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Android Phones Can Detect Earthquakes Before the Ground Starts Shaking

Since their first implementation in Mexico and Japan, earthquake early-warning (EEW) systems have provided critical advance notice of imminent earthquakes to countless people. Many seismic countries, however, still don’t have the infrastructure necessary to sustain such crucial networks, leaving their populations vulnerable to devastating earthquakes. Researchers in the U.S. and Germany have tested a global earthquake detection and alert system that makes use of a device many people already own

Black hole merger challenges our understanding of black hole formation

Gravitational waves—ripples in space-time caused by violent cosmic events—travel at the speed of light in every direction, eventually fading out like ripples in water. But some events are so destructive and extreme that they create disturbances in spacetime more like powerful waves than small ripples, with enough energy to reach our own detectors here on Earth. Today, the LIGO Collaboration announced the detection of the most colossal black hole merger known to date, the final product of which

Astronomers Detect a Black Hole Merger That’s So Massive It Shouldn’t Exist

Gravitational waves—ripples in space-time caused by violent cosmic events—travel at the speed of light in every direction, eventually fading out like ripples in water. But some events are so destructive and extreme that they create disturbances in spacetime more like powerful waves than small ripples, with enough energy to reach our own detectors here on Earth. Today, the LIGO Collaboration announced the detection of the most colossal black hole merger known to date, the final product of which

Using Sound Waves to Put Out Fire: Story of Two George Mason University Students

Imagine fighting a fire without water, foam, or chemicals—just the power of sound. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick, right? But back in 2015, two engineering students at George Mason University in Virginia made it a reality. Viet Tran and Seth Robertson, both seniors at the time, built a device that uses low-frequency sound waves to extinguish flames. Their invention, dubbed the “Wave Extinguisher,” caught the world’s attention and sparked a wave of research into acoustic fire supp

‘Death Wish’ Planet Actively Triggers Destructive Flares From Its Host Star

A young, energetic star has had just about enough of its clingy planet. The pair are mired in a toxic relationship, with the planet sending waves of energy toward the star—and the host star is responding with violent explosions that are destroying its planet over time. Using the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Cheops mission, a team of astronomers from the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy gathered evidence for the first known exoplanet with an apparent death wish. In a paper published We

Star Quakes and Monster Shock Waves

Like the simulation depicting how a neutron star cracks, this one also predicts the characteristics of the resulting flares astronomers might see through telescopes. In the fleeting moments when monster shock waves rip outward and a black hole pulsar forms, telescopes may be able to catch outbursts of radio waves or a combination of X-rays and gamma rays. In short, the simulations performed by Most and colleagues provide a deeper understanding of the physics driving some of the most energetic ev

Trump’s Cuts Threaten Nobel-Winning Observatory That Detected Colliding Black Holes

Nearly 10 years ago, scientists observed ripples in spacetime created by the collision of two black holes that took place 1.3 billion years ago. The first direct detection of gravitational waves opened up an entirely new way of seeing the universe, allowing us to observe a once invisible side of the cosmos. Today, the ability to track the frequencies produced by the most notable events that shape our surrounding cosmos is at risk due to drastic budget cuts targeting a breakthrough observatory.