One bolt of lightning covered a horizontal distance of 515 miles during a 2017 storm. A re-examination of satellite observations revealed the record-setting megaflash.

Kyoto, Japan -- Black holes embody the ultimate abyss. They are the most powerful sources of gravity in the universe, capable of dramatically distorting space and time around them. When disturbed, they begin to "ring" in a distinctive pattern known as quasinormal modes: ripples in space-time that produce detectable gravitational waves.

In events like black hole mergers, these waves can be strong enough to detect from Earth, offering a unique opportunity to measure a black hole's mass and shape. However, precise calculation of these vibrations through theoretical methods has proven a major challenge, particularly for vibrations that are rapidly weakening.

This inspired a team of researchers at Kyoto University to try a new method of calculating the vibrations of black holes. The scientists applied a mathematical technique called the exact Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin, or exact WKB analysis to carefully trace the behavior of waves from a black hole out into distant space. While this method has long been studied in mathematics, its application to physics -- especially to black holes -- is still a newly developing area.

University of Maryland geophysicist Nicholas Schmerr and Smithsonian Senior Scientist Emeritus Thomas R. Watters identified seismic activity that could pose a threat to future missions to the moon.

For more than 100 years, scientists have puzzled over whether the Earth’s magnetic field had already been generated stably back in its early days when its inner core was fully liquid – unlike it is today. A team of geophysicists has used a simulation to show that this was highly likely.

An international team of astronomers has captured one of the most detailed images yet of a spectacular, ribbon-like jet emerging from the heart of the distant active galaxy, OJ 287. Enabled by the RadioAstron space telescope in combination with a global network of radio observatories, this breakthrough sheds new light on the extreme environments surrounding supermassive black holes and the powerful jets they launch into space.

Studying plant vegetative reproduction is key to increasing crop yield and for bioengineering. Kobe University research is making progress on studying the genetic regulation of the process in liverworts, which are ideal model plants and even a candidate for space crops.