Michael’s Miscellany: The Demon Star

In the constellation Perseus the Hero, the star Algol is fun to watch due to its regular changes in brightness. And you don’t even need a telescope. Officially designated Beta Persei, it’s the second brightest star in the constellation. What makes Algol particularly interesting is not an inherent change in […]

Some Chinese universities are using AI detection tools to screen papers, but false positives force students to “dumb down” content or pay for rewriting services (Peiyue Wu/Rest of World)

Peiyue Wu / Rest of World: Some Chinese universities are using AI detection tools to screen papers, but false positives force students to “dumb down” content or pay for rewriting services  —  As Chinese universities crack down on AI use, some students report false positives — and a booming industry […]

Astronomers find a star that exploded twice

In a stunning first-ever image, astronomers have seen a star that died by exploding twice. They pointed the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) at supernova SNR 0509-67.5, located within the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way in the far-southern constellation of Dorado the […]