A new planet has been discovered and apparently it is pretty fluffy - like candy floss. The exoplanet, WASP-193b, was discovered 1,232 light-years away and while it's nearly 50 percent bigger than Jupiter, it's light and fluffy making it as dense as the sweet treat. According to a team led by astronomer Khalid Barkaoui of the University of Liège in Belgium, the planet orbits a Sun-like star named WASP-193. This star is around 1.1 times the mass and 1.2 times the radius of the Sun and is very close to the Sun in temperature and age. The planet orbits the star around once every 6.25 days. Barkaoui and his colleagues also found its radius is around 1.46 times the radius of Jupiter. But its mass is incredibly small by comparison: just 0.139 times Jupiter's. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter From these properties, the researchers derived the exoplanet's density: 0.059 grams per cubic centimeter. This is a lot less dense than other planets like Jupiter and Earth. And as a point of comparison, cotton candy has a density of 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter which is why they made the link. There are few other examples of a planet like this existing but its close proximity to a star may give an indication as to how it came to exist as its heat is likely to have warmed up the planet's puffy atmosphere, which is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. This state of the planet is only set to last for around a few ten million years as the temperatures and winds emitted from the star are only likely to strip back the atmosphere further. Due to this scientists cannot fully recreate or determine what is causing WASP-193b's unique atmosphere but is it likely to be a continued source of study to try and determine the cause of this phenomenon. You probably won't find this planet sold at fairgrounds any time soon though. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Scientists have discovered one of the strangest exoplanets ever that is so light and fluffy that it is actually being compared to candyfloss (or cotton candy if you are American). The planet is called WASP-193b and is 1,232 light-years away and was discovered by researchers at the University of Liège in Belgium. The findings of their study, led by astronomer Khalid Barkaoui has been published on arXiv. The planet, which is believed to be a so-called gas giant is nearly 50 per cent bigger than Jupiter and is orbiting a Sun-like star named WASP-193, which the scientists believe is up to 6 billion years old. Although this star is slightly bigger than our sun it is still said to have the same temperature but compared to Earth, WASP-193b orbits its star just every 6.25 days. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter By studying the planet, Barkaoui and his team were able to determine that its density was around 0.059 grams per cubic centimetre. Earth's density per cubic centimetre for comparison, is 5.51 grams whereas candyfloss has a density of 0.05 grams. There are few other examples of a planet like this existing but its close proximity to a star may give an indication as to how it came to exist as its heat is likely to have warmed up the planet's puffy atmosphere, which is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. This state of the planet is only set to last for around a few ten million years as the temperatures and winds emitted from the star are only likely to strip back the atmosphere further. Due to this scientists cannot fully recreate or determine what is causing WASP-193b's unique atmosphere but is it likely to be a continued source of study to try and determine the cause of this phenomenon. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones has spoken about the growing use of artificial intelligence in music saying that “art should come from people”. The 49-year-old lead singer of the rock band which formed in Wales in 1992 also questioned the move towards multiple songwriters on a release. Jones spoke to Times Radio at Latitude Festival in Henham Park, Suffolk, on Sunday after he played with his new band Far From Saints. The Welsh musician said he had not realised until attending the Ivor Novello Awards that AI technology is being increasingly used to “finish off people’s songwriting”. He also said: “I’m not against forward-thinking technology and how things are progressing, but I think art should come from people, I mean the basics of it anyway. “I think art has always been somebody’s expression, a real person’s expression from a heart, from a head. “If you’re going to start an idea, then a computer finishes it, I mean, it’s OK, but it’s just about algorithms and things like that, it’s not my personal feeling on where it should come from. “I’m not really into 10 songwriters on a song. “It’s like if you’re making painting, you’ve got 10 painters chucking paint on a canvas, I mean, whose f****** painting is it anymore?” Far From Saints have been touring festivals after releasing Let’s Turn This Back Around earlier this year. Jones, who set up his new band with Patty Lynn of The Wind And The Wave, said since the pandemic and the UK’s break from the European Union it has become harder to make money from music. He said: “It’s kind of a nightmare with… Brexit and all that sort of stuff. “So it’s a very different place since Brexit, since Covid, since all of that stuff. “So it’s not easy to make a living of it if you’re a brand new kid coming out onto the street, ‘just let’s get in a van and go make music’ – it’s kind of hard.” There has been a mixed response to the technology in the music business, with country star Dolly Parton voicing concerns about AI while Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am has taken an optimistic view on new music software. Last month, Parton told a press event: “I think I’ve left a great body of work behind. “I have to decide how much of that high-tech stuff I want to be involved because I don’t want to leave my soul here on this Earth.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live TikTok is now most favourable single source of news in UK teenagers, research shows Talk of AI dangers has ‘run ahead of the technology’, says Nick Clegg Eurostar passengers can avoid UK passport checks by having faces scanned

