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Schematic illustration of the detected magnetic reconnection event and ensuing processes. Credit: The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2026). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae8f44 Technion researchers have presented evidence for the existence of solar-storm-like outbursts near supermassive black holes, which can be a million times larger than the sun or more. The phenomenon was discovered in the vicinity of the black hole in the galaxy NGC 3783, and the researchers' findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

After nearly 40 years since the discovery of cuprates, copper-based compounds promising lossless electricity transmission, the mechanisms behind their superconductivity remain elusive. Researchers at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), led by Professor Fabio Boschini, have now published findings in Nature Physics revealing a competition between superconductivity and the pseudogap, a mysterious quantum state. “The pseudogap is one of the greatest mysteries in condensed-matter physics,” says Professor Boschini, a specialist in ultrafast spectroscopy of quantum condensed matter at INRS, adding that understanding its interaction with superconductivity is essential to explaining high-temperature superconductivity. The INRS team used a pulse of light to temporarily suppress superconductivity, observing how the material responded in real time and uncovering previously hidden electronic states.

An international team of scientists from the University of Sheffield and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, led by a postdoctoral research fellow from the University of Newcastle, Australia, has discovered that solar jets called spicules, which are 6–8 Mm long, take the form of warped, denser plasma sheets like pleated drapery. The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Eastern Australian humpback whales reach nearly their full adult size quickly, a new Griffith University–led study has found, as shown by the first contemporary growth curves for this recovering whale population. Published in Marine Mammal Science, the study combined drone-based aerial measurements with long-term photo-identification records to track growth across hundreds of whales ranging from newborn calves to adults more than 40 years old.