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I was lucky enough to get a great glimpse of the northern lights from my own home this month, when the biggest solar storm to hit Earth in two decades made the auroras visible at latitudes much further south than usual.
Despite living in the light-filled streets of central London, my smartphone camera captured a green mist and a pulsating sheet of purple and pink light. Capturing the moment was an unforgettable experience and one that I thought would involve an expensive trip to the northernmost parts of our planet.
The storms that create spectacular auroras like the ones I witnessed originate from the sun’s dynamic magnetic field, an astrophysical enigma that scientists this week moved closer to solving.
NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory
Scientists at NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory used computer models to generate a four-day time-lapse view of the sun’s changing magnetic field. Field lines are more concentrated in regions of greater magnetic intensity.
Clarifying how the sun’s magnetic field works will help scientists improve the prediction of space weather, which dazzles night sky watchers but can disrupt GPS and communications satellites.
The Sun’s magnetic field lines, which form a tangled web of structures more complex than those on Earth, are difficult to study directly. To understand what is happening, scientists create mathematical models.
A new model that took more than a decade to develop and required a NASA supercomputer to perform detailed calculations has found that the sun’s magnetic field is generated much closer to the surface than previously thought.
The team believes its model is more accurate because it takes into account a unique solar characteristic.
A gold earring found in the ruins of a 2,000-year-old building in the Pyrenees is a clue to how a devastating fire may have started. The inferno engulfed the wooden structure, located in an Iron Age settlement called Tosal de Baltarga, and killed six animals locked in a stable.
Archaeologists believe the fire was intentional. If it was an accident, the owners of the building would probably let the cattle out and come back after the fire died down to get the hidden gold that was hidden in a jar.
The arsonists may have been an invading army under Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who led troops against the Roman Republic, according to new research.
The fates of the people who used the building are unknown, but excavations have revealed telling details of the lives of the Iberian people called the Cerretani.
Andre Pattenden/English Heritage
The moon is seen above the megaliths that make up Stonehenge, located on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.
The builders of Stonehenge placed the huge stones that make up the prehistoric monument in line with the rising and setting of the sun during the longest and shortest days of the year, revealing an intimate understanding of the sun that is still felt today.
But does the 4,500-year-old site in south-west England – and potentially other megalithic monuments around the world – also line up with the moon?
The idea that Stonehenge had a lunar connection first gained ground in the 1960s. However, the concept has not been systematically explored – until now.
This summer, archaeologists are using the lunar stasis, a little-known phenomenon that occurs every 18.6 years, to investigate.
Space scientists have observed the edge of a black hole – an area known as the “plunge region” – for the first time.
Andrew Mummery, lead author of a new study of black holes and a research fellow at the University of Oxford compared it to the “edge of a waterfall” at the end of a river, where orbital material from nearby stars falls into the abyss.
In the immersion region, matter can no longer remain in orbit and instead rushes into the black hole. But unlike the event horizon or the surface of a black hole, light can still escape at this point.
The results of the study, which Albert Einstein predicted, could help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of black holes.
Philippe Clement/Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
The Eurasian jay may be capable of human memory, according to new research.
Corvids — the group of birds that includes crows, ravens and jays — are known for being smart. One species of Corvid may even be capable of what researchers call “mental time travel.”
This type of recall allows the mind to recall a seemingly unimportant piece of information that you have not consciously committed to memory – for example, remembering what you had for lunch yesterday.
Researchers working with Eurasian jays trained to find food hidden under cups said these birds may be capable of the feat of memory.
In the experiment that involved decorated cups, the jays were able to remember what a particular cup looked like even after the cups were rearranged and there was a time delay.
And in other Corvid news, crows can count to four, the latest research has found.
Immerse yourself in these mind-expanding stories.
— Thomas Midgley Jr. was a talented American inventor who left a lasting mark on history. However, his ingenious solutions create even bigger problems.
— Microplastics have been found in human testicles, highlighting the urgent need for more research to understand what role plastic may play in causing infertility.
— An Austrian winemaker has discovered hundreds of mammoth bones in his cellar, a discovery one expert described as an “archaeological sensation.”
Don’t leave just yet: NASA has announced the latest information on the much-delayed Boeing Starliner crewed mission.
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