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    "story_id": "mp-2026-08-06-019",
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    "headline": "One Transfer Efficiency Could Not Fit Both Populations",
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    "dek": "Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.",
    "summary": "Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.",
    "body_text": "One-dimensional binary grids compare conservative transfer with a spin-limited prescription. The authors report contact fractions rising from 11 to 62 percent and mergers from 16 to 38 percent, concluding that one fixed efficiency cannot explain both Algol systems and stripped-star populations. The accepted paper is a population-model result, not a census update.",
    "why_it_matters": "Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.",
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      "The authors report contact fractions rising from 11 to 62 percent and mergers from 16 to 38 percent, concluding that one fixed efficiency cannot explain both Algol systems and stripped-star populations.",
      "The accepted paper is a population-model result, not a census update."
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        "text": "Binary-star grids changed contact and merger rates sharply when accretion was limited by stellar spin.",
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        "qualification": "The authors report contact fractions rising from 11 to 62 percent and mergers from 16 to 38 percent, concluding that one fixed efficiency cannot explain both Algol systems and stripped-star populations."
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    "tags": [
      "binary stars",
      "mass transfer",
      "stellar evolution"
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    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-08-06-021",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2608.05001",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
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    "title": "One Transfer Efficiency Could Not Fit Both Populations",
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