Astronomers have seen the most energetic cosmic explosions yet, a new class of eruptions termed "extreme nuclear transients" (ENTs). These rare events occur when stars at least three times more massive than our Sun are shredded by supermassive black holes. While such cataclysmic events have been known for years, recent flares detected in galactic centres revealed a brightness nearly ten times greater than typical tidal disruption events. The discovery offers new insight into black hole behaviour and energy release in the universe's most extreme environments.Extreme Flares Detected by Gaia and ZTF Reveal Most Energetic Black Hole Events YetAs per a June 4 Science Advances report, lead researcher Jason Hinkle of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy noticed two mysterious flares from galactic cores in 2016 and 2018, recorded by the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft. The scientists recognised them as ENTs because a third one, observed in 2020 by the Zwicky Transient Facility, has similar characteristics. These outbursts gave out more energy than supernovae did, and they lasted much longer than short bursts typically seen during tidal disruption events.Tidal disruption events such as Gaia18cdj are associated with flares that are explosive and long-duration. These explosions are greater than 100 times as intense as supernovas and have been occurring for millions to billions of years. They make ENTs an uncommon, energetic, and long-lived event that cosmic explorers might use.The ENTs' brightness lets astronomers focus on distant galactic centres, as well as the feeding habits of black holes in the universe's early days. "These flares are shining a light on the growth of supermassive black holes in the universe," mentioned co-author Benjamin Shappee, a Hubble fellow at IfA. Their visibility on large scales provides a statistical tool for cosmological studies in the future.Such findings are expanding what astrophysicists know about ENTs-but researchers stress that they're not done wrapping their heads around these mysterious objects just yet. The results might also advance new models of how black holes and stars work together and how energy moves across galaxies. Given upcoming missions with better instruments, the discovery of more ENTs will help astronomers learn even more about these violent events in the cosmos. For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Gadgets 360 Staff The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. OpenAI: The power and the pride OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT 3.5 set in motion an AI arms race that has changed the world. How that turns out for humanity is something we are still reckoning with and may be for quite some time. But a pair of recent books both attempt to get their arms around it.In Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, Karen Hao tells the story of the company’s rise to power and its far-reaching impact all over the world. Meanwhile, The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future, by the Wall Street Journal’s Keach Hagey, homes in more on Altman’s personal life, from his childhood through the present day, in order to tell the story of OpenAI.  Both paint complex pictures and show Altman in particular as a brilliantly effective yet deeply flawed creature of Silicon Valley—someone capable of always getting what he wants, but often by manipulating others. Read the full review.—Mat Honan This startup wants to make more climate-friendly metal in the US The news: A California-based company called Magrathea just turned on a new electrolyzer that can make magnesium metal from seawater. The technology has the potential to produce the material, which is used in vehicles and defense applications, with net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions. Why it matters: Today, China dominates production of magnesium, and the most common method generates a lot of the emissions that cause climate change. If Magrathea can scale up its process, it could help provide an alternative source of the metal and clean up industries that rely on it, including automotive manufacturing. Read the full story. —Casey Crownhart A new sodium metal fuel cell could help clean up transportation A new type of fuel cell that runs on sodium metal could one day help clean up sectors where it’s difficult to replace fossil fuels, like rail, regional aviation, and short-distance shipping. The device represents a departure from technologies like lithium-based batteries and is more similar conceptually to hydrogen fuel cell systems. The sodium-air fuel cell has a higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries and doesn’t require the super-cold temperatures or high pressures that hydrogen does, making it potentially more practical for transport. Read the full story. —Casey Crownhart The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US state department is considering vetting foreign students’ social mediaAfter ordering US embassies to suspend international students’ visa appointments. (Politico)+ Applicants’ posts, shares and comments could be assessed. (The Guardian)+ The Trump administration also wants