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Specialists Finds Unexpected Magma Systems Lurking Beneath ‘Boring’ Volcanoes

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Not all volcanoes are out of nowhere touchy. Some heave consistent streams of gloppy, slow-moving magma for centuries on end, similar to those in the Hawaiian or Galápagos islands.

These are what volcanologist Michael Stock from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland calls the ‘boring’ volcanoes – yet underneath their dreary outside, sneaks a stunner that Stock and his partners have recently found.

Breaking down tiny precious stones in the basalt and launched out material of two volcanoes in the Galápagos, the analysts found concealed frameworks of magma that are not all that basic or unsurprising all things considered.

Despite the fact that the Wolf and Fernandina volcanoes in the Galápagos have apparently heaved the equivalent basaltic magma for their whole presence, the new discoveries propose they are perched on an artificially differing arrangement of liquid shakes, some of which can possibly set into movement dangerous action.

Because these volcanoes seem exhausting on a superficial level doesn’t mean the repetitiveness will proceed always, the scientists state.

“This discovery is a game-changer because it allows us to reconcile apparently divergent observations, such as the presence of explosive deposits at several Galápagos volcanoes,” says Stock.

“Instead we found that they aren’t boring at all – they just hide these secret magmas under the ground.”

There’s no motivation to think these two Galápagos volcanoes are going to change their eruptive conduct at any point in the near future. Such things occur at a pace even a snail would tap its foot at.

All things considered, the investigation demonstrates a manner by which apparently harmless volcanoes might get eruptive in the far future, and goes some approach to clarifying how they could have done as such in the removed past.

“This revelation is a distinct advantage since it permits us to accommodate obviously disparate perceptions, for example, the nearness of hazardous stores at a few Galápagos volcanoes,” says Benjamin Bernard, a volcanologist associated with checking Galápagos volcanoes at Instituto Geofísico.

“It also allows us to better understand the behaviour of these volcanoes, which is essential for volcano monitoring and hazard assessment.”

While the Wolf and Fernandina volcanoes are thought to heave for the most part uniform basaltic magma, which has moderately low thickness, the new investigation discovered proof for other advanced magma structures streaming underneath at different profundities.

This decent variety of magma, notwithstanding, gives off an impression of being overwhelmed by enormous volumes of basaltic magma, rising through the outside layer from a problem area, or crest of hot magma, underneath Wolf and Fernandina.

“Hence,” the creators finish up, “monotonous activity does not reflect simplicity or chemical homogeneity in magmatic systems.”

Rather, it could say all the more regarding where the spring of gushing lava is arranged concerning the problem area. Enormous volumes of basalt hurrying through the outside layer, the creators contend, would be sufficient to overpower other more hazardous types of magma, which will in general be wealthy in silica.

These tufts of basaltic magma, nonetheless, are not fixed, and keeping in mind that they can endure for a huge number of years, they do move, yet gradually.

Knowing where they are going and how these little moves can affect volcanic ejections will assist us with bettering get ready for the future, anyway far not far off that might be.

Underneath Wolf and Fernandina, scientists discovered magma creations like those that emitted at Mount St. Helens in 1980. At the surface, in any case, magma was 90 percent basalt.

“Magmas are more likely to erupt explosively when they have higher silica and water concentrations,” Stock disclosed to Newsweek.

“The water forms gas bubbles – the same as carbon dioxide in cola – but the high silica content makes the magmas very sticky. The gas bubbles can’t escape so pressure builds up, generating an explosive eruption.”

For the present, they do best not to judge volcanoes exclusively by their quiet outsides.

Matthew Ronald grew up in Chicago. His mother is a preschool teacher, and his father is a cartoonist. After high school Matthew attended college where he majored in early-childhood education and child psychology. After college he worked with special needs children in schools. He then decided to go into publishing, before becoming a writer himself, something he always had an interest in. More than that, he published number of news articles as a freelance author on apstersmedia.com.

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ISS astronauts send Christmas greetings to Earth

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Surrounded by floating candy canes and a snowman crafted from stowage bags, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) came together to share holiday greetings with those on Earth.

Expedition 72 commander Sunita “Suni” Williams, wearing festive reindeer antlers, joined fellow NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore, Don Pettit, and Nick Hague in a cheerful video message from 260 miles (420 kilometers) above the planet.

“This is a wonderful time of year up here,” said Williams in the recording made on Monday, December 23. “We’re spending it with our space family—there are seven of us aboard the International Space Station—enjoying each other’s company.”

In addition to the four NASA astronauts, the ISS crew includes Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov from Russia’s Roscosmos space agency.

Hague reflected on the meaning of the season, saying, “Christmas is about spending time with friends, family, and loved ones. While we’re orbiting away from them this year, we know we’re not alone. A huge team on the ground in mission controls around the world is working to support us.”

He expressed gratitude to those teams, adding, “Their sacrifices keep this mission going, even over the holidays.”

A Holiday Feast in Space

The ground teams prepared a special holiday meal for the astronauts, which Pettit described as a feast fit for the season. “Christmas is synonymous with food and feasting,” he said. “And boy, do we have a feast packaged up here!”

