Lasers can help detect radioactive materials from afar

There is a new application for lasers laboratory/Alamy Lasers could become an important tool for detecting radioactive materials, such as those in covert nuclear weapons, from a greater distance than ever before. Conventional radioactivity sensing techniques involve waiting for particles produced during radioactive decay to hit a detector. The method can sense these particles from…

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Biggest boom since the Big Bang? Astronomers record 25x supernova brightness

Astronomers from the University of Hawaiʻi’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA) have discovered the most energetic cosmic explosions yet discovered, naming the new class of events “extreme nuclear transients” (ENTs). These extraordinary phenomena occur when massive stars—at least three times heavier than our Sun—are torn apart after wandering too close to a supermassive black hole. Their…

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