to cut off Harvard’s funding. (NYT $) 2 SpaceX’s rocket exploded during its test flight It’s the third consecutive explosion the company has suffered this year. (CNBC)+ It was the first significant attempt to reuse Starship hardware. (Space)+ Elon Musk is fairly confident the problem with the engine bay has been resolved. (Ars Technica)3 The age of AI layoffs is hereAnd it’s taking place in conference rooms, not on factory floors. (Quartz)+ People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before. (MIT Technology Review)4 Thousands of IVF embryos in Gaza were destroyed by Israeli strikesAn attack destroyed the fertility clinic where they were housed. (BBC)+ Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos. (MIT Technology Review) 5 China’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have fallen for the first timeEven as energy demand has risen. (Vox)+ China’s complicated role in climate change. (MIT Technology Review) 6 The sun is damaging Starlink’s satellitesIts eruptions are reducing the satellite’s lifespans. (New Scientist $)+ Apple’s satellite connectivity dreams are being thwarted by Musk. (The Information $) 7 European companies are struggling to do business in ChinaEven the ones that have operated there for decades. (NYT $)+ The country’s economic slowdown is making things tough. (Bloomberg $) 8 US hospitals are embracing helpful robotsThey’re delivering medications and supplies so nurses don’t have to. (FT $)+ Will we ever trust robots? (MIT Technology Review) 9 Meet the people who write the text messages on your favorite show They try to make messages as realistic, and intriguing, as possible. (The Guardian) 10 Robot dogs are delivering parcels in AustinWell, over 100 yard distances at least. (TechCrunch) Quote of the day “I wouldn’t say there’s hope. I wouldn’t bet on that.” —Michael Roll, a partner at law firm Roll & Harris, explains to Wired why businesses shouldn’t get their hopes up over obtaining refunds for Donald Trump’s tariff price hikes. One more thing Is the digital dollar dead?In 2020, digital currencies were one of the hottest topics in town. China was well on its way to launching its own central bank digital currency, or CBDC, and many other countries launched CBDC research projects, including the US.How things change. The digital dollar—even though it doesn’t exist—has now become political red meat, as some politicians label it a dystopian tool for surveillance. So is the dream of the digital dollar dead? Read the full story. —Mike Orcutt We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.) + Recently returned from vacation? Here’s how to cope with coming back to reality.+ Reconnecting with friends is one of life’s great joys.+ A new Parisian cocktail bar has done away with ice entirely in a bid to be more sustainable.+ Why being bored is good for you—no, really.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. NASA explains why watching trees near volcanoes is literally the best thing to do Sayan Sen Neowin @ssc_combater007 · May 24, 2025 18:02 EDT Image by Ashar M via PexelsScientists have discovered that trees near volcanoes change color when a volcano is becoming more active. Now, NASA and the Smithsonian Institution are teaming up to track these changes from space. Before a volcanic eruption, magma rising underground releases gases like carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Trees absorb the carbon dioxide, making their leaves greener and thicker. Scientists are using satellite images from NASA’s Landsat 8 to detect this greening, along with data from airborne instruments in the Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean (AVUELO). “Volcano early warning systems exist,” said Florian Schwandner, chief of the Earth Science Division at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “The aim here is to make them better and make them earlier.” Volcanic eruptions are dangerous and unpredictable. About ten percent of the world’s population lives in areas that could be affected. People living close to volcanoes face risks like flying rock, ash clouds, and toxic gases. Even those farther away can experience mudslides or tsunamis caused by eruptions. Since eruptions can't be stopped, finding ways to predict them early is important for safety. Spotting volcanic activity from space isn’t easy. Scientists can track sulfur dioxide because it’s easier to detect, but volcanic carbon dioxide—the earliest sign of magma rising—is harder to measure. "A volcano emitting the modest amounts of carbon dioxide that might presage an eruption isn’t going to show up in satellite imagery," said volcanologist Robert Bogue of McGill University. Traditionally, researchers have had to travel to volcanoes to measure carbon dioxide directly. But with over 1,300 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, many are in remote, difficult-to-reach locations. Checking tree responses instead offers a simpler way to monitor volcanic activity. "The whole idea is to find something that we could measure instead of carbon dioxide directly," said Bogue. Nicole Guinn, a volcanologist at the University of Houston, used satellite images from Landsat 8, NASA’s Terra