News Archive for December 2019

This composite image shows thousands of star-forming galaxies in radio light and the MeerKAT radio telescope array in the South African Karoo semidesert. The brightest spots are luminous radio galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. The myriad faint dots are distant star-forming galaxies like our own Milky Way, too faint to have been detected before now. Because radio waves travel at the speed of light, this image is a time machine that samples the star formation history of the Universe. Image credit: SARAO / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

MeerKAT Radio Telescope Spots Thousands of Star-Forming Galaxies

Dec 25, 2019 by News Staff

A new radio image from the MeerKAT telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cape Town, South Africa, presents a wide portrait of the...

Giant cavities in the X-ray emitting intracluster medium (shown in blue, as observed by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory) have been carved out by a black hole outburst. X-ray data are overlaid on top of optical data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (in red/orange), where the central galaxy that is likely hosting the culprit supermassive black hole is also visible. Image credit: Calzadilla et al.

Astronomers Witness Extremely Powerful Black Hole Outburst in Distant Galaxy Cluster

Dec 25, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have spotted an unusual outburst activity in the center of SPT-CLJ0528-5300 (SPT-0528 for short),...

Changes in the spectral content of ambient light are detectable to most mammals as a blue shift in the color of twilight. Mouland et al show that these blue colors suppress circadian responses to light, supporting robust circadian entrainment when environmental conditions render light intensity a weak or unreliable indicator of time of day. Image credit: Johannes Plenio.

Blue Light is Less Disruptive to Sleep than Previously Thought

Dec 25, 2019 by News Staff

Using dim, cooler lights in the evening and warmer lights in the day may be more beneficial to our health, according to a new study in mice from University...

Märtin et al define the molecular identity of striatal projections neurons, focusing on the characterization of the patch and matrix compartments; genetic labeling of mu opioid receptor (Oprm1)-expressing neurons reveals the identity of neuron subtypes, and also establishes spatial markers for the identification of subregions in striatum. Image credit: Märtin et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.11.096.

Scientists Create Molecular Map of Striatum

Dec 24, 2019 by News Staff

Striatum, the inner part of the brain, is considered central to decision-making and the development of various addictions. In mouse models and with methods...

This image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows NGC 2264. The newly-revealed protostars appear as pink and red specks toward the center of the image. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / P.S. Teixeira, Center for Astrophysics.

Spitzer Space Telescope Sees Protostars in NGC 2264

Dec 24, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a photo taken by its Spitzer Space Telescope that shows numerous newborn stars, or protostars, in NGC 2264. This image from NASA’s...

An artist’s impression of the gas-rich debris disk around 49 Ceti. Image credit: NAOJ.

ALMA Finds Rare Carbon Isotope in 49 Ceti’s Debris Disk

Dec 24, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected radio emission from two carbon isotopes (12C and 13C) in a huge...

An artist’s impression of an adult and a juvenile Dendromaia unamakiensis. Image credit: Henry Sharpe.

305-Million-Year-Old Fossil Shows Parent Caring for Its Offspring

Dec 24, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A Carboniferous-period fossil found in Nova Scotia, Canada, shows an ancient creature called a varanopid synapsid (family Varanopidae) caring for its young. An...

Conventional ultrasound verifies soft- and hard-tissue features detected in laser ultrasound (LUS) imaging on the forearm: (a) single time trace from LUS imaging of a volunteer’s forearm; (b) photograph of a volunteer’s forearm region, imaged using LUS and conventional ultrasound; a green tracking laser from the LDV is also visible; (c) reconstructed LUS image of a volunteer’s forearm with multiple visible tissue layers; (d) matching conventional ultrasound image of the volunteer’s forearm using a GE Logiq E9 system and a 9 MHz linear probe confirming features detected in the LUS image. Image credit: Zhang et al, doi: 10.1038/s41377-019-0229-8.

Novel Laser Ultrasound Technique Doesn’t Require Contact with Patient’s Body

Dec 24, 2019 by News Staff

The noncontact laser ultrasound technique, developed by a team of MIT engineers, leverages an eye- and skin-safe laser system to remotely image the inside...

