Spce Laser Beaming at US

Galaxy Arp 220 as imaged by the Wide Field Planetary Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope.NASA, ESA,

 A powerful space laser emitted from a distant galaxy has been discovered by astronomers.

The beam of radio waves is what scientists call a “megamaser” and this one is the most distant yet, emerging 5 billion light-years from Earth.

It was detected by an international team of scientists using South Africa’s “MeerKAT,” a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas.

Megamasers are naturally occurring, radio-wavelength lasers that can help shed light on galaxy collisions.

“Megamasers act like bright lights that say: Here is a collision of galaxies that is making new stars and feeding massive black holes,” said study co-author Jeremy Darling, of the University of Colorado.

When galaxies merge, the gas they contain becomes extremely dense, producing a specific radio signal known as a maser.

Megamasers are powerful masers produced in huge galaxy collisions, like beams from cosmic lighthouses.

The unearthing of the most distant megamaser to date was described by Darling and colleagues in a research paper published last week.

To reflect its status as a record-breaker, the team named the space laser Nkalakatha — an isiZulu word meaning “big boss.”

“Nkalakatha is one of the most powerful OH megamasers known, and it’s the most distant megamaser of its kind ever discovered, so it is truly a ‘big boss,’” said study co-author and Rutgers University astronomer Professor Andrew Baker.

“We expect it is only the first of many OH [hydroxyl] megamasers that will be discovered as the project continues.”  READ MORE...

Ways to be Happy

There are days when the world can feel extremely chaotic and overwhelming in complexity—whether it’s politics, the economy, global issues, or just the stress you face at work or at home. Through it all, happiness is a key priority. People want joy, contentment, and satisfaction in their work and life. While happiness may seem fleeting, there are paths you can take (some that may see strike you as surprising) to find happiness.

In my research on happiness, there are some significant sources that matter most. Feeling a sense of purpose in your contribution; sustaining meaningful connections with others; having opportunities to stretch, learn, and grow; and gratitude are all correlated with happiness.

But there are also some certain pathways to feeling happy which may surprise you.

DON’T CHASE IT
The happiness paradox suggests if you seek to be happy, you’ll be less likely to accomplish it. Instead, you should seek to create the conditions associated with happiness, rather than pursuing happiness for its own sake.

This is true because chasing happiness reminds you of what you don’t have (since you are pursuing it, after all) and it focuses you on your own needs, rather than those of others—and the opposite is linked with happiness. You’re more likely to experience happiness when you’re contributing to the needs of others, rather than yourself.

SPEND TIME WISELY
If you want to be happy, you’ll also do well to spend your time on activities which are both relaxing and rejuvenating. Research at the University of Nottingham found when you spend time on a hobby you enjoy or whiling away the hours playing games, these are correlated with happiness. Taking naps is also a great way to boost your happiness.

And interestingly, research at the University of Colorado found if you set your alarm to wake up an hour earlier each day (assuming you’re getting enough sleep overall), this is also correlated with happiness—likely because you have more control over your time and because you can fill your day with more of what you love to do.  READ MORE...

Fireflies Sync Their Flashes

Swarms of synchronous fireflies are rather like melting ice, or at least that’s how Raphael Sarfati, a physicist, sees it. Ice remains solid until it warms to a certain temperature and becomes a liquid. Likewise, a loose swarm fireflies will flash the lanterns in their abdomens randomly. But when the swarm reaches a certain density, the fireflies begin to blink in unison.

“Above that threshold, it is almost perfect synchronization,” with rhythmic, coordinated waves of light, said Sarfati, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The spontaneous synchronization of certain species of fireflies, such as Photinus carolinus in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee, has long baffled humans who observed the peculiar mating ritual, in which blinking males strive to attract the attention of ground-level females. 

Early-20th-century scientists dismissed the phenomenon as accidental or blamed it on puffs of wind or the twitching eyelids of the people who made these reports, according to one 1935 review in Science.

In the past 50 years, scientists collected anecdotal observations of these unified flashes but not enough empirical data to truly study firefly synchronization’s mechanisms.

Now, Sarfati and Orit Peleg, a physicist and assistant professor also at the University of Colorado, have filmed the mating hordes of P. carolinus and mapped their flashing patterns in three-dimensional space. 

Their research, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, adds to evidence that the insects sync their flashes, and suggests what may drive that coordination. TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE...