Shock wave/boundary layer interaction (SWBLI) has long been a challenge in compressible flow simulations due to its complex multi-scale and non-equilibrium characteristics. Particularly, the simulation of multi-scale SWBLI under near-space conditions poses significant challenges to traditional continuum models such as the Navier–Stokes (NS) equations. To address this, researchers employed a mesoscopic Discrete Boltzmann Method (DBM) to investigate the discrete effects and non-equilibrium behaviors in SWBLI which are beyond the NS description. Given that different interfaces such as temperature and density will provide different characteristic scales, correspondingly, will provide local Knudsen (Kn) numbers of different perspectives. From one perspective, the Kn number is increasing, but from another perspective, it may be decreasing. Therefore, the early understanding based on the definition of the Kn number from a single perspective was one-sided or even wrong. Therefore, researchers proposed the concept of the local Kn number vector: each component of it is a Kn number from one perspective. Based on the developed DBM theory and method, they discovered a series of kinetic features and new mechanisms in rarefied laminar SWBLI.

By focusing on adaptive aerodynamics, the ice-tolerance concept with variable drooping leading edge technology could revolutionize how planes handle icing skies. An ice tolerance solution based on the variable camber leading edge of iced wings is proposed, where the leading edge adapts its camber to counter ice effects. Compared with traditional aerodynamic design for ice tolerance, this concept not only strikes a balance between safety and functionality, but also boosts efficiency even under severe icing conditions.

The "exciting" discovery of an extremely rare quadruple star system could significantly advance our understanding of brown dwarfs, astronomers say. These mysterious objects are too big to be considered a planet but also too small to be a star because they lack the mass to keep fusing atoms and blossom into fully-fledged suns. In a new breakthrough published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), astronomers have now identified an extremely rare hierarchical quadruple star system consisting of a pair of cold brown dwarfs orbiting a pair of young red dwarf stars, located 82 light-years from Earth in the constellation Antlia. The system, named UPM J1040−3551 AabBab, was identified by an international research team led by Professor Zenghua Zhang, of Nanjing University.

Supernovae appear to our eyes—and to astronomical instruments—as brilliant flashes that flare up in the sky without warning, in places where nothing was visible just moments before. The flash is caused by the colossal explosion of a star. Because supernovae are sudden and unpredictable, they have long been difficult to study, but today, thanks to extensive, continuous, high-cadence sky surveys, astronomers can discover new ones almost daily.

It is crucial, however, to develop protocols and methods that detect them promptly; only in that way can we understand the events and celestial bodies that triggered them. In a pilot study, Lluís Galbany of the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) in Barcelona and his colleagues present a methodology that can obtain the earliest possible spectra of supernovae—ideally within 48 hours, or even 24 hours, of the “first light.” The results have just been published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP).

SAN ANTONIO — August 18, 2025 — New research led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has confirmed decades-old theoretical models about magnetic reconnection, the process that releases stored magnetic energy to drive solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other space weather phenomena. The data was captured by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP), which is the only spacecraft to have flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere.