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--- transportation:space [2026/03/05 00:04] – timb
+++ transportation:space [2026/06/17 19:55] (current) – [Antenna] timb
@@ Line 1482: / Line 1482: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/that-black-hole-merger-that-shouldnt-exist-scientists-propose-a-wild-explanation-2000684803
+== Scientists Just Doubled Our Catalog of Black Hole and Neutron Star Collisions ==
+Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday March 08, 2026 09:34PM
+Colliding black holes were detected through spacetime ripples for the first time in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), notes Space.com:
+<blockquote>
+Since then, LIGO and its partner gravitational wave detectors Virgo in Italy and KAGRA (Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector) in Japan have detected a multitude of gravitational waves from colliding black holes, merging neutron stars, and even the odd "mixed merger" between a black hole and a neutron star... During the first three observing runs of LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA, scientists had only "heard" 90 potential gravitational wave sources.
+</blockquote>
+But now they've published new data from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration that includes 128 more gravitatational wave sources — some incredibly distant:
+https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/09/0429200/scientists-just-doubled-our-catalog-of-black-hole-and-neutron-star-collisions
+== Unprecedented Observation Reveals 2 Supermassive Black Holes Locked in a Tight Death Spiral ==
+New research describes an unexpected double jet in a distant galaxy, revealing a pair of supermassive black holes on the verge of colliding.
+Passant Rabie - April 7, 2026, 4:50 pm ET
+It’s no question that supermassive black holes are cosmic big boys, reaching millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun. How they achieve their behemoth status, however, is still up for debate. Scientists believe black holes merge with one another to grow to their enormous masses, but they haven’t yet been able to detect a close pair. Now, observations collected over 23 years may finally help solve the mystery of the universe’s notorious beasts.
+A team of astronomers may have found direct evidence of the first pair of supermassive black holes orbiting closely at the center of a galaxy. The two black holes may be on the verge of an epic collision, which would merge them together as one. The findings have been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
+https://gizmodo.com/for-the-first-time-astronomers-spot-two-supermassive-black-holes-locked-in-a-death-spiral-2000743581
+== ‘A Paradigm Shift’: Supermassive Black Hole Without a Galaxy Changes What We Thought Came First ==
+A recent Webb discovery defies the classic scenario of how black holes form and grow.
+Passant Rabie - May 28, 2026, 5:30 pm ET
+While probing the dawn of the universe for the origins of ancient galaxies, the James Webb Space Telescope uncovered something unexpected lurking at their cores—a discovery that might reshape our view of the early cosmos.
+Scientists have long thought that galaxies evolved first, while the black holes at their center formed after from the collapse of large stars. Recent observations by Webb, however, tell a different story. The telescope captured evidence of supermassive black holes evolving first, without a host galaxy to feed them.
+The Webb observations may finally provide an answer to a celestial chicken-or-the-egg question, suggesting that ancient black holes did not need to consume large amounts of surrounding gas and dust to grow to their enormous sizes.
+https://gizmodo.com/a-paradigm-shift-supermassive-black-hole-without-a-galaxy-changes-what-we-thought-came-first-2000764626
+== Massive Void Near Milky Way’s Black Hole Could Solve a 50-Year Mystery ==
+“There it is. There is the thing that everybody’s been looking for for 50 years.”
+Gayoung Lee - June 5, 2026, 11:55 am ET
+Theoretically speaking, black holes should breathe stuff out as they suck stuff in. But for 50 years, astronomers weren’t able to confirm this was true for the supermassive black hole in our own galaxy—until now.
+In a study published yesterday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, astrophysicists at Northwestern University presented potential evidence of a giant, cone-shaped hole in the cold gas surrounding Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. When the team calculated how much energy was required to create this cavity, they found there had to be some input from the black hole—something like a powerful wind or jet. To arrive at these conclusions, the team compiled five years’ worth of observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile.
+“Unless a black hole exists in a perfect vacuum, it must blow a wind somehow,” study co-lead author Mark Gorski said in a statement. “With new observations, this is the first time we’ve had a clean enough view to see the wind’s imprint. We looked at the data and said, ‘There it is. There is the thing that everybody’s been looking for for 50 years.’”
