable water, is currently dangerously low as the city faces “Day Zero”, the point at which taps will be shut down across the city. Mike Hutchings / Reuters file.
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