'Humanity has touched the sun' in a pioneering achievement for space exploration

'Humanity has touched the sun' in a pioneering achievement for space exploration | Weird quantum objects known as Q balls could explain why we exist | How real is the multiverse? Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( December 15, 2021 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [Twitter](  [LIVESCIENCE]( [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE]( [] Top Science News [] ['Humanity has touched the sun' in a pioneering achievement for space exploration]( ['Humanity has touched the sun' in a pioneering achievement for space exploration]( (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben) A NASA probe has entered the sun's atmosphere and "touched" the blazing corona, in a first for solar science. The Parker Solar Probe, which launched in 2018, conducted seven flybys of the sun before dipping into the corona during its eighth flyby on April 28, 2021. It made three trips into the sun's atmosphere, one of which lasted for 5 hours, mission scientists reported at a press briefing on Tuesday (Dec. 14) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/15) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Math & Physics [] [Weird quantum objects known as Q balls could explain why we exist]( [Weird quantum objects known as Q balls could explain why we exist]( (MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images) One of the biggest cosmological mysteries is why the universe is made up of way more matter than antimatter, essentially why we exist. Now, a team of theoretical physicists says they know how to find the answer. All they need to do is detect the gravitational waves produced by bizarre quantum objects called Q balls. Every kind of ordinary matter particle has an antimatter partner with opposing characteristics — and when matter interacts with antimatter, the two annihilate each other. That fact makes our existence a mystery, as cosmologists are pretty sure that at the dawn of the universe, equal amounts of matter and antimatter were produced; those matter and antimatter partners should have all annihilated each other, leaving the universe devoid of any matter at all. Yet matter exists, and researchers are slowly uncovering the reasons why. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/15) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [How real is the multiverse?]( [How real is the multiverse?]( (Shutterstock) Imagine setting off in a rocket and leaving Earth. Leaving the solar system. Leaving our galaxy. Breaking through the edge of the observable universe and leaving our cosmos behind (which would be impossible, as you'd have to go faster than the speed of light, but work with me here). Now you are cruising through the unfathomable void for eons, only to come upon another universe, with another galaxy inside it, with another solar system, another Earth … and another you, sitting there, reading this article. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/15) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Climate Change [] [UN confirms hottest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic]( [UN confirms hottest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic]( (L Yagovy via Getty Images) The highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic has been officially confirmed by the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sounding ''alarm bells'' about climate change. The temperature, a ''Mediterranean'' 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) — which was recorded in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk in June 2020 — was measured at the peak of an extended heat wave. In fact, temperatures across the region that summer averaged as much as 18 F (10 C) above normal, the WMO said in a statement. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/14) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Your Health [] [Dormant cancer cells may 'reawaken' due to change in this key protein]( [Dormant cancer cells may 'reawaken' due to change in this key protein]( (Bravo Cordero Annenberg) Cancer cells may suddenly "reawaken" and spread throughout the body after years of lying dormant. Now, scientists may be closer to understanding why. In a new study published Monday (Dec. 13) in Nature Cancer, scientists found that in mice, dormant cancer cells were surrounded by larger amounts of a specific type of collagen, the main protein that makes up connective tissue, than active cancer cells. The team also examined this collagen, known as type III collagen, in samples from human patients with head and neck cancer. Patients whose cancer had spread to their lymph nodes tended to have primary tumors with less type III collagen nearby than patients with no cancer in their lymph nodes, suggesting that cancer with less type III collagen might spread more easily to other parts of the body. Full Story: [Live Science]( (12/14) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] Daily Quiz [] POLL QUESTION: Do we live in a multiverse? (Learn the answer [here]() [Vote]( [Yes, of course]( [Vote]( [No, surely not]( [Vote]( [It's tough to say]( [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:livescience@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( © Future US, Inc. 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004