Technologies

Astronomers have 12 new tools to study dark matter mysteries

A dozen stellar streams have entered the chat.

Studying dark matter is complicated. In reality, the best way to think about the phenomenon is as transparent matter. We can’t seem to see it, and it doesn’t interact with light, so essentially, it’s invisible to us.

But scientists haven’t backed down from the challenge. To date, they’ve come up with numerous unique ways to unveil the elusive stuff, as well as theories to explain it — and in a paper published Tuesday in the Astrophysical Journal, a team of experts just added several new tools to the dark matter quest’s arsenal.

They discovered a dozen never-before-seen stellar streams, or sparkly, yet pulverized, remnants of ancient dwarf galaxies and star clusters orbiting the Milky Way. For eons, the Milky Way’s gravitational pull has been disrupting such river-like structures’ paths and eventually forcing them to merge with it.

In other words, our home galaxy has been feasting on its neighboring cosmic cul-de-sacs as though they’re well-placed buffets. «As our galaxy is getting older, it is getting fatter,» Ting Li, a professor at the University of Toronto and lead author of the paper, said in a statement. «This study gives us a snapshot of the Milky Way’s feeding habits, such as what kinds of smaller stellar systems it ‘eats.'»

So, where does dark matter tie in?

Well, stellar streams offer a roundaboutway of deriving information of the universe’s hidden building blocks by providing adjacent clues. For instance, astronomers can measure the streams’ orbital speed, rotation trajectory, chemical composition and shape to see what isn’t present.

«Think of a Christmas tree,» Geraint F. Lewis, a professor at the University of Sydney and author of the paper, said in a statement. «On a dark night, we see the Christmas lights, but not the tree they are wrapped around. But the shape of the lights reveals the shape of the tree. It is the same with stellar streams — their orbits reveal the dark matter.»

The logic is fitting, as the only reason we even know dark matter and dark energy exists is due to a sort of indirect reasoning: According to scientists’ calculations, all the universe’s normal matter can’t explain how most galaxies are held together and all the universe’s normal energy can’t account for it’s continuous expansion. We call the missing piece of the expansion puzzle dark energy, and of the structure puzzle, dark matter.

As per the team, the more stellar streams we can find, the closer we may be to understanding the nature of the universe’s mysterious side. In fact, that’s part of why Li and collaborators initiated a program called the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey to dedicate themselves to locating as many as possible. Along with data from the European Gaia mission — which aims to chart an ambitious 3D map of our galaxy — that’s how the research team found the new, promising stellar streams.

Further down the line, Li said, stellar streams may prove critical in figuring out how the Milky Way came to be in the first place, after the Big Bang. «For me, this is one of the most intriguing questions, a question about our ultimate origins,» Li said.

Technologies

Facebook Brings Back Local Job Listings: How to Apply

One of Facebook’s most practical features from 2022 is being revived by Meta.

On the hunt for work? A Local Jobs search is being rolled out by Meta to make it easier for people in the US to discover and apply for nearby work directly on Facebook. The feature is inside Facebook Marketplace, Groups and Pages, Meta said last week, letting employers post openings and job seekers filter roles by distance, category or employment type.

You can apply or message employers directly through Facebook Messenger, while employers can publish job listings with just a few taps — similar to how you would post items for sale on Marketplace.

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Facebook offered a Jobs feature before discontinuing it in 2022, pushing business hiring toward its other platforms. Its return suggests Meta is attempting to expand Facebook’s usefulness beyond social networking and to position it once again as a hub for community-driven opportunities.

«We’ve always been about connecting with people, whether through shared interests or key life events,» the press release states. «Now, if you’re looking for entry-level, trade and service industry employment in your community, Facebook can help you connect with local people and small businesses who are hiring.»

How to get started with Local Jobs on Facebook

According to Meta, Local Jobs will appear as a dedicated section in Facebook Marketplace starting this week. If you’re 18 or older, you can:

Tap the Marketplace tab on the Facebook app or website.
Select Jobs to browse available positions nearby.
Use filters for job type, category and distance.
Tap Apply or message the employer directly via Messenger.

Businesses and page admins can post jobs by creating a new listing in Marketplace or from their Facebook Page. Listings can include job details, pay range, and scheduling information and will appear in local searches automatically.

The Local Jobs feature is rolling out across the US now, with Meta saying it plans to expand it in the months ahead.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.