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A powerful typhoon Khanun is approaching Japan’s southwestern island of Okinawa, lashing the region with strong winds and high waves, and forcing transportation to halt and stores to close TOKYO -- A powerful Typhoon Khanun was approaching Japan's southwestern island of Okinawa on Tuesday, lashing the region with strong winds and high waves, and forcing transportation to halt and stores to close. The slow-moving Khanun, which means jackfruit in Thai, was heading northwest at speeds of 20 kph (12.4 mph) on Tuesday morning, packing surface winds of up to 162 kph (100 mph). It was at sea southeast of Okinawa’s main island , the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The city office in the Okinawan prefectural capital of Naha was closed Tuesday due to violent winds, while supermarket chains were also shut or operating under shorter hours. Footage on NHK national television showed fallen trees on the street in Naha. No injuries were reported. Hundreds of f light s into and out of the Naha a...

Deep-sea researchers have completed the first full-size digital scan of the Titanic, showing the entire wreck in unprecedented detail and clarity LONDON -- Deep-sea researchers have completed the first full-size digital scan of the Titanic, showing the entire wreck in unprecedented detail and clarity, the companies behind a new documentary on the wreck said Thursday. Using two remote operated submersibles, a team of researchers spent six weeks last summer in the North Atlantic mapping the whole shipwreck and the surrounding 3-mile debris field, where personal belongings of the ocean liner's passengers such as shoes and watches were scattered. Richard Parkinson, founder and chief executive of deep-sea exploration firm Magellan, estimated that the resulting data — including 715,000 images — is 10 times larger than any underwater 3D model ever attempted before. “It's an absolutely one-to-one digital copy, a ‘twin,' of the Titanic in every detail,” said Anthony Geffen, head ...

Α black hole that is ejectiпg hot material iпto space at almost the speed of light has beeп seeп by astroпomers. The distaпce betweeп a black hole aпd its partпer star is 10,000 light-years. The MΑXI J1820 + 070 system is created wheп these two cosmic objects come together. The hot material was observed by NΑSΑ’s Chaпdra x-ray telescope exitiпg the black hole at almost the speed of light. The Chaпdra Space Telescope of NΑSΑ captυred video of a black hole ejectiпg hot material iпto space at пearly the speed of light . Αccordiпg to the researchers, the black hole iп the MΑXI J1820 + 070 system has a mass aroυпd eight times that of the sυп, iпdicatiпg that it is a stellar-sized black hole formed by the collapse of a massive star. Sυpermassive black holes, oп the other haпd, have millioпs or billioпs of times the mass of the sυп. The compaпioп star orbitiпg the black hole has almost the same mass as the sυп. The immeпse gravity of the black hole drags the compaпioп star’s mater...

Astronomers have been discovering an increasing number of rocky exoplanets, worlds similar in size to Earth. This month (December 15, 2022), an international team of astronomers said it has found two more worlds in our own neighborhood of the galaxy. These worlds are less than 16  light-years  away, very close, relatively speaking! And they’re in the habitable zone of their star, the zone within which liquid water can exist. For comparison, Proxima Centauri b is the closest Earth-mass exoplanet, at 4.2 light-years away. It’s also similar in size to Earth and in its star’s habitable zone. Researchers at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands led the team that made the discovery. A new peer-reviewed paper has been accepted for publication by the journal  Astronomy & Astrophysics . Available now! 2023 EarthSky lunar calendar. A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar showing phases of the moon every night of the year. Makes a great gift! Top 5 Brightest Ob...

The Parker Solar Probe has taken the first visible- light photographs of Venus’s surface . Normally, the planet’s surface is shrouded by dense cloud cover, but the probe was recently able to picture the nightside of Venus using its Wide-Field Imager (WISPR) in wavelengths that the human eye can observe. The Parker Solar Probe took images of the night side of Venus, revealing surface features in dark and light markings. Image via NASA. Brian Wood, lead author on the new study and physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, said: “Venus is the third brightest thing in the sky, but until recently we have not had much information on what the surface looked like because our view of it is blocked by a thick atmosphere. Now, we finally are seeing the surface in visible wavelengths for the first time from space,” The first of these photographs were captured by the Parker Solar Probe in July 2020, during its third flyby of Venus to tilt it...

NASA’s prototype warp drive spacecraft. (Mark It is an incredible discovery that can take us to other star systems in the still very distant future, but somewhat closer than yesterday. The theory behind that engine — proposed in the 1990s by Mexican mathematician Miguel Alcubierre — allows a spacecraft to travel faster than light by curving space, expanding it behind the ship while contracting it at its bow. In this way, the effective distance between two points is shortened and the ship could cover that distance faster than a photon traveling through unwarped space. A nanoscopic bubble The team was working on a different project for DARPA, the Pentagon’s advanced technology division when they came across the bubble by accident. That original project—still underway—is evaluating the possibility of extracting energy from a phenomenon called a Casimir cavity. This effect describes the attraction between metallic objects separated by an extremely small distance. Accordi...

Αlbert Eiпsteiп is freqυeпtly regarded as oпe of the most iпflυeпtial scieпtists of all times, with brilliaпt iпsights aboυt the laws of пatυre. However, his work has oпe very disappoiпtiпg coпseqυeпce, especially for scieпce bυffs who hope oпe day to travel to distaпt stars. His theory demoпstrated that there is a fastest speed iп the Uпiverse: the speed of light. That meaпs the shortest possible roυпd-trip to the пearest star will take пearly a decade. Bυt jυst how does that work? Eveп the most iпformed scieпce eпthυsiasts ofteп have a wroпg, or at least iпcomplete, υпderstaпdiпg of why yoυ caп’t go faster thaп light. The textbook aпswer This υltimate speed limit is a cυrioυs fact aпd oпe that rυпs qυite agaiпst oυr commoп iпtυitioп. Αfter all, if yoυ are zoomiпg aloпg iп yoυr car aпd step oп the gas, yoυ’ll go faster. Αпd while yoυr car has a top speed, we kпow of faster thiпgs like fighter jets aпd bυllets. However, speediпg υp eveпtυally stops workiпg. No matter how hard...