+https://gizmodo.com/massive-void-near-milky-ways-black-hole-could-solve-a-50-year-mystery-2000768086
@@ Line 4313: / Line 4367: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/rare-earthgrazer-meteor-flew-186-miles-over-3-states-1848046040
+== Rare Meteorite May Be Evidence of a Lost Planet That Never Fully Formed ==
+Seemingly unassuming meteorites hold invaluable information about the solar system's earliest stages.
+Gayoung Lee - June 4, 2026, 4:30 pm ET
+Meteorite fragments land across every corner of Earth. But among the roughly 80,000 meteorites discovered so far, only a handful are known as angrites—and at least one of them might be the remnant of a long-lost protoplanet in our solar system, a new study suggests.
+Researchers studying NWA 12774, an angrite retrieved in the Sahara Desert, noticed that the pressures required to form the fragment’s chemical structure could not have existed inside smaller asteroids. What’s more, the sharp, delicate crystals inside the angrite indicate that it was born at relatively shallow depths. In a recent paper published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the team presented an unexpected possibility—did the angrite once belong to a long-lost planetary embryo in our solar system?
+“Meteorites are essentially a library of information about the formation and evolution of the early solar system,” Aaron S. Bell, the study’s first author and an earth scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Gizmodo. “Angrites, in particular, preserve a record of processes that occurred at the very beginning of planetary formation.”
+https://gizmodo.com/rare-meteorite-may-be-evidence-of-a-lost-planet-that-never-fully-formed-2000767623
@@ Line 4435: / Line 4504: @@
 https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/01/18/0044243/meteorite-crash-in-canada-is-caught-by-home-security-camera
+===== 2026 (Texas) =====
+== Meteor Rumbles Over Houston, as Six-Pound Fragment Crashes Into a Texas Home ==
+Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday March 22, 2026 12:34AM
+"It is the talk of the town today — the loud boom, the flash of light in the sky experienced by a lot of folks across the Houston area this afternoon," says a local Texas newscaster. "And then there was this — a home in northwest Harris county hit by something that crashed through their roof."
+Travelling at very high speed, the six-pound meteorite crashed through their roof and through their attic, crashing again through the ceiling of the floor below. It then bounced off the floor, hit the ceiling again — and then fell onto the bed.
+CBS News reports:
+<blockquote>
+NASA said in a social media post that the meteor became visible at 49 miles above Stagecoach, northwest of Houston, at 4:40 p.m. local time. The meteor moved southeast at 35,000 miles per hour, breaking apart 29 miles above Bammel, just west of Cypress Station, NASA said. "The fragmentation of the meteor — which weighed about a ton with a diameter of 3 feet — created a pressure wave that caused booms heard by some in the area," NASA said in the post. Across the Houston area, residents described hearing a low, rumbling sound that many compared to thunder, even though the skies were clear, according to CBS affiliate KHOU.
+Earlier this week, an asteroid weighing about 7 tons and traveling at 45,000 mph traveled over multiple states. And last June, a bright meteor was seen across the southeastern U.S. and exploded over Georgia, creating similar booms heard by residents in the area.
+</blockquote>
+https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/22/0542203/meteor-rumbles-over-houston-as-six-pound-fragment-crashes-into-a-texas-home
+== Fallen Meteorite May Have Hit a Home in Houston ==
+NASA confirmed a meteor traveled over Texas after residents spotted a bright fireball in the skies on Saturday.
+Passant Rabie - March 23, 2026
+A large meteor fell toward Earth over the weekend, exploding with a visible flash and fragmenting into smaller chunks across Houston, Texas.
+Local residents first spotted a bright fireball around 5:40 p.m. ET on Saturday. NASA later confirmed that a meteor had traveled over Texas, causing a loud boom heard across the Houston area. The meteor broke apart into fragments, some of which may have crashed through a home and punctured a hole in the ceiling, The Guardian reported.
+https://gizmodo.com/fallen-meteorite-may-have-hit-a-home-in-houston-2000737041
@@ Line 4646: / Line 4749: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/nasa-hybrid-antenna-revolution-in-space-communication-1851248214
+== Human Error Caused a $4.1 Million Mishap at NASA’s Deep Space Network ==
+A NASA investigation blamed poor training and procedures for damage to a 70-meter radio frequency antenna.
+Passant Rabie - June 17, 2026, 2:30 pm ET
+NASA officials wrapped up an investigation into an incident that caused significant damage to one of its largest Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas, finding that operators were stretched beyond their usual roles to keep the facility operating.
