EIGHT-Billion-Year-Old Space Signal

Recently, astronomers made an astonishing discovery — a mysterious and powerful burst of radio waves reached Earth after traveling through space for 8 billion years. Dubbed FRB 20220610A, it is one of the most distant and energetic radio signals ever observed.


Fast radio bursts (FRBs), including this particular one, are extremely intense flashes of radio waves that last only milliseconds, yet their origins remain a source of great intrigue and perplexity. We still don’t know what, or who, sends these energy bursts.

The nature of these signals challenges our understanding of the universe, as they can originate from regions far beyond our Milky Way galaxy, hinting at processes and events that we are only beginning to comprehend.

Dr. Stuart Ryder, an esteemed astronomer at Macquarie University in Australia, is among the dedicated team of scientists working diligently to unravel the mysteries surrounding this cosmic enigma.

Through advanced technologies and collaborative efforts, they aim to decode the origins and implications of these fast radio bursts, potentially unlocking new insights into the fundamental workings of our universe and the forces that shape it.     READ  MORE...

Nubian Stone and Quantum Computers

Cuprous oxide – the mined crystal from Namibia used for making Rydberg polaritons. Credit: University of St Andrews

A special form of light made using an ancient Namibian gemstone could be the key to new light-based quantum computers, which could solve long-held scientific mysteries, according to new research led by the University of St Andrews.

The research, conducted in collaboration with scientists at Harvard University in the US, Macquarie University in Australia and Aarhus University in Denmark and published in Nature Materials, used a naturally mined cuprous oxide (Cu2O) gemstone from Namibia to produce Rydberg polaritons, the largest hybrid particles of light and matter ever created.

Rydberg polaritons switch continually from light to matter and back again. In Rydberg polaritons, light and matter are like two sides of a coin, and the matter side is what makes polaritons interact with each other.

This interaction is crucial because this is what allows the creation of quantum simulators, a special type of quantum computer, where information is stored in quantum bits. These quantum bits, unlike the binary bits in classical computers that can only be 0 or 1, can take any value between 0 and 1. They can therefore store much more information and perform several processes simultaneously.  READ MORE...

Sexually Frustrated Sea Snakes

A scuba diver off Australia noticed some odd behavior whenever he came into contact with male sea snakes: The venomous reptiles would coil around his fins, licking the water around him and even sometimes chasing him underwater. 

Now, he knows why: It was mating season, and the males thought he was a potential mate.

In a new study, the diver and another researcher analyzed 158 of these interactions with olive sea snakes (Aipysurus laevis) over several years in the Great Barrier Reef and found that interactions were more common during the reptiles' mating season. 

The sexually frustrated snakes also displayed elaborate behaviors that are often used during courtship between the sea serpents.

"Males are very aroused and active while looking for 'girlfriends,'" lead author Rick Shine, an evolutionary biologist and reptile expert at Macquarie University in Australia, told Live Science. 

But because the males can't tell the difference between female snakes and scuba divers, it can lead to some comical interactions, he added.  READ MORE