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In this week's science news we covered solar outbursts near and far, exploded comets, hell pigs and how to protect yourself from a quantum computer hack.
(Image credit: Gianluca Masi / The Virtual Telescope Project | D. Michalik/NSF/SPT)
The stars of the show in this week's science news were actually the stars themselves. It was a truly brilliant week for updates and discoveries related to these celestial furnaces.
Starting close to home, the sun spit out three consecutive solar outbursts toward Earth, causing this month's second launch attempt of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket to be scrubbed and bringing auroras as far south as Florida. Luckily, our planet's protective magnetosphere sheltered us from any harmful effects, but severe geomagnetic storms could be more damaging in the future, owing to a newly discovered weak spot in Earth's invisible shield.
Ever get that feeling — say, at the end of the week — when you really want to pay attention to something important, but you just zone out and see people's lips moving?
Well, scientists finally have a physiological explanation for why this happens when you're sleep-deprived: Your brain is literally flushing out cerebrospinal fluid, making it nigh-impossible for you to concentrate. The exact functional reason for this is still unclear, but scientists think it could have something to do with sleep-deprived brains switching into sleep-like states, possibly as a form of waking brain waste disposal you missed out on the night before.
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Can you have thoughts without a brain? Probably not in the sense that we tend to define them, but it doesn't mean that brainless creatures — such as jellyfish, sea urchins or sea stars — don't show some signs of cognition.
Ever heard of a "hell pig?" Me neither, until this week, but these ancient North American beasts in the genus Archaeotherium could weigh up to 2,000 pounds (1,000 kilograms).
Now, a new tooth analysis has revealed that the hell pigs had different feeding strategies depending on their sizes: The smaller species typically sheared flesh, while the larger species crushed bones with their horrifying teeth (there's the "hell" part).
Archaeotherium was technically more closely related to hippos and whales than to pigs, but it's a great name for an animal we're mostly glad isn't around anymore — especially as the preserved bites of the larger ones are indistinguishable from those of lions.
Compared with classical computers, where do quantum computers excel? One answer sticks out: hacking.
Quantum systems can solve problems related to encryption significantly faster than the classical computers used by nearly all organizations, and cryptographers are facing a major challenge in designing algorithms that will be safe from quantum hacking. But how do you quantum-hack-proof a laptop? Live Science investigated in this Science Spotlight.
Something for the weekend
If you're looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best news analyses, crosswords and polls published this week.
This week's science picture is something truly special and, despite its preposterous appearance, entirely real. The stunning shot was taken by an astrophotographer who captured a skydiver falling from a plane 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) away. The image is named "The Fall of Icarus" and more than lives up to its mythic title.
Monday morning will bring a special shower of meteors to skywatchers.
(Image credit: wenbin via Getty Images)
Save all your wishes for Monday (Nov. 17), when the Leonid meteor shower peaks.
The annual flurry of shooting stars is set to appear in the early hours that day and is produced by tiny particles from the Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle that burn up in the atmosphere to make meteors. This year could offer one of the best viewing windows for the fast-moving shower, owing to a nearly moonless night.
Ben Turner is a U.K. based writer and editor at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.
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