Scientists have turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand why some dead stellar remnants called white dwarf stars explode.
These energetic explosions, called Type Ia supernovas, could be responsible for forging heavy elements and seeding them through the cosmos. It is these elements that can go on to become the building blocks of future stars, planets, or even life. Emissions associated with Type Ia supernovas are also so characteristic that astronomers refer to these events as "standard candles" and use them to measure vast cosmic distances.
