fresh bytes
Subscribe Now

Neutron stars collide, solve major astronomical mysteries

We’ve been extremely lucky. The LIGO and VIRGO detectors only operated simultaneously for a few weeks, but they were a remarkably busy few weeks. Today, those behind the joint collaboration announced that they’ve observed the merger of two neutron stars. And, because neutron stars don’t swallow everything they encounter, the gravitational waves were accompanied by photons, including an extended afterglow. So dozens of telescopes, and many in space, had representatives involved in the announcement.

The number of major astrophysical issues cleared up by this collision is impressive. The collision was simultaneously detected with the Fermi space telescope, confirming that neutron star mergers produce a phenomenon known as a short gamma-ray burst. The gravitational waves were detected nearly simultaneously with the gamma ray burst, confirming that they move at the speed of light. And heavy elements like gold were detected in the debris, indicating that these mergers are a source of elements that would otherwise be difficult to produce in a supernova.

Continue reading at Ars Technica

Image: NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Nov 29, 2023
Cavitation poses a formidable challenge to modern boat design, especially for high-speed sailing vessels participating in events like America's Cup , Vendee Globe , and Route du Rhum . Hydrofoils, in particular, are susceptible to cavitation, which can cause surface dama...
Nov 27, 2023
See how we're harnessing generative AI throughout our suite of EDA tools with Synopsys.AI Copilot, the world's first GenAI capability for chip design.The post Meet Synopsys.ai Copilot, Industry's First GenAI Capability for Chip Design appeared first on Chip Design....
Nov 6, 2023
Suffice it to say that everyone and everything in these images was shot in-camera underwater, and that the results truly are haunting....

featured video

Dramatically Improve PPA and Productivity with Generative AI

Sponsored by Cadence Design Systems

Discover how you can quickly optimize flows for many blocks concurrently and use that knowledge for your next design. The Cadence Cerebrus Intelligent Chip Explorer is a revolutionary, AI-driven, automated approach to chip design flow optimization. Block engineers specify the design goals, and generative AI features within Cadence Cerebrus Explorer will intelligently optimize the design to meet the power, performance, and area (PPA) goals in a completely automated way.

Click here for more information

featured paper

Power and Performance Analysis of FIR Filters and FFTs on Intel Agilex® 7 FPGAs

Sponsored by Intel

Learn about the Future of Intel Programmable Solutions Group at intel.com/leap. The power and performance efficiency of digital signal processing (DSP) workloads play a significant role in the evolution of modern-day technology. Compare benchmarks of finite impulse response (FIR) filters and fast Fourier transform (FFT) designs on Intel Agilex® 7 FPGAs to publicly available results from AMD’s Versal* FPGAs and artificial intelligence engines.

Read more

featured chalk talk

Challenges of Multi-Connectivity Asset Tracking
Multi-connectivity asset tracking is a critical element of our modern supply chain. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Colin Ramrattan and Manuel Cantone from STMicroelectronics and Amelia Dalton discuss the common needs required for asset tracking today, why low power processing is vital for these kind of applications, and how STMicroelectronics ASTRA platform can help you get started on your next asset tracking design.
Feb 20, 2023
33,366 views