satellite, and ESA’s Sentinel-2 to study trees near Mount Etna in Sicily. Her research found a clear link between tree leaf color and volcanic carbon dioxide. To confirm the accuracy of satellite images, climate scientist Josh Fisher led a ground study in March 2025. His team measured carbon dioxide and collected leaf samples from trees near the Rincon de la Vieja volcano in Costa Rica. “Our research is a two-way interdisciplinary intersection between ecology and volcanology,” Fisher said. Tracking trees as volcano indicators has some limitations. Some volcanoes don’t have enough trees nearby, and environmental factors like weather and plant diseases can affect tree growth. But past success has shown the potential of this approach. In 2017, scientists upgraded sensors at Mayon volcano in the Philippines, detecting signs of an impending eruption. They recommended evacuations, and over 56,000 people were safely moved before the volcano erupted in January 2018. “There’s not one signal from volcanoes that’s a silver bullet," said Schwandner. "But it will be something that could change the game.” Source: NASA This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed

Although volcanic eruptions are mostly known for their devastating impacts on land, they also influence the atmosphere in surprising ways. Particles that are catapulted into the sky by eruptions can alter the composition of clouds, cooling the surface below. Volcanic ash, as new research suggests, plays an unexpected role in cloud formation by manipulating ice crystals.A new study published in Science Advances found that volcanic ash enables ice to take shape in clouds, a process that hasn’t been studied extensively before. The environmental effects — how volcanic ash contributes to radiation on Earth — are still up for debate, but a better understanding of cloud formation could inform geoengineering efforts that aspire to slow global warming. How Clouds and Volcanoes Impact Radiation Clouds have a complex relationship with radiation. This is seen with their influence on Earth’s radiation budget, the balance between incoming shortwave radiation from the Sun and outgoing longwave radiation from Earth. Depending on the thickness and elevation of a cloud, it can either have an absorbing or reflecting effect. Lower, thicker clouds reflect more radiation coming from the Sun and cool the Earth’s surface. Higher, thinner clouds reflect less incoming solar radiation and even tend to absorb outgoing infrared radiation constantly emitted by Earth itself. Cirrus clouds — wispy, icy clouds that sit high in the atmosphere — generally have a net warming effect on Earth. Volcanoes also affect Earth’s radiation budget through the particles they eject. Scientists have mostly focused on sulfate aerosols, which form after sulfur dioxide is released into the atmosphere by an eruption. Although sulfate aerosols can deplete the ozone layer and produce acid rain, they also help cool Earth by reflecting solar radiation. The Impact of Volcanic Ash Volcanic ash hasn’t garnered as much attention as sulfate aerosols, but the new study proves that it also needs to be considered in climate discussions. In the study, researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) gathered information on ice crystals in clouds by examining radar and lidar data from NASA’s Cloudsat and CALIPSO missions. The team found that ash-rich volcanic eruptions caused clouds to host fewer, but larger ice crystals. “At the beginning of the study, we did expect clouds affected by volcanic eruptions to look different from natural clouds, but not in the way we ultimately found,” said Lin Lin, a scientist at LLNL, in a statement. “We anticipated that volcanic aerosols would lead to an increase in the number of ice crystals in clouds. But to our surprise, the data showed the opposite.”Dealing with Cirrus CloudsThe team initially thought that an eruption would cause homogenous nucleation, in which ice forms spontaneously without the need for a surface. They instead found that ash-heavy eruptions prompt an opposite reaction called heterogenous nucleation, in which ice needs an “impurity” like volcanic ash to form. After an eruption, water droplets stick to ash particles before they can get cold enough to freeze. By producing fewer and larger ice crystals, clouds that undergo heterogenous nucleation end up reflecting less solar radiation, but they also allow more radiation from Earth to escape into space. The team also determined that ash-rich eruptions led to a higher frequency of cirrus clouds. The researchers say volcanic ash needs to be implemented in more climate models to understand exactly how all of these factors influence Earth’s surface temperature. Further studies on volcanic ash could also guide plans for cirrus cloud thinning, a proposed idea for mitigating global warming. This process would involve spraying aerosols into the atmosphere to thin or eliminate cirrus clouds, allowing more longwave radiation to leave Earth. Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Science Advances. Ice nucleation by volcanic ash greatly alters cirrus cloud propertiesJack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.

