Astronomers have spotted radio waves from a planet circling "a star more than 63 light-years from Earth." The waves, which seem to be from an aurora that Beta Pictoris b's poles, "may offer a new tool" in astronomers' hunt for other life in the universe, according to an article in the New York Times ("Radio Waves Coming From an Alien Planet May Be a Cosmic First").
The aurora, probably caused by a magnetic field, could assist in finding worlds that might host life.
Yvette Cendes, an astronomer at the University of Oregan, said, “Habitability is probably one of the main reasons we’re interested in magnetospheres.” Cendes is the author of the paper that reported the find on Sept. 15.
In 2025 and early 2026, a team lead by Kevin Ortiz Ceballows, spotted something on Beta Pictoris b. Follow-up observations helped pinpoint radio emissions from Beta Pictoris b. Mr Ceballows is a grad student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.
To read the article in its entirety, go to "Radio Waves Coming From an Alien Planet May Be a Cosmic First".
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Monday, October 5, 2026
Florida's National Forests at Risk of Losing Acres to Logging, Road Construction
Florida's three national forests are at risk of losing "tens of thousands of acres" to logging and road construction, threatening nearly 40 animal species and "more than 130 threatened and endangered plant species" under a proposed protection rollback,
In August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture moved to rescind a quarter-century rule that protected "millions of acres of the nation’s public forests from road construction and timber production" in its entirety (Tampa Bay Times, Florida’s 3 national forests at risk of logging, new roads under Trump rollback, groups warn)
Rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule could adversely affect the Florida scrub jay in the Ocala National Forest, the red-cockaded woodpeckers in the Apalachicola National Forest, and "could polute lakes and ponds that house the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle in the Osceola National Forest."
By Monday afternoon, more than 325,000 comments were left on the federal register about the rollbacks.
If you'd like to make a comment, the deadline ends Tuesday at midnight. You can weigh in by visiting https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FS-2025-0001.
If you'd like to read the Tampa Bay Times article in its entirety, click here. Click here to read the USDA press release.
In August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture moved to rescind a quarter-century rule that protected "millions of acres of the nation’s public forests from road construction and timber production" in its entirety (Tampa Bay Times, Florida’s 3 national forests at risk of logging, new roads under Trump rollback, groups warn)
Rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule could adversely affect the Florida scrub jay in the Ocala National Forest, the red-cockaded woodpeckers in the Apalachicola National Forest, and "could polute lakes and ponds that house the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle in the Osceola National Forest."
By Monday afternoon, more than 325,000 comments were left on the federal register about the rollbacks.
If you'd like to make a comment, the deadline ends Tuesday at midnight. You can weigh in by visiting https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FS-2025-0001.
If you'd like to read the Tampa Bay Times article in its entirety, click here. Click here to read the USDA press release.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)