Scientists think they have discovered a previously unknown hidden structure inside the Earth’s core that could change our understanding of our planet. In school, most of us were taught there are four main layers to the Earth’s structure: the crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core. What we know about the Earth’s insides has mostly derived from geologists’ knowledge and observations of volcanoes and seismic waves. But now, scientists believe that there may also be a whole extra layer hidden inside the inner core that no one knew about. Earth’s molten inner core is predicted to be around 5,000 degrees Celsius in temperature and scientists have calculated that it takes up around just 1 per cent of the planet’s total volume. The discovery of a potential fifth layer to the planet’s core came a few years ago when scientists used an algorithm to model thousands of scenarios of the inner core to observe the length of time it takes seismic waves to travel through Earth based on data by the International Seismological Centre. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Scientists were able to analyse how different material properties within the inner core would affect seismic waves differently and found that some scenarios were certainly more likely than others. The algorithm showed how different materials altered the angle of seismic waves, leading them to hypothesise that there was a change of material somewhere in the inner core. Joanne Stephenson, an Australian National University geophysicist, explained: “We found evidence that may indicate a change in the structure of iron, which suggests perhaps two separate cooling events in Earth's history.” She continued: “The details of this big event are still a bit of a mystery, but we've added another piece of the puzzle when it comes to our knowledge of the Earth's inner core.” While their data isn’t conclusive, it does correlate with other similar studies that have looked into the anisotropy of the Earth’s inner core. Stephenson said: “It's very exciting - and might mean we have to re-write the textbooks!” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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The Northern Lights will be visible from the UK thanks to a large “cannibal” solar storm that is hitting the Earth. The aurora borealis (aka Northern Lights) are produced by when radiation from the Sun is deflected by the magnetic field of the Earth. Typically, the Northern Lights can be seen further north of the UK in the Nordic countries such as Iceland and Norway, as well as in northern parts of Canada. This is because when solar radiation hits the Earth, it is drawn to the Earth’s magnetic field, which runs north to south, and is directed towards to north and south poles. But, every now and then when there is a strong enough solar storm, they can also be seen further south in the UK because of the increased levels of solar radiation. From today (20 July), Brits stand a chance of catching a glimpse of the famous Nothern Lights once it turns dark. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Those in Scotland have the greatest chance of spotting the spectacle, however, they could also be viewed further south, but cloud cover and fewer hours of darkness mean it’s difficult to pinpoint cities with any great accuracy, says the Met Office. For the best chance to see the Northern Lights, experts recommend getting out of major cities. This is because, for the aurora borealis to be most visible, there must be minimal levels of light pollution which is not the case in built-up areas. The severity of the “cannibal” solar storm may be so strong that it disrupts radio signals and creates different weather patterns. Sean Elvidge, associate professor of space environment at the University of Birmingham, explained: “These storms manifest as major disturbances in Earth's magnetic field, potentially causing various space weather effects. “On one hand, they can result in radio blackouts, disrupting communication systems on our planet. On the other hand, these storms can produce awe-inspiring displays of natural beauty known as auroras.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Researchers have invented a double-sided solar panel capable of generating electricity from the Sun’s energy on both sides. The bifacial solar cell, developed at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), harvests reflected sunlight hitting the back of the device, offering an unconventional route to producing higher energy yields for less space and cost. Typical advances to solar cell efficiency rates centre on iterative improvements to the side facing the Sun. This new approach could boost the energy harvesting capabilities of solar panels beyond their theoretical limit. “This perovskite cell can operate very effectively from either side,” said Kai Zhu, a scientist at the Chemistry and Nanoscience Center at NREL who led the research. Current solar cell technologies, which use silicon as the semiconductor material, have an efficiency rate of around 26 per cent – higher than the 23 per cent achieved in lab tests by the front side of the new panel. The back side of the panel, however, achieves an efficiency of about 91-93 per cent of the front, which offers up to 20 per cent more power overall when harvesting reflected sunlight. Perovskite has become a key driver of solar cell advancements in recent years, breaking new efficiency records and providing new pathways to creating next-generation technologies. Earlier this week, researchers unveiled perovskite-based solar cells capable of healing themselves when damaged by radiation in low-Earth orbit. Tandem silicon-perovskite solar cells have achieved lab-measured efficiency of more than 30 per cent, and have a theoretical limit far higher than purely silicon cells. Rapid progress with their development has seen two separate startups announce commercial production of the next-generation panels. Producing the bifacial solar panels would cost more than monofacial modules, however their capacity to produce more power could make them more economically viable over time. The latest research was detailed in a study, titled ‘Highly efficient bifacial single-junction perovskite solar cells’, published in the journal Joule. Read More Scientists invent self-healing solar panels with ‘miracle material’ How tech could turn our homes into renewable energy power stations

