Jessica Wittner

Space.com

These 'failed stars' orbit so closely it took 29 years to tell they were a pair

"Gliese 229B was considered the poster-child brown dwarf, and now we know we were wrong all along about the nature of the object. It's not o

A well-studied cosmic object has stunned astronomers. The "failed star" Gliese 229B has been revealed to be two so-called "brown dwarfs" that are closely orbiting each other rather than just one. The revelation means that Gliese 229B is a "first-of-its-kind" tight brown dwarf binary, increasing the hope other such exotic systems dwell in the Milky Way just waiting to be discovered. The finding also solves a long-standing mystery about Gliese 229B, explaining why this brown dwarf appears too dim for its mass.  "Gliese 229B was considered the poster-child brown dwarf," team member and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researcher Jerry W. Xuan said in a statement. "And now we know we were wrong all along about the nature of the object. It's not one but two. We just weren't able to probe separations this close until now."

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Nora AlMatrooshi

Nora AlMatrooshi, the first Emirati woman astronaut, worked as a piping engineer before becoming an astronaut candidate for the United Arab Emirates. https://mbrsc.ae/team/nora/

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Solar eclipse shadows

Someone captured the solar eclipse on an airplane

The 2nd full moon of August 2023 l Rami Ammoun

From a million miles away, NASA captures Moon crossing face of Earth. Credit: NASA/NOAA

ScienceDaily

To make fluid flow in one direction down a pipe, it helps to be a shark

Researchers have discovered a new way to help liquid flow in only one direction, but without using the flaps that engines and our circulator

Flaps perform essential jobs. From pumping hearts to revving engines, flaps help fluid flow in one direction. Without them, keeping liquids going in the right direction is challenging to do. Researchers from the University of Washington have discovered a new way to help liquid flow in only one direction -- but without flaps. In a paper published Sept. 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they report that a flexible pipe -- with an interior helical structure inspired by shark intestines -- can keep fluid flowing in one direction without the flaps that engines and anatomy rely upon. Human intestines are essentially a hollow tube. But for sharks and rays, their intestines feature a network of spirals surrounding an interior passageway. In a 2021 publication, a different team proposed that this unique structure promoted one-way flow of fluids -- also known as flow asymmetry -- through the digestive tracts of sharks and rays without flaps or other aids to prevent backup. That claim caught the attention of UW postdoctoral researcher Ido Levin, lead author on the new paper.

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NASA’s new images of Uranus captured by James Webb Space Telescope (2024)

Dr. Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to travel in space. Born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama, and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Jemison’s journey into the stars is a testament to the power of dreams and determination. 🚀

Pieces of History

Mae Jemison: First Black Woman in Space

March is Women’s History Month. Visit the National Archives website for resources related to women’s history. Today’s post comes from Dena L