TechInScience

Happy Hunting Based on scientists’ calculations, the first molecule to ever form from stray atoms in the  universe  was likely helium hydride, a combination of helium and hydrogen. For decades, physicists have hunted the universe for the elusive molecule. And now an international team of researchers say they’ve  finally found it  — thereby confirming the presumed first step in the universe’s chemistry. Watch Here - No Doubt In a  study  published in the journal  Nature  Wednesday, the researchers describe how they used NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the world’s largest airborne observatory, to detect helium hydride in a planetary nebula about 3,000 light-years away from Earth. “It was so exciting to be there, seeing helium hydride for the first time in the data,” researcher Rolf Guesten said in a  news release . “This brings a long search to a ha...

Spinning around: the green arrows represent rotation speed in the stellar convection zone. Differential rotation is inferred from the oscillatory motions of the star seen as orange/blue shades on the right side of the figure. (Courtesy: MPI for Solar System Research/MarkGarlick.com) An international team of astronomers has observed latitude-varying rotation in the outer layers of 13 Sun-like stars and shown in great detail that the Sun is not alone in displaying this curious behaviour.  Othman Benomar  at New York University, Abu Dhabi and his colleagues made the discovery by measuring distinctive patterns of acoustic oscillations in the stars. Their discovery could help to advance our understanding of the elusive mechanisms which play out deep within the Sun and other stars. By observing the movements of sunspots across the Sun’s surface, astronomers have known for some time that our host star’s equator rotates 30% faster than its poles – a phenomenon known as “differenti...

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...