+The Mishap Investigation Board issued its final report on the incident, blaming software weaknesses, human error, and an undocumented failure for the mishap. The 230-foot-wide radio antenna remains offline while NASA gets to work on its repairs, which the agency estimates will cost somewhere between $4.1 and $4.6 million.
+“We are committed to learning everything we can from this incident, and we’ve already begun putting those lessons into practice,” Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program, said in a statement.
+https://gizmodo.com/human-error-caused-a-4-1-million-mishap-at-nasas-deep-space-network-2000772552
@@ Line 4828: / Line 4945: @@
 ===== Employees =====
+==== Missing People ====
+== NASA Breaks Silence on Deaths and Disappearances of Scientists With Ties to Space Tech ==
+Eleven missing or dead scientists are now at the center of a federal investigation, and three had direct ties to NASA.
+Ellyn Lapointe - April 21, 2026, 12:10 pm ET
+The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the disappearances and deaths of 11 American scientists, the vast majority of whom were associated with federal nuclear or space research programs. Three of the scientists had direct ties to NASA, and the agency has finally broken its silence on the matter.
+“NASA is coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists,” agency Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said Monday. “At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat. The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able.”
+https://gizmodo.com/nasa-breaks-silence-on-deaths-and-disappearances-of-scientists-with-ties-to-space-tech-2000749047
+== The 'Missing-Scientist' Story Is Unbelievably Dumb ==
+Posted by BeauHD on Wednesday April 22, 2026 01:00PM
+Longtime Slashdot reader mmarlett writes:
+<blockquote>
+The Atlantic has a long article on the story of missing scientists recently featured here on Slashdot. In short, it is an incoherent conspiracy theory that spreads wide and far, not paying any attention to boundaries of time, space, or area of expertise. "Which is all to say that another piece of flagrant nonsense has ascended to the highest levels of U.S. politics and media," writes the Atlantic's Daniel Engber. "To call it a conspiracy theory would be far too kind, because no comprehensive theory has been floated to explain the pattern of events. But then, even the phrase pattern of events is imprecise, because there is no pattern here at all. Given all the people who could have been roped into this narrative but weren't, any hope of finding meaning falls away. Barring any dramatic new disclosures, the mystery of the missing scientists has the dubious honor of being a sham in every way at once."
+</blockquote>
+https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/04/22/1934234/the-missing-scientist-story-is-unbelievably-dumb
+== Tabloid reports linking 10 missing and dead scientists spur FBI probe ==
+FBI suspects foreign spies may be targeting scientists with access to government secrets.
+Ashley Belanger – Apr 22, 2026 9:46 AM
+The US is investigating a possible conspiracy after at least 10 scientists connected to US nuclear secrets and rocket technology went missing or died under shadowy circumstances over the past few years.
+Pointing to tabloid reports from The Daily Mail and The New York Post, Republican members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sought information about each missing or departed scientist. In letters to the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) said the tabloid reports had raised “questions about a possible sinister connection between a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances.”
+“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to US national security and to US personnel with access to scientific secrets,” the letters said.
+Lawmakers demanded answers by April 27 and requested that agencies report any actions taken to mitigate potential ongoing risks to active personnel.
+White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that President Donald Trump is actively working with the FBI to probe the conspiracy theory by “holistically” reviewing “all the cases together” to “identify any potential commonalities that may exist,” CNN reported.
+https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/tabloid-reports-linking-10-missing-and-dead-scientists-spur-fbi-probe/
+== FBI Looks Into Dead or Missing Scientists Tied To Sensitive US Research ==
+Posted by BeauHD on Wednesday April 22, 2026 12:00AM
+Federal authorities are now reviewing a string of deaths and disappearances involving scientists tied to sensitive U.S. aerospace and nuclear work, though officials have not established any confirmed link between the cases. The FBI says it "is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists," adding that it "is working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state ... and local law enforcement partners to find answers." The Republican-led House Oversight Committee also announced an investigation into the reports. CNN reports:
+<blockquote>
+A nuclear physicist and MIT professor fatally shot outside his Massachusetts residence. A retired Air Force general missing from his New Mexico home. An aerospace engineer who disappeared during a hike in Los Angeles. These are among at least 10 individuals connected to sensitive US nuclear and aerospace research who have died or disappeared in recent years, prompting concerns whether they are connected and fueling speculation online about the possibility of nefarious activity. [...]