Along with the meal, the crew decorated the station with a small artificial Christmas tree and ornaments featuring photos of their families.

A Festive Spirit

Hague, Pettit, and Wilmore donned Santa hats for the video, with Wilmore adding a personal touch by stretching his over a cowboy hat, a nod to his Tennessee roots. As an ordained minister and devout Christian, Wilmore also shared the spiritual significance of the holiday.

“Christmas is Christ. Hallelujah, a savior is born,” he proclaimed.

The astronauts closed their message with a heartfelt “Merry Christmas!”

A Cosmic Holiday Connection

For those on Earth, the holiday season offers its own celestial treats. Skywatchers can enjoy Venus and other planets lighting up the night sky, while history enthusiasts might explore the mystery of the Star of Bethlehem as astronomers continue to debate its origins.

From their unique vantage point in space, the ISS crew’s celebration serves as a reminder of the universal joy and togetherness that the holiday season inspires, whether on Earth or orbiting far above it.

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A NASA spacecraft ‘touches the sun’ during a turning point in human history

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On Christmas Eve, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe set a new record by approaching the sun’s surface within barely 3.86 million miles (6.1 million kilometers). Parker’s historic moment can be followed on NASA’s Eyes On The Solar System page.

On Tuesday, December 24, a fully armored NASA spacecraft, barely larger than a tiny car, became the closest man-made object to the sun in history, marking one of humanity’s most amazing space exploration achievements. In addition, the fastest item ever created by humans broke its speed record, and humanity made its closest visit to a star ever.

A Monumental Performance

At 11:53 UTC (6:53 a.m. EST) on Tuesday, December 24, Parker accomplished an unprecedented close flyby of the sun, coming within barely 3.86 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of its surface. This was a tremendous accomplishment of exploration. It had come this near to the sun 22 times.

It is the closest man-made object to the sun ever, at 96% of the distance between the sun and Earth, well within Mercury’s orbit at roughly 39%.

The project’s scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Dr. Nour Raouafi, compares the importance of this mission to the 1969 moon landing. During a media roundtable at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union on December 10, 2024, he declared, “It’s the moment we have been waiting for for nearly 60 years.” “In 1969, we landed humans on the moon. On Christmas Eve, we embrace a star — our star.”

‘Hyper-Close’

Parker will slice through plasma plumes that are still attached to the sun in what NASA refers to as a “hyper-close regime,” getting close enough to pass inside a solar outburst “like a surfer diving under a crashing ocean wave.”

According to Raouafi, the heat Parker will experience when it is closest to the sun is “nearly 500 times the hottest summer day we can witness on Earth.”

Parker was already the fastest thing ever constructed on Earth, but it will surpass all previous records for speed and distance when it approaches the sun at 430,000 mph (690,000 kph). The mission’s website states that it would take one second to go from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

On December 27, 2024, mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, will wait for a beacon tone to certify the probe’s survival after losing touch with it for three days.

On March 22 and June 19, 2025, Parker will make two additional hyper-close passes at the same distance.

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Researchers Achieve Breakthrough in Quantum Simulation of Electron Transfer

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A team at Rice University has achieved a significant breakthrough in simulating molecular electron transfer using a trapped-ion quantum simulator. Their research offers fresh insights into the dynamics of electron transfer and could pave the way for innovations in molecular electronics, renewable energy, and cc.

Electron transfer is a critical process underpinning numerous physical, chemical, and biological phenomena. However, the complexity of quantum interactions has long made it a challenging area to study. Conventional computational techniques often struggle to capture the full range of variables influencing electron transfer.

To address these challenges, the researchers developed a programmable quantum system capable of independently controlling key factors such as donor-acceptor energy gaps, electronic and vibronic couplings, and environmental dissipation. Using ions trapped in an ultra-high vacuum and manipulated by laser light, the team demonstrated real-time spin dynamics and measured electron transfer rates.

“This is the first time that this kind of model has been simulated on a physical device while incorporating the role of the environment and tailoring it in a controlled way,” said Guido Pagano, lead author of the study published in Science Advances.

Pagano added, “It represents a significant leap forward in our ability to use quantum simulators to investigate models and regimes relevant to chemistry and biology. By harnessing the power of quantum simulation, we hope to explore scenarios currently inaccessible to classical computational methods.”

Through precise engineering of tunable dissipation and programmable quantum systems, the researchers explored both adiabatic and nonadiabatic regimes of electron transfer. The experiment not only illuminated how quantum effects function under diverse conditions but also identified optimal parameters for electron transfer.

The team emphasized that their findings bridge a critical gap between theoretical predictions and experimental verification. By offering a tunable framework to investigate quantum processes in complex systems, their work could lead to groundbreaking advancements in renewable energy technologies, molecular electronics, and the development of novel materials.

“This experiment is a promising first step toward understanding how quantum effects influence energy transport, particularly in biological systems like photosynthetic complexes,” said Jose N. Onuchic, study co-author. “The insights gained could inspire the design of more efficient light-harvesting materials.”

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