Scientists get a first look at the innermost region of a white dwarf system
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Dec-2025 08:11 ET (24-Dec-2025 13:11 GMT/UTC)
MIT astronomers used the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer to identify key features in the innermost region of a white dwarf system called an intermediate polar. This extremely energetic environment has been inaccessible to most telescopes until now.
- Universities of Exeter and Leicester collaborate on mission to send nematode worms to the International Space Station
- The experiment is based upon a concept and early development by the University of Exeter over more than 8 years
- A ‘Petri Pod’ designed and built at Space Park Leicester developed from that earlier work will allow scientists on Earth led from the University of Exeter to study the worms in space
- Will provide insights into the effects of space microgravity and radiation on biological material, and help inform future human space travel
A geomagnetic superstorm is an extreme space weather event that occurs when the Sun releases massive amounts of energy and charged particles toward Earth. These storms are rare, occurring about once every 20-25 years. On May 10-11, 2024, the strongest superstorm in over 20 years, known as the Gannon storm or Mother’s Day storm, struck Earth.
A study led by Dr. Atsuki Shinbori from Nagoya University's Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research has captured direct measurements of this extreme event and provided the first detailed observations of how a superstorm compresses Earth's plasmasphere—a protective layer of charged particles that encircles our planet. Published in Earth, Planets and Space, the findings show how the plasmasphere and ionosphere react during the most violent solar storms and help forecast disruptions to satellites, GPS systems, and communication networks during extreme space weather events.
Open semi-natural settings in urban areas – like parks and golf courses teeming with plants and small mammals – are possible hotspots for interaction between coyotes and humans, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzed times and locations in Chicago when coyotes were on the move at the same time people were working, socializing or otherwise occupied outside the home. The analysis showed that overlap of human and coyote activity would be far more probable in areas with a high proportion of open space and less likely to occur in predominantly paved areas.
Researchers from HSE University and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences analysed seven years of data from the ERG (Arase) satellite and, for the first time, provided a detailed description of a new type of radio emission from near-Earth space—the hectometric continuum, first discovered in 2017. The researchers found that this radiation appears a few hours after sunset and disappears one to three hours after sunrise. It was most frequently observed during the summer months and less often in spring and autumn. However, by mid-2022, when the Sun entered a phase of increased activity, the radiation had completely vanished—though the scientists believe the signal may reappear in the future. The study has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.