News

A new study by University of Maryland astronomers shows that comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (BB), the largest comet ever discovered, was active long before previously thought, meaning the ice within it is vaporizing and forming an envelope of dust and vapor known as a coma. Only one active comet has been observed farther from the sun, and it was much smaller than comet BB.

A new University of Maryland study conducted in a neighboring Prince George’s County community suggests that creating safer Black and Latinx neighborhoods doesn’t require more policing, but more investment. The research examined outcomes of a four-year crime reduction project in Langley Park, demonstrating that more streetlights, mental health services, youth outreach and public art are as important—and possibly more effective—at boosting community safety in immigrant neighborhoods than programs designed to build trust with local police.

It’s hard to overstate the environmental importance of trees, which among other functions pull climate change-inducing carbon from the atmosphere, clean the air of toxins and help control runoff. While it can likewise be hard to quantify some of these effects, a new study by University of Maryland researchers helps clarify the role of urban trees in mitigating stormwater flows, and finds that even isolated trees lining a street or planted in a park may have a significant effect.