Magnetars are a class of neutron stars with the strongest magnetic fields in the Universe. These incredibly dense objects are central in the landscape of extreme phenomena such as hypernovae, fast radio bursts, and gamma-ray bursts. Yet, their origin remains unclear. An international research team, including the University of Geneva (UNIGE), has reproduced for the first time the formation and evolution of a magnetar by using numerical simulations. This major advance in our understanding of these stars is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

In a paper published in Science Bulletin, China’s scientists presented the newest evidence of how many trees exist in China. In 2020, China had ~142.6 billion trees—equivalent to ~100 trees per person.