An Ignoble Experiment: A 'galactic underworld' of ancient, blown-up stars lurks just beneath the Milky Way's surface

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October 4, 2022

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A 'galactic underworld' of ancient, blown-up stars lurks just beneath the Milky Way's surface

(NASA/JPL-Caltech)

During the Milky Way's roughly 13.6-billion-year history, billions of stars have formed, grown and ultimately died in spectacular supernova explosions. So, where are all of their corpses hiding?

In new research published Aug. 25 in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers set out to dig up those long lost stellar bodies (so to speak). Using a computer simulation, the team modeled the initial positions of millions of stars in the early Milky Way (long before its iconic spiral arms developed), then hit a cosmic fast-forward button to show where the shriveled remains of those stars may have ended up after going supernova.

Full Story: Live Science (10/4)

History & Archaeology

Who was the ancient Egyptian god of death?

(duncan1890 via Getty Images)

The ancient Egyptians are known for many things, such as mummification, the great pyramid, a sophisticated writing system and a belief in the afterlife. Considering that death and devotion to many deities was featured so prominently in this culture, who was the ancient Egyptian god of death?

While Osiris is often considered the Egyptian god of the underworld or god of the dead, experts told Live Science it's not that simple.

Full Story: Live Science (10/4)

See lifelike facial reconstructions of a medieval Scottish woman, priest and bishop

(Chris Rynn)

Little was known about three skeletons found in a medieval crypt in Scotland when workers stumbled upon the remains in 1957.

Now, more than 60 years later, researchers are using forensic science and technology to finally put faces on these individuals by using 3D facial reconstructions to digitally animate them and bring them back to life.

Full Story: Live Science (10/3)

Life's Little Mysteries

Is it possible to avoid unwanted thoughts?

(Shutterstock)

After a breakup, you might think you're doing fine until you drive past that one street corner, or bump into a mutual friend, or hear a particular love song on the radio. No matter how much you'd like to stop thinking about that person, everything is a reminder of the relationship. Short of erasing whole chunks of your memory, á la Jim Carrey's character in the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," is it possible to banish unwanted thoughts?

The short answer is: maybe. But whether it's advisable to do so in the long term is more complicated.

Full Story: Live Science (10/2)

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Your Health

Fungi grow inside cancerous tumors, scientists discover

(KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)

Scientists discovered traces of fungi lurking in the tumors of people with different types of cancer, including breast, colon, pancreatic and lung cancers. However, it's still not clear that theise fungi plays any role in the development or progression of cancer.

Two new studies, both published Sept. 29 in the journal Cell, uncovered DNA from fungal cells hiding out in tumors throughout the body.

Full Story: Live Science (10/3)

Curious Creatures

Ancient armored 'worm' is the Cambrian ancestor to three major animal groups

(Illustration made by Roberts Nicholls, Paleocreations.com)

A bristly armored "worm" that scuttled across ocean reefs 518 million years ago is the ancestor to three aquatic animal groups that today live very different lifestyles, and it offers new clues about the explosion of diverse species at the time, a new study finds.

An international team of researchers recently discovered the fossil of a species that gave rise to brachiopods, bryozoans and phoronids; these three groups of filter-feeding marine creatures all fix themselves to the seafloor, but each group has highly specialized feeding structures and they look very different from one another. The fossil species, named Wufengella bengtsoni, is a member of an older, shelled group of organisms called tommotiids, scientists reported in a new study.

Full Story: Live Science (9/30)