A planet the size of Jupiter circling a deceased white dwarf star about 6,500 light-years from Earth is offering a glimpse of what may happen when the sun burns out roughly 5 billion years from now, a study in Nature suggests. Researchers were surprised to discover that the gas giant survived its sun-like star's death, and the findings suggest that other dead stars also may be associated with planets that survived their violent demises.

High-school students in Missouri recently focused on innovation and opportunity at an event to mark Manufacturing Day. During the event, students viewed live demonstrations by 17 manufacturers, as well as virtual reality demos.

Leprosy has been discovered in wild chimpanzees for the first time, according to findings described in Nature. The outbreaks were found in two different chimpanzee communities in West Africa and researchers aren't sure how the chimps contracted the disease, since both populations have little contact with humans.

Looking back on fond memories and indulging in nostalgia may help people struggling through loneliness during hard times, such as the pandemic, a study in Social, Psychological and Personality Science suggests. "Loneliness reduces happiness but also triggers nostalgia, and nostalgia increases happiness," said Tim Wildschut, an author of the study, which tracked loneliness, happiness and nostalgia levels of more than 3,700 people in China, the US and the UK.

A Georgia school district is reimagining its career and technical education program better prepare students for college and career. The new workforce development plan includes support and collaboration from schools, business, government and other groups.

Researchers have captured images of 42 of the largest asteroids in the solar system using the Very Large Telescope's SPHERE instrument and describe their findings in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Images include views of Ceres, the largest of the 42 imaged asteroids, as well as Ausonia and Urania, the smallest ones.

ACT scores have fallen each year for the past five years, but this year's decline -- during the coronavirus pandemic -- was the largest, according to data released Wednesday by ACT. ACT also reports that 375,000 fewer students took the exam this year.

The lifespan of so-called free neutrons, which are formed outside of atom nuclei, has been measured more precisely than ever before with a new method described in Physical Review Letters. Physicists chilled neutrons close to absolute zero and suspended them in a magnet-filled instrument for up to 90 minutes, counting the survivors to come up with a lifetime calculation of 14 minutes, 37.75 seconds.

Industrial fishing has altered the ecosystem balance in the ocean by cutting down the amount of biomass produced by fish, which may have negatively affected carbon cycling on the deep sea floor, a study in Science Advances suggests. Researchers used computer models to trace the changes in ocean biomass due to commercial fishing since about 1900, tracking the amount of fish feces lost over the years and how that affected the ocean food chain and carbon sequestration.

Blackworms can form blobs that move collectively but only under certain conditions. Researchers "observed three broad behavioral states: one where collective locomotion consistently occurs, another where blobs fall apart, and finally one where worms cling so strongly to each other that blobs cannot move," said Orit Peleg, co-author of the study published in Frontiers in Physics.