Trace amounts of precious metals found in volcanic rock appear to come from the Earth's inner core. Credit: Deposit Photos Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Contrary to conspiracy theories, the Earth’s core isn’t hollow. The dense, hot ball instead contains a stew of precious metals including platinum, ruthenium, and pretty much all of the planet’s gold. As lucrative as that sounds, there’s essentially no way humanity will ever access this natural treasure chest buried beneath more than 1,850  feet of solid rock. But according to recent discoveries made at volcanoes in Hawai’i, trace amounts of some of those coveted metals are seeping up from the planet’s deepest reaches. “When the first results came in, we realized that we had literally struck gold,” Nils Messling, a geochemist at Göttingen University, said in a statement. “Our data confirmed that material from the core, including gold and other precious metals, is leaking into Earth’s mantle above.” Messling and collaborators explained their findings in a study published on May 21 in the journal Nature. The team recently detected trace amounts of the precious metal ruthenium while analyzing volcanic rock samples collected across the islands of Hawai’i. More specifically, they noted the unexpected presence of the ruthenium isotope, ¹⁰⁰Ru. “Unexpected” is the key word there. While ¹⁰⁰Ru does exist in Earth’s mantle, it’s slightly more abundant inside of the core—alongside 99.999 percent of the planet’s gold and other precious metals. That’s because during the planet’s formation about 4.5 billion years ago, some of the ruthenium that is locked inside Earth’s core originated from a different source than the small amount found in the mantle today. The discrepancies between these two forms of ruthenium is so slight that the equipment used by geologists to study these isotopes hasn’t been able to tell the two apart. However, researchers at Göttingen University in The Netherlands recently developed new isotopic analysis methods that allowed them to do just that. In differentiating between these two types of the same isotope, the team discovered that some of Hawai’i’s volcanic basalts contain an unusually high ¹⁰⁰Ru signal meaning it must have originated from near the core-mantle-boundary.   The ramifications are significant: Earth’s core, once thought inaccessible, is ejected at least small amounts up towards the surface during volcanic eruptions. “We can now also prove that huge volumes of super-heated mantle material—several hundreds of quadrillion metric tons of rock—originate at the core-mantle boundary and rise to Earth’s surface to form ocean islands like Hawaii,” added study co-author Matthias Wilbold. The question now isn’t if this unexpected process happens—it’s a question of if and when it’s happened in the past. “Our findings open up an entirely new perspective on the evolution of the inner dynamics of our home planet,” added Messling.