+The Defense Department said only that it would respond to the committee directly, and the Department of Energy referred questions to the White House. In a post on X, NASA said it is "coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies" in relation to the scientists. "At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat," NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said.
+</blockquote>
+https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/04/22/0348204/fbi-looks-into-dead-or-missing-scientists-tied-to-sensitive-us-research
+== ‘Something sinister could be happening’: FBI looks into dead or missing nuclear and space defense scientists tied to NASA, Blue Origin, and SpaceX ==
+Catherina Gioino - April 21, 2026, 2:51 PM ET
+Almost a dozen scientists related to nuclear and space defense programs tied to NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are dead or missing in cases as far back as 2022, and they’ve gone largely unnoticed by authorities and the public—until now.
+The House Oversight Committee formally demanded answers from four federal agencies Monday on the deaths and disappearances of at least 11 American scientists and researchers with ties to NASA, nuclear research, and classified defense programs—several of them directly connected to the space defense technologies now being commercialized by SpaceX and Blue Origin.
+Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), the chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, sent letters to FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, requesting staff-level briefings no later than April 27.
+“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” the letters read.
+Later on Monday, Comer said the string of deaths was unlikely to be a coincidence. “Once you see the facts, it would suggest that something sinister could be happening and it would be a national security concern,” Comer said, adding he and Burlison were looking to “see if we can put it together and find any missing links to try to solve what’s going on here. Because it’s very unlikely that this is a coincidence. Congress is very concerned about this. Our committee is making this one of our priorities now because we view this as a national security threat.”
+https://fortune.com/2026/04/21/scientists-disappear-die-nasa-space-blue-origin-spacex/
+== At least 10 people tied to sensitive US research have died or disappeared in recent years, sparking federal investigation ==
+Natasha Chen, Alex Stambaugh, Chris Boyette - Updated April 22, 2026
+ A nuclear physicist and MIT professor fatally shot outside his Massachusetts residence. A retired Air Force general missing from his New Mexico home. An aerospace engineer who disappeared during a hike in Los Angeles.
+These are among at least 10 individuals connected to sensitive US nuclear and aerospace research who have died or disappeared in recent years, prompting concerns whether they are connected and fueling speculation online about the possibility of nefarious activity.
+The FBI now says it “is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists,” adding that it “is working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state … and local law enforcement partners to find answers.”
+Separately, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee announced Monday it will investigate reports of the deaths and disappearances of the individuals, whom it said had access to sensitive scientific information.
+The reports “raise questions about a possible sinister connection” between the deaths and disappearances, the committee said in its statement, seeking briefings on the matter from the FBI, the Defense Department, the Department of Energy and NASA.
+The Defense Department said only that it would respond to the committee directly, and the Department of Energy referred questions to the White House.
+https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/us/deaths-disappearances-scientists-investigation
 ==== Hale, Wayne ====
@@ Line 6235: / Line 6446: @@
 https://www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com/space/james-webb-telescope-to-confirms-that-the-universe-is-expanding-at-different-speeds/
+== How Serious Is the Universe’s Expansion Problem? ==
+The Hubble tension—a disagreement over the universe's expansion rate—has led to fears of a cosmology crisis, but is it actually that serious?
+Gayoung Lee - June 15, 2026, 7:30 am ET
+With consistent, impressive leaps in observational technology, cosmology keeps running into all kinds of issues. One infamous problem is called the Hubble tension. Namely, the two main ways scientists measure the Hubble constant, which represents the universe’s expansion rate, don’t agree. Whether that’s a scientific skill issue or evidence of some unidentified physics, scientists also don’t agree.
+To be clear, the numerical difference is not that big. The method that uses the cosmic microwave background (CMB), or the leftover radiation from the Big Bang, has the constant at 41 or 42 miles (67 or 68 kilometers) per second per megaparsec (a unit of distance about 3.3 million light-years). The other approach that uses local observations of galaxies and supernova puts it at 45 miles (73 kilometers).
+https://gizmodo.com/how-serious-is-the-universes-expansion-problem-2000770729
@@ Line 9245: / Line 9467: @@
+==== Water ====
+== A Single Asteroid Strike May Have Delivered All of Mercury’s Water, Study Finds ==
+Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury hosts water ice at its poles. Now scientists may know how it got there.
