TechInScience

The observation of the explosive merger of two neutron stars has confirmed UC Berkeley researchers’ theories on the origin of precious metals, such as platinum, as well as previous theories regarding gravitational waves. The collision, which was later identified as a neutron star merger, was observed Aug. 17 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, in the United States and by the Virgo detector in Italy. This is the first time researchers have successfully detected the gravitational waves that result from a neutron star merger. “ Following the collision of the stars, neutron-rich matter (neutron star ‘guts’) were ejected from the merger site at velocities up to 30 percent the speed of light,” said Brian D. Metzger, a physics professor at Columbia University, in an email. “This hot debris synthesized heavy elements, such as gold, platinum and silver within seconds as it expanded into space.” Previously, physicists from UC Berkeley and Lawrence Be...

UC Berkeley astronomers have detected 15 fast, high-energy radio bursts from a mysterious source across the universe. The bursts were detected by Breakthrough Listen, an initiative headquartered at UC Berkeley that aims to find evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence and civilization. The 15 bright, brief millisecond-long radio impulses detected by Breakthrough Listen originated from a source called FRB 121102. FRB 121102 is located in the constellation of Auriga, in a dwarf galaxy 2.5 billion light-years away, according to Andrew Siemion, director of Berkeley SETI Research Center and the Breakthrough Listen Initiative. These 15 new radio bursts are the first of their kind to exhibit multiple, repeating signals at such high frequencies, making them a rarely observed phenomenon, according to Vishal Gajjar, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Berkeley SETI Research Center who discovered the bursts. “ Most of the observations of this source was done at 1,400 megahertz. We did ...

Should a person venture into a specific type of black hole, it may be able to provide them with infinite possible futures, according to a study published Jan. 17. The study focused on the “ fate of Cauchy horizons”  — whether or not someone who approaches these horizons would survive based on the exchange of energy within and beyond the black hole. Peter Hintz, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow in mathematics who contributed to the study, used a theoretical, highly charged black hole. “Normally, when physics works as it is supposed to, if you know your position and velocity, and those of anything that might influence you, you can compute, at least in principle, what will happen,” said study contributor Aron Jansen in an email. “This is what breaks down at a Cauchy horizon; we simply don’t know what will happen (and) in that sense it can be anything.” It is possible to travel beyond the event horizon of a highly charged black hole and enter the Cauchy horizon, acc...

Sixgill sharks are among the oldest creatures on Earth, with ancestors dating back to over 250 million years, well before dinosaurs.   Scientists at the Florida Institute of Technology have identified and confirmed the existence of a new shark species residing in the Atlantic Ocean. For confirmation, scientists used genetic testing and named the species “Atlantic sixgill shark.” The shark is different than its counterparts in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and measures up to 6 feet in length. “We showed that the sixgills in the Atlantic are actually very different from the ones in the Indian and Pacific Oceans on a molecular level, to the point where it is obvious that they’re a different species even though they look very similar to the naked eye,” said Toby Daly - Engel, Assistant Professor and shark biologist at the Florida Institute of Technology. Atlantic sixgill sharks are far smaller than their Indo-Pacific relatives, which can grow to 15 feet o...

An illustration of ULA's Vulcan rocket launching toward space. (In this image, used-up rocket motors are falling back to Earth. SpaceX turned heads around the world on February 6 with the first-ever launch of Falcon Heavy. The 230-foot-tall rocket's three boosters helped push Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster into space, peeled off after running low on fuel, and then careened toward Earth. Two of the 16-story boosters rocketed to a safe landing (the third fell into the ocean), and the flight was hailed as a huge success. It proved SpaceX could lift twice as much payload to space for about 25% of the cost of its closest competitor while recycling rocket parts worth tens of millions of dollars. That primary rival is United Launch Alliance, a company that aerospace industry titans Boeing and Lockheed Martin formed in 2005. ULA's largest rocket, the Delta IV Heavy, costs $350 million per launch, according to company CEO Tory Bruno. Delta IV Heavy is far more expensive t...

There is still a lot more to talk about the Academy Awards after the official ceremonies. Did you know that the much-coveted Oscar statuette has the same gold coating used by NASA telescopes to glimpse into distant stars and galaxies?  NASA telescopes and Oscars trophies have something in common — their shiny gold coating is made by the same company. Epner Technology uses gold electroplating for NASA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The recently concluded Oscars awarding ceremonies teemed with celebrities and talented actors, but the real star of the awards night was the little statuette that everyone was eyeing — the Oscars trophy. Who would have known that the golden trophy given to the best in their field has some space tech on it? The Oscars statuette uses the same electroplated gold present in NASA telescopes. Gold Is The Best The same company that is working on NASA's telescopes since the 1970s is now in charge of electroplating the O...