Photo Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Tree greening may signal early volcanic unrest from underground carbon emissions Highlights Tree greening from CO₂ may signal early signs of volcanic unrest from s NASA satellites detect vegetation changes triggered by volcanic carbon CO₂-induced tree changes may enhance early warning systems for eruption Advertisement NASA scientists might soon be able to forecast volcanic eruptions by monitoring how trees respond from space. Now, in a new collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, they have discovered that tree leaves grow lusher and greener when previously dormant volcanic carbon dioxide seeps up from the ground — an early warning that a cone of magma is pushing upwards. Now, using satellites such as Landsat 8 and data from the recent AVUELO mission, scientists think this biological response could be visible remotely, serving as an added layer of early warning for eruptions in high-risk areas that currently menace millions worldwide.NASA Uses Tree Greening as Satellite Clue for Early Volcano Eruption Warnings in Remote RegionsAs per the research by NASA's Earth Science Division at Ames Research Centre, greening occurs when trees absorb volcanic carbon dioxide released as magma rises. These emissions precede sulfur dioxide and are harder to detect directly from orbit.While carbon dioxide does not always appear obvious in satellite images, its downstream effects — enhanced vegetation, for example — can help reinforce existing volcanic early warning systems, notes volcanologist Florian Schwandner. It could be important because, as the U.S. Geological Survey says, the country is still one of the most volcanically active.Globally, about 1,350 potentially active volcanoes exist, many in remote or hazardous locations. On-site gas measurement is costly and dangerous, prompting volcanologists like Robert Bogue and Nicole Guinn to explore tree-based proxies.Guinn's study of tree leaves around Sicily's Mount Etna found a strong correlation between leaf colour and underground volcanic activity. Satellites such as Sentinel-2 and Terra have proven capable of capturing these subtle vegetative changes, particularly in forested volcanic areas.To confirm this method, climate scientist Josh Fisher led NASA-Smithsonian teams in March 2025 to Panama and Costa Rica, collecting tree samples and measuring gas levels near active volcanoes. Fisher sees this interdisciplinary research as key to both volcano forecasting and understanding long-term tree response to atmospheric carbon dioxide, which will reveal future climate conditions.The benefits of early carbon dioxide detection have been demonstrated in the 2017 eruption of Mayon volcano in the Philippines, where it allowed mass evacuations and saved more than 56,000 lives. It has its limitations, like bad terrain or too much environmental noise, but it could be a game-changer. For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Further reading: NASA, volcano warning, satellite imagery, volcanic carbon dioxide, Landsat 8, tree greening, AVUELO, early warning systems Gadgets 360 Staff The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More Related Stories

The moon spent a few million years as a volcanic wasteland, covered with ongoing eruptions that spewed from mountains and even from the ground itself.

Geologists turned to tiny bubbles to investigate the dynamics driving magma flow beneath Hawaii’s volcanoes as the country’s islands drift northwest on a tectonic plate. They found that, as the islands slip away from the hotspot that fuels Kiluaea on the “Big Island, magma flow not only slows, but shifts deeper underground," according to a report in the journal Science Advances.“This challenges the old idea that eruptions are fueled by magma stored in the Earth’s crust and suggests a new possibility that magma is stored and matures in the Earth’s mantle, and eruptions are fueled from this deep mantle reservoir,” Esteban Gazel, a Cornell University scientist and author of the paper, said in a press release.Understanding Volcano EruptionsTo reach this conclusion, scientists employed a technique that will help increase understanding of what causes eruptions and help them predict those events more accurately. They focused on tiny gas bubbles that become trapped inside crystals within magma — a phenomenon called “fluid inclusion.” Calculating the pressure and depth at which those bubbles are captured gives scientists more precise information about magma’s activity.“The technology allows us to measure pressure from depths with an uncertainty as small as just hundreds of meters, which is very, very precise for depths that are tens of kilometers below the surface,” Gazel said in the release. “Before this, measuring magma storage was much more difficult, with uncertainties that could span kilometers.”Read More: 5 of the Most Explosive Volcanic EruptionsLooking at Different Volcano Life StagesThe scientists applied the method to samples from three Hawaiian volcanoes that are at different stages of their “lives.” Kilauea’s magma was stored at relatively shallow depths of about a mile, as predicted. They found two magma storage areas beneath Haleakala — a shallow one just over a mile down, and a deeper one at 12 to 16 miles in the Earth’s mantle. Diamond Head on the island of O’ahu, showed magma storage around 13 to 18 miles deep, all within the Earth’s mantle.“Knowing these depths precisely matters, because to understand the drivers of eruptions, one of the most important constraints is where magma is stored,” Gazel said in the release. “That is fundamental for physical models that will explain eruptive processes and is required for volcanic risk assessment.”Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Science Advances. Crustal to mantle melt storage during the evolution of Hawaiian volcanoesBefore joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.