A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caleb, Manisha et al. \u201cA fast radio burst at redshift 2, three billion years after the Big Bang.\u201d Science.<\/a><\/p>\n Scientists have discovered the most distant fast radio burst (FRB), a type of mysterious radio flare from space. This burst erupted when the universe was only three billion years old and sent radio waves across 10 billion light years before they reached Earth on March 4, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n The distant signal, known as FRB 20240304B, hails from an ancient galaxy beyond \u201credshift 2,\u201d which means it originated more than twice as far as the next-farthest known FRB. Redshift, represented by the variable \u201cz,\u201d measures how wavelengths of light get stretched out in their journeys across space, a phenomenon that shifts them to the red end of the spectrum. Generally speaking, the more distant the object from Earth, the higher the redshift.<\/p>\n \u201cApproximately one hundred FRBs have identified host galaxies with measured redshifts, with the vast majority at redshifts z \u2272 0.5,\u201d said researchers led by Manisha Caleb of the Sydney Institute for Astronomy. \u201cOnly a small number of FRB host galaxies have been identified at z \u2273 1. This observational bias is driven by the sensitivity limit of radio observations that are capable of detecting FRBs and localizing their coordinates.\u201d<\/p>\n Caleb and her colleagues were able to capture the remote flash using South Africa\u2019s MeerKAT radio telescope. Follow-up observations with the James Webb Space Telescope pinpointed \u201ca low-mass, clumpy, starforming galaxy\u201d at redshift 2.148 as the host of the burst.<\/p>\n FRBs produce incredibly energetic radio pulses, but the exact mechanisms that generate them remain unknown. Given the diverse features of these bursts\u2014for instance, some repeat, and some are one-offs\u2014they might come from many different sources. In the case of FRB 20240304B, the team speculated that the burst is a magnetar, the highly magnetized remains of a massive star that went supernova.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe low stellar mass, active star formation, and low metallicity of the host galaxy are consistent with a magnetar origin of the FRB,\u201d the researchers concluded.<\/p>\n This milestone detection of such a distant and ancient FRB opens up the possibility of finding more bursts at high redshifts. In addition to pushing the limits of observation, future discoveries could allow scientists to extract clues about the evolution of the universe that become imprinted in these signals during their vast journeys. So bring on the bygone bursts!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In other news…<\/p>\n Putting a quantum spin on things<\/p>\n Nayak, Anshuman et al. \u201cSpin force from a nitrogen-vacancy ensemble drives a 100-mg levitated resonator.\u201d Science Advances.<\/a><\/p>\n Time to shrink down from the largest cosmic scale to the tiny quantum realm. In a new study, scientists report that they successfully moved a centimeter-scale diamond with a force known as quantum spin, making it by far the largest object ever manipulated by a quantum effect. It represents a major breakthrough, as the diamond is the first object large enough to be subject to gravity to be moved in this way, further bridging the gap between the loopy quantum realm and regular, everyday physics.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A graphical representation of the observed movements. a) When the laser is off, the diamond slab has a small magnetic moment (blue arrow) induced by the latent spin-state inside the nitrogen-vacancy centers of the diamond. b) When the green laser is on, the spin-state is polarized, causing the magnetic moment to fluctuate weakly, pushing the diamond down towards the magnetic field (red arrows). Image: Nayak et al., 2026<\/p>\n In the new work, scientists worked with a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) diamond containing electrons with \u201cspin,\u201d a form of angular momentum on the quantum scale. Then, they shot a laser at the diamond\u2014as science often demands\u2014which stimulated electrons to spin in a certain state that eerily moved the diamond.<\/p>\n \u201cExperimentally observing this spin force for anything larger than atomic scales has proved challenging,\u201d said researchers led by Anshuman Nayak of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. \u201cWe have demonstrated the motional driving of a massive diamagnetically levitated mechanical oscillator by the force of NV spins in a gradient magnetic field.\u201d<\/p>\n Congratulations, humanity: We just earned our license to quantum-motionally drive. Proceed responsibly.<\/p>\n New yak just dropped<\/p>\n<\/p>\n