Mystery

• University of South Florida engineering Professor David Simmons led a research team that solved a century-old materials science puzzle: how tiny carbon black particles transform soft rubber into material strong enough to support loaded aircraft. • The findings, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that refining existing models to reflect carbon black's real structure and dispersion patterns provided the answer. • The discovery matters for the $260 billion global tire industry and could lead to designing safer, longer-lasting materials used in car tires, aircraft components, industrial seals, and medical devices.

Animals were used legally as fishing bait, sheriff’s office confirms after incident shook locals in Guemes IslandA Washington state sheriff’s office says it has solved the mystery of nearly two dozen dead canines who washed ashore recently.The animals were foxes being used legally as bait for fishing operations, the Skagit county sheriff’s office said on Friday. Continue reading...

• Scientists resolved a 12,800-year-old climate puzzle from Greenland's GISP2 ice core, identifying the source of an unusual platinum spike initially linked to a possible meteorite or comet impact. • The spike showed high platinum but low iridium levels, not matching typical space rocks or volcanic materials, sparking debate since its 2013 discovery. • New analysis rules out extraterrestrial or volcanic origins, offering fresh understanding of ancient atmospheric events and Younger Dryas climate shifts.

A rapidly brightening burst of light called AT 2024wpp, or "the Whippet", is baffling astronomers. One explanation is that it is the result of an exotic star falling into a black hole

Physicists at the University of Tennessee used a neutron detector to measure beta-delayed two-neutron emission in exotic nuclei along the r-process pathway, marking the first detailed study of this process crucial for heavy element formation like gold. The team also discovered a long-sought single particle neutron state in tin-133 after 20 years of searches and observed a non-statistical population challenging existing nuclear models. These findings, funded by the National Science Foundation, enhance models of stellar nucleosynthesis and open new fields in nuclear physics. Next steps include refining theoretical calculations for r-process events in neutron star mergers.