New Atlas

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Jupiter may have formed much farther from the Sun than we thought

Michael Irving March 24, 2019

As the largest planet in the solar system by a wide margin, Jupiter has a lot of sway, but its history is still a bit of a mystery. Now astronomers have put forward a new theory, suggesting that the gas giant formed much farther away from the Sun and then migrated into its current position.

A new theory suggests that Jupiter formed five times further from the Sun than its current ...

Space Audio available

Neighboring galaxy found to be on a collision course with the Milky Way

Michael Irving January 4, 2019

According to a new study, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy, is on a collision course with the Milky Way. But there’s no need to worry just yet – the starry smashup won’t begin for another two billion years or so.

An artist's imagining of the night sky from Earth as the Milky Way collides with neighboring ...

Space Audio available

Climate simulations forecast the weather on all seven TRAPPIST exoplanets

Michael Irving November 22, 2018

Among the almost-4,000 exoplanets found so far, none really capture the imagination like TRAPPIST-1. Now a team of astronomers led by the University of Washington has simulated the climates that could be found on each TRAPPIST world.

An artistic render of a temperate TRAPPIST-1 f, which could also be frozen or stifling under ...

Space

Rolling stones could be responsible for Phobos' grooves after all

James Holloway November 21, 2018

Scientists have long debated the cause of the distinctive grooves on the surface of Mars' moon Phobos. One leading theory has it that the lines are signs of structural failure. But a competing idea suggests the marks may be superficial, caused simply by rolling stones on Phobos' surface.

Could rolling stones be responsible for the grooves in Phobos' surface?

Space Audio available

How dying stars could reignite with help from enigmatic class of black hole

Michael Irving October 31, 2018

A white dwarf is one of the last stages of life for stars of a certain size, and it’s all downhill from there. But supercomputer simulations run by astronomers at LLNL suggest that these dying stars could be reignited by a close encounter with an enigmatic class of black hole.

Simulations suggest that white dwarf stars could be reignited by a close encounter with an intermediate-mass ...

Space Audio available

"Nuclear pasta" ranked strongest material in the universe

Michael Irving September 18, 2018

Forget steel, forget diamond and even forget graphene – “nuclear pasta” may be the strongest material in the universe. This strange substance is formed in the intense pressures inside neutron stars, and researchers have now run computer simulations to test just how strong it is.

Computers

Ray tracing the focus of Nvidia's new Turing platform and GPUs

Michael Irving August 14, 2018

Nvidia has unveiled its latest GPU architecture, as well as three new chips based on it. Named Turing, the eighth-gen platform is designed with a focus on ray tracing, and the three new GPUs – the Quadro RTX 8000, 6000 and 5000 – are made for professional use in video and simulation.

Nvidia has unveiled its newest graphics architecture, named Turing, which focuses on ray tracing to render ...

VR

VR firefighter training simulator keeps Big Data close to its chest

Michael Irving July 31, 2018

Training firefighters can be dangerous, costly and time-consuming. To help train firefighters more often and more easily, a new virtual reality simulator called the FLAIM Trainer has been developed, made up of an HTC Vive VR headset, haptics systems and a vest that tracks the trainee’s vital signs.

A new version of the FLAIM VR firefighter simulator has been developed

Physics

Simulations suggest multiverse is either teeming with life – or doesn't exist

Michael Irving May 14, 2018

Our universe seems to contain a suspiciously perfect amount of "dark energy" to sustain life. But new research suggests that life is still possible even with far more dark energy than we have, and the results have some big implications for the multiverse theory.

New simulations suggest life could be more common throughout the multiverse – or perhaps show that ...

Computers

Computer-generated fur gets more realistic

Ben Coxworth February 22, 2018

If you're unsatisfied with the realism of computer-generated animals, then you might be interested in the latest news out of the UC San Diego. Working with colleagues from UC Berkeley, scientists there have developed a new method of rendering fur that's much more accurate than existing techniques.

A raccoon with fur created using the new technique