3 For Science on Friday!

Why did scientists name these new frogs after Star Trek characters?

What sound does a frog make? If you said “croak” or “ribbit” or even “bonk” like the Australian pobblebonk frog, you’d be right. And now, thanks to new research, “Star Trek whistle” is also a correct answer!

Seven newly discovered species of frogs in Madagascar have been named for their unique calls, some of which are similar to whistle-like sound effects used in Star Trek: the “boatswain whistle” and “tricorder” device.

A photograph of a small yellow-brown frog with orange eyes against a white background. — *Boophis siskoi*. Credit: Mark D. Scherz

“That’s why we named the frogs after Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham, and Pike – 7 of the most iconic captains from the sci-fi series,” says Miguel Vences of the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany, who led the research. (snip-MORE)

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“Stellar volcano” captured in dramatic Hubble images

https://players.brightcove.net/5483960636001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6363356718112 (video on the page; it wouldn’t embed.)

Dramatic and colourful close-ups from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope show a binary system of rambunctious stars. See the high-resolution image here.

The system is called R Aquarii. The primary star is an aging red giant more than 400 times heavier than our Sun. Its companion is a burned-out white dwarf.

The red giant pulsates, changes temperature, and varies in brightness by a factor of 750 times over a roughly 390-day period. At its peak the star is nearly 5,000 times brighter than our Sun.

Meanwhile, the white dwarf dances around the red giant. It orbits the giant star every 44 years.

When the white dwarf gets closest to the red giant, its gravity pulls hydrogen gas off the red giant. The material accumulates around the dwarf star and undergoes nuclear fusion. The result is an explosion akin to an enormous nuclear bomb.

Filaments shoot from the dwarf star’s core like a geyser, forming loops and trails of plasma traveling at more than 1.6 million km per hour. (snip-MORE)

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Confirmed: The Sun has reached solar maximum

Images of sun at solar minimum and minimum — Images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory highlight the appearance of the sun at solar minimum (left, Dec. 2019) versus solar maximum (right, May 2024). These images are in the 171 wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, which reveals the active regions on the sun that are more common during solar maximum. Credit: NASA/SDO.

Representatives from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the international Solar Cycle Prediction panel met on Tuesday and announced that the Sun has reached its solar maximum.

The solar cycle is 11 years. At the height of the cycle, the Sun’s magnetic poles flip and its activity intensifies.

Images of sunspots at solar minimum and minimum — Visible light images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory highlight the appearance of the Sun at solar minimum (left, Dec. 2019) versus solar maximum (right, May 2024). During solar minimum, the Sun is often spotless. Sunspots are associated with solar activity and are used to track solar cycle progress. Credit: NASA/SDO.

“During solar maximum, the number of sunspots, and therefore, the amount of solar activity, increases,” says Jamie Favors, the director of NASA’s Space Weather Program. “This increase in activity provides an exciting opportunity to learn about our closest star –but also causes real effects at Earth and throughout our solar system.”

Increased solar activity can affect satellites and astronauts in space, as well as communications and navigation systems. (snip-MORE)