Heavens

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite spotted Tropical Storm Omais just off-shore, and east of the big island of Japan.

On Aug. 7 at 11:05 p.m. EDT (Aug.8 at 3:05 a.m. UTC) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible light image of Omais in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The VIIRS image showed that the bulk of Omais' thunderstorms were north and west of the center of circulation. Omais' center was visible in the image, and the southeastern quadrant seems to be devoid of thunderstorm development.

DENVER - Researchers have identified a simple intervention that may help reduce levels of violence in maximum security prisons. Inmates who viewed nature videos showed reduced levels of aggression and were less likely to be disciplined than those in similar cellblocks, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association's 124th Annual Convention.

Results provide evidence for long and varied history of water in Mars Gale Crater

Sulphur and iron rich groundwater in Gale Crater was habitable by Earth standards

On Aug. 4 at 3:20 p.m. EDT (1920 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Ivette. The image showed strong storms surrounded the low-level center of circulation and a thick band of powerful thunderstorms extended south of the center, while a fragmented band was north of the center.

New research from North Carolina State University finds that major volcanic activity on the planet Mercury most likely ended about 3.5 billion years ago. These findings add insight into the geological evolution of Mercury in particular, and what happens when rocky planets cool and contract in general.

Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite showed powerful thunderstorms in Tropical Storm Omais are wrapping around the center as it continues to consolidate.

Engineers from the University of Bristol have developed a new shape-changing metamaterial using Kirigami, which is the ancient Japanese art of cutting and folding paper to obtain 3D shapes.

Metamaterials are a class of material engineered to produce properties that don't occur naturally. Currently metamaterials are used to make artificial electromagnetic and vibration absorbers and high-performance sensors. Kirigami can be applied to transform two-dimensional sheet materials into complex three-dimensional shapes with a broader choice of geometries than 'classical' origami.

It's summertime, and the fields of Yolo County are filled with ranks of sunflowers, dutifully watching the rising sun. At the nearby University of California, Davis, plant biologists have now discovered how sunflowers use their internal circadian clock, acting on growth hormones, to follow the sun during the day as they grow.

Researchers have provided geological evidence for China's "Great Flood," a disastrous event on the Yellow River from which the Xia dynasty is thought to have been born. The flood occurred in roughly 1920 BC, they say, which is several centuries later than traditionally thought - meaning the Xia dynasty, and its renowned Emperor Yu, likely had a later start than Chinese historians have thought, too. According to Chinese legend, Emperor Yu gained notoriety through his handling of the country's Great Flood.

The seventh tropical cyclone of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean season formed, and infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite showed powerful thunderstorms persisting in the storm's center.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Young children with multiple disabilities who are enrolled in Head Start have better literacy, reading and math scores than children who aren't in the federally funded program, indicates a new study by Michigan State University researchers.

Head Start provides early education services to nearly 1 million low-income children up to age 5 every year, and federal requirements require that children with disabilities comprise at least 10 percent of its enrollment.

UPDATE, Aug. 4, 2016 (3:26 p.m. EDT) - Two of SDO's three science instruments - the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, or HMI, and the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, or EVE - are online and sending science data to Earth. The SDO team is currently working on getting its third science instrument - the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, or AIA - back online.

DENVER - When it comes to personal finances, impulsiveness and materialism can lead to bad decisions and a failure to save enough, but research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association suggests that when people focus more on the future, they tend to be less impulsive, regardless of their level of financial literacy.

NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) is releasing the video "Omics: Advancing Personalized Medicine from Space to Earth", to highlight its Twins Study, coinciding with National Twins Days. This is the last video in a series of eight which explores space through you by using omics to look more closely at the unique health of an individual.

• Pulsars can be used to obtain position along a particular direction in space to an accuracy of 2km
• Current large ground-based technology is limited by cost and number of spacecraft it can track
• New method operates autonomously, increasing the number and capabilities of space missions