Ecology

Cloud-9, Hubble discovers new astronomical object never observed before: a "failed galaxy" without stars

Cloud-9, Hubble discovers new astronomical object never observed before: a “failed galaxy” without stars

This image shows the location of the Cloud–9 object, 14 million light-years from Earth. The magenta cloud represents radio emission from the object that has been superimposed on an optical image from Hubble. The dotted circle shows the region where the radio emission is most intense. Credits: NASA, ESA, VLA, Gagandeep Anand (STScI), Alejandro Benitez–Llambay (University of Milan–Bicocca); Image Processing: ...

Why do we yawn? Its function is above all social and communicative

Why do we yawn? Its function is above all social and communicative

The yawn it is a universal and ancient behavior, but its meaning has long been misunderstood. The most common explanations, such as the idea that it serves to oxygenate or “wake up” the brain, are not supported by the data. The evidence indicates instead that yawning has above all one social and communicative functionlinked to empathy and the synchronization of ...

Crans-Montana tragedy, the "flashover" fire hypothesis: what it is and why it caused so many victims

The Crans-Montana fire became lethal in 140 seconds: the simulation of the tragedy

The possible starting point of the Crans–Montana fire. Credit: Tony Truant, via 140 secondsjust under two and a half minutes, is the time in which the conditions of the bar The Constellations of Crans-Montana have become incompatible with the survival of the people within them after the outbreak of thefire that caused 40 victims and 119 injuries on New Year’s ...

There is already an important US military base in Greenland: what is the Pituffik Space Base and where is it located

There is already an important US military base in Greenland: what is the Pituffik Space Base and where is it located

Pituffik Space Base, the US military base in Greenland. Credit: Kalshi, via There Greenland returned to the center of public attention after the President of the United States Donald Trump he reiterated his intention to annex this territory – now under the control of Denmark – to the USA, considered “indispensable for American national security”. But while on the one ...

Can using ChatGPT fuel psychosis? What the studies say and OpenAI's response

Can using ChatGPT fuel psychosis? What the studies say and OpenAI’s response

OpenAIthe company that develops ChatGPTis hiring a “Head of Preparedness” (“Preparation Manager”), a figure in charge of anticipate and reduce risks related to the impact of OpenAI’s artificial intelligence on mental health of users. As a growing number of studies and empirical evidence show, in fact, prolonged and “immersive” interactions with ChatGPT can contribute to the onset of psychotic episodes. ...

How fountain candles work, why they make sparks and the regulations in force

How fountain candles work, why they make sparks and the regulations in force

The tragedy that recently occurred in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, during a public event, put the pyrotechnic fountainsalso called pyrotechnic candles or luminous fountains. They are columns of sparks, which last a few seconds, they make no noise, they don’t explode and they don’t scare. This is why we consider them harmless, little more than bright decorations used on birthday cakes or ...

How to activate the free digital identity with the CIE as an alternative to the SPID

How to activate the free digital identity with the CIE as an alternative to the SPID

Image generated with AI. It is increasingly complicated to be able to have the SPID for free (as demonstrated by the recent PosteID affair). And, as expected, more and more Italians are interested in have a free digital identity with the CIE as an alternative to the SPID. The CIE, in fact, being equipped with a radio frequency microprocessor which ...

Not just Maduro and Venezuela: major US interventions in Latin America in history

Not just Maduro and Venezuela: major US interventions in Latin America in history

The intervention in Venezuela last January 3 to oust Nicolás Maduro, strongly supported by President Trump, is the last act of a long series of interferences of the United States in the affairs of Latin American countriesthat is, South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, countries that speak Spanish, Portuguese and French, distinguishing themselves from Anglo-Saxon America (USA and ...

The Hubble telescope confirms that Betelgeuse has a companion star: it would explain the mystery of its brightness

The Hubble telescope confirms that Betelgeuse has a companion star: it would explain the mystery of its brightness

Artist’s impression of Siwarha’s wake in Betelgeuse’s outer atmosphere. Credit: NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI) Betelgeusethe red supergiant in the constellation of Orionhas a companion, which astronomers have renamed Siwarha (“her bracelet” in Arabic): a star that had already been discovered, but now there is confirmation from a team of astronomers led by Andrea Dupree of the Smithsonian Center for ...