
Crypto lender BlockFi emerges from bankruptcy
(Reuters) -Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi emerged from bankruptcy on Tuesday, clearing the way to repay its creditors 11 months after it
2023-10-25 01:52

Fortnite Chapter 5 Release Date
Fortnite Chapter 5 is expected to release in November 2023 after the conclusion of Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 4.
2023-08-01 03:48

Britain's $1.3 billion semiconductor support plan gets cool response
By Alistair Smout and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) -Britain will invest 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) in its semiconductor sector
2023-05-19 17:55

Scientists have solved a great mystery at the dawn of time itself
Many of us will never get our heads around the fact that scientists can actually look back in time. The power of telescopes enables us to study phenomena that occurred billions of years ago, and even gaze upon the dawn of creation itself. Now, astrophysicists have solved a great mystery at the heart of our universe's birth, when everything was shrouded in a dense fog. In four separate papers published in (or accepted into) The Astrophysical Journal, scientists at MIT, Japan’s Nagoya University, ETH Zurich and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have shared some stunning insights into the period known as the Epoch of Reionisation. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Relatively little is known about this era, during which the thick fog engulfing the universe gradually cleared, allowing stars and galaxies to shine. However, fresh observations made using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are beginning to pull back the curtain on it all. Now, scientists have finally figured out why one billion years after the Big Bang, that dense fog finally dispersed. First things first, what exactly is the Epoch of Reionisation? During the first billion years after the Big Bang, space was filled with a soupy mist of ionised gas which was impenetrable to light. As the gas began to cool, protons and electrons began to combine to form mostly neutral hydrogen atoms and some helium. These clumps of neutral hydrogen are then believed to have started forming stars, grouped into galaxies. This process reionised the gas but, because space had expanded by this point, the newly ionised hydrogen was diffuse enough to allow light to stream through, as Science Alert notes. A few million years later, the universe had become the transparent expanse with which we’re now familiar. To explain, here’s a look at what those four new papers reveal about why space became so much clearer. Paper 1 In the first study, researchers at the University of Groningen revealed that they had discovered crucial evidence of star formation during the Epoch of Reionisation. They found a specific wavelength of hydrogen, called hydrogen alpha, which is formed when a star is born and blasts out huge amounts of ionising ultraviolet radiation. Until now, no one was sure what produced all the ultraviolet light that emerged during the Epoch of Reionisation. But, thanks to their detection of hydrogen alpha, the Groningen team of astronomers that star formation had a “significant role in the process of reionisation”. Paper 2 Another paper, spearheaded by Japanese astrophysicist Daichi Kashino, added galaxies into the mix. According to Kashino and his international team, reionisation happened in “bubbles” around the plethora of newly-formed galaxies. They used JWST data to pinpoint these pockets and measure them precisely, identifying that they had a 2 million light-year radius around the tiny galaxies. Over the next hundred million years, the bubbles grew larger and larger, eventually merging and causing the entire universe to become transparent, according to an article published by NASA. Paper 3 A third group of researchers, led by ETH Zurich astrophysicist Jorryt Matthee, analysed the characteristics of these bubbles and found that the early galaxies they contained were hot, low in metals and dust and very active. He said they were “more chaotic” than those in the nearby universe, adding: "Webb shows they were actively forming stars and must have been shooting off many supernovae. They had quite an adventurous youth!” Paper 4 A fourth paper, led by MIT cosmologist Anna-Christina Eilers, focused its attention on the quasar galaxy at the centre of the JWST observations. This quasar is, according to NASA, an “extremely luminous active supermassive black hole that acts like an enormous flashlight”. Eilers and her team used data from the telescope to confirm that the black hole is the most massive currently known in the early universe, weighing 10 billion times the mass of the Sun. “We still can’t explain how quasars were able to grow so large so early in the history of the universe,” she said. “That’s another puzzle to solve!” Conclusion Well done if you’ve survived to the end – this is all pretty heavy-going. But the key point here is that before the JWST no one knew for sure what caused reionisation. Now, thanks to the mighty golden-eyed telescope, one of the great mysteries behind the birth of creation has finally been solved. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-06-26 22:53

Mission accomplished, India puts moon rover to 'sleep'
By Arpan Chaturvedi NEW DELHI India switched off its moon rover, the first craft to reach the lunar
2023-09-03 16:45

Get a certified refurbished Kindle for 38% at Amazon
Save $90: As of June 27, the ad-supported Certified Refurbished Kindle Oasis is on sale
2023-06-28 00:47

Outlook down: Microsoft 365 not working, leaving people without email and other apps
Microsoft 365 has gone down, leaving people without access to their email in the middle of the working day. The company said it was aware of the issue and working to fix it. Shortly after, it was back online, according to both tracking website Down Detector.
2023-06-06 01:18

Hackers steal personal information on thousands of pilot applicants at American and Southwest
Hackers gained personal information about thousands of people who applied to become pilots at American and Southwest airlines
2023-06-27 06:20

India's Jio launches Netflix subscription on prepaid plans
Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, said on Friday it has
2023-08-18 19:24

Tesla's Elon Musk optimistic on progress for self-driving, robots
By Abhirup Roy SAN FRANCISCO Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk on Wednesday set new targets for artificial intelligence
2023-07-21 13:48

Avanci Aftermarket Signs License Agreement With Electronic Toll Collection Leader Axxès
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 20, 2023--
2023-07-20 20:15

rf IDEAS, Manufacturer of Credential Readers for Authentication and Logical Access, Announces Partnership With Soloinsight, Specializing in Cyber-Physical Identity Convergence, to Offer a More Secure and Reliable Access Management Solution
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 13, 2023--
2023-07-13 20:16
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