+Passant Rabie - May 29, 2026, 1:30 pm ET
+In 2012, a NASA probe confirmed something rather unexpected about Mercury. The scorching hot planet has deposits of water ice stashed in permanently shadowed areas. Exactly how the water got there, however, has remained a mystery. Now, a team of scientists has traced Mercury’s frozen water to a colossal impact that transformed the planet in a single Mercurian day.
+A new study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, suggests a massive impact by a comet or asteroid deposited all of Mercury’s water in one go. The team of researchers behind the study simulated the event and found that the planet’s thick deposits of water ice were likely accumulated over a single day on Mercury (the equivalent of 157 Earth days) in both the north and south polar regions.
+https://gizmodo.com/a-single-asteroid-strike-may-have-delivered-all-of-mercurys-water-new-study-finds-2000764992
 ===== Moon (General) =====
@@ Line 9649: / Line 9884: @@
 https://gizmodo.com/a-possible-lunar-impact-in-2032-could-spark-days-of-meteor-showers-on-earth-2000718658
+==== Crater ====
+== A Fresh Scar on the Moon: Newly Discovered Crater Reveals Recent Impact ==
+A space rock smashed into the lunar surface in late spring 2024.
+Passant Rabie - April 14, 2026, 10:30 am ET
+The Moon is constantly being bombarded by traveling space rocks, its surface recording each collision in the form of craters that never fade in the absence of wind or surface water. Most lunar craters that we know of date back millions, if not billions, of years, making evidence of a recent impact a rare glimpse into a process that is shaping the Moon today.
+Scientists identified a new crater on the Moon that formed in the late spring of 2024, revealing the violent aftermath of a recent collision on the lunar surface. Using images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnoissance Orbiter (LRO), the team behind the discovery analyzed changes before and after the impact to study the rare event.
+The findings were presented at the 57th Lunar and Planetary Sciences Meeting in March, and can help scientists better understand how craters form on the Moon and elsewhere in the solar system.
+https://gizmodo.com/a-fresh-scar-on-the-moon-newly-discovered-crater-reveals-recent-impact-2000746143
@@ Line 11653: / Line 11907: @@
 https://www.engadget.com/science/space/parker-solar-probe-survived-its-close-approach-to-the-sun-and-will-make-two-more-in-2025-180350510.html
+== Parker Solar Probe makes another flyby of the sun, solar energy bags a win, and more science stories ==
+Cheyenne MacDonald - June 13, 2026 9:30 am EST
+NASA this week announced the four-person crew that will lead its Artemis III mission in 2027: NASA astronauts Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio and Randy Bresnik along with ESA's Luca Parmitano as the flight's pilot. Plus, the Parker Solar Probe took another trip around the sun, solar energy overtook coal in May, and more. Here's this week's science news.
+Parker Solar Probe's 28th flyby
+NASA's Parker Solar Probe made another close pass around the sun this week, getting 3.8 million miles from the surface and reaching a speed of 430,000 mph. This marked its 28th flyby, and matched the speed and distance records the probe first set back in December 2024. It's hit those numbers five times since. The spacecraft began its latest approach on June 3, and transmitted a beacon tone on Thursday to signal to the team that all is well.
+The Parker Solar Probe has been studying our star for eight years, incrementally getting closer and closer to the surface. It launched in 2018 and made its first close approach to the sun that fall, when it came within 15 million miles of the sun's surface. For its first flyby, it reached a maximum speed of 213,200 mph. Despite the harsh conditions in the sun's vicinity — the heat shield reaches an estimated 1,700 degrees F when the spacecraft is closest to the sun — the Parker team says the probe still appears to be doing well after all this time. Below the heat shield, the Parker probe is protected by thermal blankets which have kept the temperature of the spacecraft itself consistent during these flybys.
+"That temperature consistency is a major indicator of spacecraft health," said John Wirzburger, Parker Solar Probe mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. "It tells us the heat shield isn't degrading. If it were cracking or weakening, we'd see temperatures drift upward as more heat leaked through."
+Read More: https://www.engadget.com/2193686/parker-solar-probe-makes-another-flyby-of-the-sun-solar-energy-bags-a-win-science-news/