Verigin et al found that self-reported good liars (i) may be responsible for a disproportionate amount of lies in daily life, (ii) tend to tell inconsequential lies, mostly to colleagues and friends, and generally via face-to-face interactions, and (iii) highly rely on verbal strategies of deception, most commonly reporting to embed their lies into truthful information, and to keep the statement clear, simple and plausible. Image credit: Ryan McGuire.

New Study Identifies Key Characteristics of Expert Liars

Dec 23, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, good liars lean towards telling inconsequential lies, mostly to colleagues and friends, and...

A faint gamma-ray glow around the Geminga pulsar. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M. Di Mauro.

Fermi Finds Enormous Gamma-Ray Halo around Nearby Pulsar

Dec 23, 2019 by News Staff

Using data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a gamma-ray glow around Geminga,...

An artist’s depiction of the ornithopod dinosaur Weewarrasaurus pobeni tending its nest. Image credit: University of New England.

Paleontologists Uncover Fossilized Remains of Baby Ornithopod Dinosaurs in Australia

Dec 23, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the 100-million-year-old (Cretaceous period) fossilized bones of perinatal non-iguanodontian ornithopods in the Griman Creek...

An artist’s impression of the warm Jupiter TOI-677b and its host star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

TESS Discovers New Warm Jupiter

Dec 23, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has discovered a warm giant exoplanet orbiting the bright star TOI-677. An artist’s impression of the warm Jupiter...

This Hubble image shows ESO 021-G004, a spiral galaxy located approximately 130 million light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Rosario et al.

Hubble Space Telescope Looks at Active Spiral Galaxy

Dec 23, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a beautiful image of a spiral galaxy called ESO 021-G004. This Hubble image shows ESO 021-G004, a spiral...

Illustration of Isityumzi mlomomde (lower right) and other Late Devonian freshwater ecosystem creatures including the early tetrapod Unzantsia. Image credit: Maggie Newman.

365-Million-Year-Old Lungfish Unearthed in South Africa

Dec 23, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of lungfish that lived approximately 365 million years ago (Famennian stage of the Late Devonian period) has been identified from...

This image, taken by Spitzer’s Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) instrument, shows the Perseus molecular cloud. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Observes Perseus Molecular Cloud

Dec 20, 2019 by News Staff

NASA has released a stunning image of the Perseus molecular cloud, a giant stellar nursery about 600 light-years away in the northern constellation of...

Study: Iron Crystals Accumulate and Compact into Thick Layer on Top of Earth’s Inner Core

Dec 20, 2019 by News Staff

Tiny iron particles fall from Earth’s molten outer core and pile on top of the planet’s solid inner core, according to new research published in the...

This illustration depicts Kepler-51 and its three giant planets. Image credit: NASA / ESA / L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player & F. Summers, STScI.

Kepler-51 is Home to Three Super-Puff Exoplanets

Dec 20, 2019 by Natali Anderson

Kepler-51 is a 500-million-year-old G-type star located 2,615 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. New observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble...

This illustration depicts a gas halo surrounding a quasar in the early Universe. The quasar, in orange, has two powerful jets and a supermassive black hole at its center, which is surrounded by a dusty disk. The halo of glowing hydrogen is represented in blue. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

VLT Spots Huge Halos of Cool Hydrogen around Active Galaxies in Early Universe

Dec 20, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have spotted enormous hydrogen halos around 12 quasars — a type of active galaxy which shines...

This is an artist's reconstruction of Homo erectus. Image credit: Yale University.

Last Population of Homo erectus Survived in Central Java until 108,000 Years Ago

Dec 20, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has pinpointed the first comprehensive age for the last known occurrence of the early hominin species Homo erectus. This...

World’s Oldest Fossil Forest Unearthed

Dec 19, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the extensive root system of 386-million-year-old (Devonian period) primitive trees in a sandstone quarry near Cairo, New...

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