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Astronomers Report First Observational Evidence for Vacuum Birefringence

This artist’s view shows how the light coming from the surface of a strongly magnetic neutron star (left) becomes linearly polarized as it travels through the vacuum of space close to the star on its way to the observer on Earth (right). The polarization of the observed light in the extremely strong magnetic field suggests that the empty space around the neutron star is subject to a quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence. The magnetic and electric field directions of the light rays are shown by the red and blue lines. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.
Nov 30, 2016 by News Staff

By studying the light emitted from the very dense and strongly magnetic neutron star RX J1856.5-3754, a team of astronomers has found the strongest observational indications yet of vacuum birefringence, a strange quantum effect first predicted nearly 80 years ago. Color composite photo of the sky field around RX J1856.5-3754 and the related cone-shaped nebula. RX J1856.5-3754 is exactly in the centre of the image. The trail of an asteroid is seen...

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Super-resolution microscopy of GapmeR co-localization with SNX5 protein -- a member of the sorting nexin family of proteins -- in human T-cells. Image credit: Fazil, M. H. U. T. et al, doi: 10.1038/srep37721.

Researchers Develop New Method for Silencing Specific Genes in Human T-Cells

Nov 30, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, has developed a novel technique for gene silencing in human T-lymphocytes...

Planets form around a young star in this artist’s concept. Image credit: David A. Hardy, www.astroart.org / NASA.

Solar System’s Birth was Triggered by Nearby Low-Mass Supernova, Researchers Say

Nov 29, 2016 by News Staff

A low-mass core-collapse supernova catalyzed the birth of our Solar System, according to a team of scientists led by University of Minnesota researcher. Planets...

Crystals of cesium platinide hydride 4Cs2Pt*CsH. Image credit: Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

Researchers Synthesize First Intermetallic Double Salt with Platinum

Nov 28, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has synthesized and accurately characterized cesium platinide hydride (4Cs2Pt*CsH),...

This artist’s impression shows a super-Earth orbiting a red dwarf star. Image credit: NASA.

K2-3d: Ground-Based Telescope Observes Super-Earth Transiting Bright Star

Nov 28, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of astronomers in Japan has conducted the first ground-based transit observation of K2-3d, a super-Earth within the habitable zone around a bright...

Neuroscientists Say Simple Mathematical Logic Underlies Complex Brain Computations

Nov 25, 2016 by News Staff

According to Dr. Joe Tsien, a neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, the brain’s basic computational algorithm is organized...

Hen Harrier is Actually Two Different Species

Nov 24, 2016 by News Staff

New research confirms that the hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), a medium-sized bird of prey found in parts of North America and Eurasia, is two different...

DNA. Image credit: Qimono.

Only Half of Chromosome is DNA, New Study Reveals

Nov 24, 2016 by News Staff

DNA makes up only half of the material inside chromosomes, according to a new study published in the journal Molecular Cell. Up to 47% of their structure...

Artist’s concept of ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ice-Quake Echoes Could Lift Lid on Oceans within Pluto and Europa

Nov 22, 2016 by James Romero

Measuring outer solar system ice-quakes could identify if Europa’s subsurface ocean is an oxygen-rich, leading candidates for life, or uncover the origin...

Virgo I: New Dwarf Galaxy Discovered in Orbit around Milky Way

Nov 21, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have identified a new ultra-faint dwarf satellite companion of our Milky Way Galaxy. A schematic showing the locations of Virgo I and other...

Caenorhabditis elegans. Image credit: Bob Goldstein / University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

LITE-1: Researchers Discover New Type of Photoreceptor

Nov 21, 2016 by News Staff

Scientists have discovered a new type of photoreceptor protein that is about 50 times more efficient at capturing light than the rhodopsin, a protein that...

An artist’s concept of Gliese 536b orbiting its star, 33 light-years from Earth. Image credit: Gabriel Perez / Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.

Gliese 536b: Super-Earth Found Orbiting Nearby Star

Nov 18, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has discovered a super-Earth planet in orbit around Gliese 536, a red dwarf star approximately 33 light-years away. An...

Using colorized topography, Mercury’s ‘great valley’ (dark blue) and Rembrandt impact basin (purple, upper right) are revealed in this high-resolution digital elevation model merged with an image mosaic obtained by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington / DLR / Smithsonian Institution.

Planetary Researchers Spot ‘Great Valley’ on Mercury

Nov 17, 2016 by News Staff

Using images from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, planetary researchers have discovered a...

This cutaway image of Pluto shows a section through the area of Sputnik Planitia, with dark blue representing a subsurface ocean and light blue for the frozen crust. Image credit: Pam Engebretson.

New Horizons Data Suggest Viscous Ocean Lies beneath Pluto’s Heart-Shaped Region

Nov 17, 2016 by News Staff

A cold, slushy ocean lying deep beneath Pluto’s bright, heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio is the best explanation for features revealed by NASA’s New Horizons...

Scanning electron micrograph of HIV particles infecting a human T cell. Image credit: National Institutes of Health.

Newly Identified Antibody Neutralizes 98% of HIV Strains

Nov 16, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr. Mark Connors of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has identified an antibody from an HIV-infected...

Sampling of a pine trunk with a hand-powered saw; the tree protrudes from the organic-rich sediment ridge seen to the left and is partly covered by sand. Image credit: Arne Sjöström.

Swedish Researchers Find Submerged Mesolithic Settlement

Nov 15, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers headed by Lund University’s Professor Dan Hammarlund has uncovered an exceptionally well-preserved Mesolithic site off the Baltic...

The Hellas depression. Image credit: Joseph S. Levy et al.

Concentrically-Fractured Depression on Mars Could Be Place to Look for Signs of Microbial Life

Nov 14, 2016 by News Staff

An unusual depression in the northern Hellas basin on Mars could be a new place to look for life on the planet, says a team of planetary researchers. The...

Transmission electron micrograph of Zika virus. Virus particles are 40 nm in diameter, with an outer envelope, and an inner dense core. Image credit: Cynthia Goldsmith / CDC.

Newly Discovered Antibody ‘Neutralizes’ Zika Virus, Shows Mouse Study

Nov 11, 2016 by News Staff

A research team led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center scientist Prof. James Crowe, Jr., has isolated a human monoclonal antibody that in a mouse...

An artistic reconstruction, showing the last-ditch struggle of Tongtianlong limosus as it was mired in mud. Image credit: Zhao Chuang.

Tongtianlong limosus: New Species of Feathered Dinosaur Discovered in China

Nov 10, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of oviraptorid dinosaur has been discovered in southern China dating back approximately 69 million years to the latest Cretaceous period,...

The brain-spine interface developed for this study uses a brain implant like this one to detect spiking activity in the brain’s motor cortex. Seen here, a microelectrode array and a silicon model of a primate’s brain, as well as a pulse generator used to stimulate electrodes implanted on the spinal cord. Image credit: Alain Herzog / EPFL.

Neuroscientists Restore Leg Movement in Nonhuman Primates

Nov 10, 2016 by News Staff

A collaboration of neuroscientists from the United States, China and Europe has used a wireless ‘brain-spine interface’ to bypass spinal cord injuries...

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