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I was lucky enough to get a spectacular view of the northern lights from my own home this month, when the largest solar storm to reach Earth in two decades made the auroras visible at much more southern latitudes than normal.
Even though I live on the light-filled streets of central London, my smartphone camera captured a green haze and a flickering layer of purple and pink light. Capturing the moment was an unforgettable experience, and one that I thought would require an expensive trip to the northernmost points of our planet.
Storms that create spectacular auroras like the one I witnessed are caused by the sun’s dynamic magnetic field; It’s an astrophysical mystery that scientists are getting closer to solving this week.
solar energy update
Understanding how the sun’s magnetic field works will help scientists improve space weather forecasts that dazzle night sky watchers but can disrupt GPS and communications satellites.
It is difficult to directly study the Sun’s cyclic magnetic field lines, which form a complex network of structures more complex than those on Earth. To understand what’s going on, scientists create mathematical models.
A new model that took more than a decade to develop and required a NASA supercomputer to perform detailed calculations has found that the sun’s magnetic field is generated much closer to the surface than previously thought.
The team believes its model is more accurate because it takes into account a unique solar characteristic.
Long time ago
A single gold earring found in the ruins of a 2,000-year-old building in the Pyrenees is a clue to how a devastating fire may have started. The inferno consumed the wooden structure found in an Iron Age settlement called Tossal de Baltarga, leading to the deaths of six animals kept in a stable.
Archaeologists believe the fire was started intentionally. If it had been accidental, the owners of the building would probably have released the animals and returned after the fire was out to retrieve their hidden gold hidden in a jar.
According to new research, the arsonists may have been an invading army under the command of Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who led troops against the Roman Republic.
The fate of the people who used the building is unknown, but excavations have revealed details about the lives of an Iberian people called the Cerretani.
watch the sky
Stonehenge’s builders placed the giant stones that formed the prehistoric monument according to sunrise and sunset on the longest and shortest days of the year, resulting in an intimate understanding of the sun that can still be felt today.
So is the 4,500-year-old site in south-west England, and potentially other megalithic monuments around the world, also aligned with the Moon?
The idea that Stonehenge had a lunar connection first gained steam in the 1960s. However, the concept has not been systematically investigated until now.
Archaeologists are using a lunar standstill, a little-known event that occurs every 18.6 years, to conduct research this summer.
All Over the Universe
Space scientists have observed the edge of a black hole (the region known as the subduction zone) for the first time.
Andrew Mummery, lead author of a new study on black holes and a research fellow at the University of Oxford, compared this to the “edge of a waterfall” at the end of a river, where orbiting material from nearby stars falls into the abyss.
In the subduction zone, matter can no longer remain in orbit and is instead thrown towards the black hole. However, unlike the event horizon or surface of the black hole, light can still escape at this point.
The findings of the study envisioned by Albert Einstein could help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of black holes.
wild kingdom
Corvids, the group of birds that includes crows, ravens and jays, are famous for being smart. One species of corvid can even perform something researchers call “mental time travel.”
This type of recall allows the mind to recall seemingly unimportant information that you have not consciously committed to memory; for example, remembering what you had for lunch yesterday.
Researchers working with Eurasian jays, which are trained to find food hidden under glasses, said that these birds may have memory skills.
In the experiment involving decorated glasses, jays were able to remember what a particular glass looked like even after the glasses were rearranged and delayed for a period of time.
And in other corvid news, crows can count to four, according to the latest research.
discoveries
Dive into these mind-expanding stories.
— Thomas Midgley Jr. was a talented American inventor who left a lasting mark on history. But his ingenious solutions created even bigger problems.
— The discovery of microplastics in human testicles underscores the urgent need for more research to understand what role plastic may play in causing infertility.
— An Austrian winemaker unearthed hundreds of mammoth bones in his cellar; It’s a discovery that one expert described as an “archaeological sensation.”
Don’t go yet: NASA announced the latest developments on the much-delayed Boeing Starliner crewed mission.
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