TikTok is now the most used single source of news across all platforms for teenagers in the UK, new research from Ofcom has found. The regulator’s News Consumption In The UK 2022/23 report found TikTok is the favoured single news source among 12 to 15-year-olds. TikTok is most popular with young people and used by 28 per cent of teenagers, followed by YouTube and Instagram, both at 25 per cent, according to the figures. But, taking into account all news content across its platforms, the BBC still has the highest reach of any news organisation among this age group – used by 39 per cent of teenagers. Over the last 12 months we've seen most major publishers refocus their strategy, partly as otherwise there's more risk of young people seeing unreliable news Nic Newman, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism It comes after the UK Government banned ministers from using TikTok, which is a Chinese-owned video-sharing app, on their work phones following a security review. The House of Commons and the Lords also cited security concerns as they decided to ban the app across the Palace of Westminster. TikTok, owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, argues it does not share data with China. However, Beijing’s intelligence legislation requires firms to help the Communist Party when requested. Nic Newman, senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, said there is a big shift taking place in terms of how people consume news and that more publishers have been joining TikTok. He said: “TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, the people younger people are listening to tend to be influencers, personalities, they film for a range of reasons – in some instances you have specific news creators, in other cases it’s just personalities, comedians, talking about issues including free school meals. “In terms of the implications for the industry, one of the things we’ve really seen in the last 12 months is we have publishers who are very reluctant to go into TikTok, but over the last 12 months we’ve seen most major publishers refocus their strategy, partly as otherwise there’s more risk of young people seeing unreliable news. “That’s more challenging as there’s no business model for TikTok, so it’s very hard. “It’s just starting to build relationships with young people. “There’s been surveys that show TikTok is amongst the least trusted platforms, partly as it’s one of the newest.” He added: “During the war in Ukraine we saw young people going to traditional news brands – but not for very long, it depends what the subject is to some extent. “Covid was a big change because people were at home and people were talking about Covid on TikTok and people had a bit of time. “That’s a case of very serious news being carried on TikTok. “Passions and celebrity news, that’s a big part of what’s going on with the younger people, but there’s also serious news, that’s the wider big shift.” When considering perceptions of trust, teenagers rated traditional sources better than their online counterparts, as BBC One/Two was trusted by 82 per cent of its teenage users, compared to TikTok at 32 per cent, Instagram at 38 per cent, Facebook at 41 per cent and Snapchat at 31 per cent. Twitter was the exception, with a 50 per cent rating on trust, Ofcom found. The news topics of most interest to younger teens generally are “sports or sports personalities” (23per cent), “music news or singers” (15 per cent), “celebrities or famous people” (11 per cent), “serious things going on in the UK” (8 per cent) and news about “animals or the environment” (9). Meanwhile, those aged 16-24 are much less likely than the average adult to access news from traditional media sources, such as TV (47 per cent vs 70 per cent), radio (25 per cent vs 40 per cent) and print newspapers (16 per cent vs 26 per cent). Social media platforms dominate the top five most popular news sources among 16-24s. Instagram is the most-used single news source at 44 per cent, followed by Facebook at 33 per cent, Twitter at 31 per cent, and TikTok at 29 per cent. Coming in joint second, BBC One at 33 per cent is the only traditional media source to feature in the top five. But Ofcom said its figures show broadcast TV news maintains its position as the most popular source among adults in the UK, used by 70 per cent, which rises to 75 per cent when broadcast video on-demand news content is included. BBC One remains the most-used news single source across all platforms at 49 per cent, followed by ITV at 34 per cent – although both channels have seen gradual declines over the past five years as they are down from 62 per cent and 41 per cent respectively. Similarly, Facebook – the third most popular news source among adults – is showing signs of decline, from 33 per cent to 30 per cent over the same period. TikTok’s popularity as a source of news for adults is growing, with one in 10 adults saying they use it to keep up with the latest stories – overtaking BBC Radio 1 and Channel 5, both at 8 per cent for the first time. TikTok, at 55 per cent, along with Instagram, at 53 per cent, is particularly popular among adults for celebrity news. Twitter is the favoured destination for breaking news, with 61 per cent of adults choosing it, and political news, at 45 per cent, while Facebook is the preferred source for local news, at 59 per cent. Among users of the platforms, news sourced via social media is rated lower for trust, accuracy and impartiality than the more traditional sources of news, but is rated moderately well on “offers a range of opinions”, “helps me understand what’s going on in the world today” and being “important to me personally”. One in ten (10 per cent) 16-24s claims to consume no news – twice the figure for all adults. After a long-term decline in the use of print newspapers – with overall reach of these news brands being supplemented by their digital platforms – Ofcom’s most recent data shows print newspaper reach was consistent between 2022 and 2023. Just over a quarter of adults (26 per cent) accessed news via print newspapers, increasing to 39 per cent when including their online platforms. The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday and The Guardian/Observer were the most widely-read print and digital news titles overall. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Talk of AI dangers has ‘run ahead of the technology’, says Nick Clegg Eurostar passengers can avoid UK passport checks by having faces scanned ‘Hostile states using organised crime gangs as proxies in the UK’

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