Heavens

Greener neighborhoods lead to better birth outcomes, new research shows

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Mothers who live in neighborhoods with plenty of grass, trees or other green vegetation are more likely to deliver at full term and their babies are born at higher weights, compared to mothers who live in urban areas that aren't as green, a new study shows.

The findings held up even when results were adjusted for factors such as neighborhood income, exposure to air pollution, noise, and neighborhood walkability, according to researchers at Oregon State University and the University of British Columbia.

Breast vs. bottle feeding in rhesus monkeys

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Infant rhesus monkeys receiving different diets early in life develop distinct immune systems that persist months after weaning, a study by researchers from UC Davis, the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) at UC Davis and UC San Francisco have shown. The study, which compares breast- and bottle-fed infants, appears online September 3 in Science Translational Medicine.

Nano-pea pod model widens electronics applications

New York | Heidelberg, 4 September 2014 -- Periodic chain-like nanostructures are widely used in nanoelectronics. Typically, chain elements include the likes of quantum rings, quantum dots, or quantum graphs. Such a structure enables electrons to move along the chain, in theory, indefinitely. The trouble is that some applications require localised electrons—these are no longer in a continuous energy spectrum but in a discrete energy spectrum, instead.

NASA's HS3 hurricane mission and Terra satellite take on Tropical Storm Dolly

NASA has Tropical Storm Dolly covered by satellite and the remotely piloted Global Hawk aircraft. Both captured data on Dolly before it made landfall in eastern Mexico.

Researchers discover new clues to determining the solar cycle

Approximately every 11 years, the sun undergoes a complete personality change from quiet and calm to violently active. The height of the sun's activity, known as solar maximum, is a time of numerous sunspots, punctuated with profound eruptions that send radiation and solar particles out into the far reaches of space.

NASA sees Tropical Storm Norbert affecting Mexico's west coast

Tropical Storm Norbert has now triggered Tropical Storm Warnings for Mexico's West Coast, and NASA's Terra satellite showed how close it is to land.

On Wednesday, September 3, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a Tropical Storm Warning from La Paz to Santa Fe, Mexico. There is also a Tropical Storm Watch in effect from north of Santa Fe northward to Cabo San Lazaro, Mexico.

Trouble starting a task? Perception of time may be the problem, study finds

Completing tasks and crossing them off the ubiquitous "to-do" list is a great feeling. But what about those nagging tasks we keep putting off? What's the difference between those jobs that get completed and those that do not?

The answer may be our perception of time, according to new research by Yanping Tu, a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

How much gravity is enough?

TORONTO, September 3, 2014 – Keeping upright in a low-gravity environment is not easy, and NASA documents abound with examples of astronauts falling on the lunar surface. Now, a new study by an international team of researchers led by York University professors Laurence Harris and Michael Jenkin, published today in PLOS ONE, suggests that the reason for all these moon mishaps might be because its gravity isn't sufficient to provide astronauts with unambiguous information on which way is "up".

Hawaii scientist maps, names Laniakea, our home supercluster of galaxies

University of Hawaii at Manoa astronomer R. Brent Tully, who recently shared the 2014 Gruber Cosmology Prize and the 2014 Victor Ambartsumian International Prize, has led an international team of astronomers in defining the contours of the immense supercluster of galaxies containing our own Milky Way. They have named the supercluster "Laniakea," meaning "immense heaven" in Hawaiian. The paper explaining this work is the cover story of the September 4 issue of the prestigious journal Nature.

Newly identified galactic supercluster is home to the Milky Way

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope (GBT) -- among other telescopes -- have determined that our own Milky Way galaxy is part of a newly identified ginormous supercluster of galaxies, which they have dubbed "Laniakea," which means "immense heaven" in Hawaiian.

This discovery clarifies the boundaries of our galactic neighborhood and establishes previously unrecognized linkages among various galaxy clusters in the local Universe.

Fingerprints for freight items

Thousands of freight items are shipped by plane every day, around seventy percent of them in airliners. Stringent controls are supposed to prevent hazardous substances such as explosives from being smuggled on board. Screening procedures, such as x-ray scanning of freight, are time consuming and costly and have to be repeated in the event of suspicious circumstances. Easily verifiable features that verify that a freight item is "secure" have been lacking until now.

Cosmic forecast: Dark clouds will give way to sunshine

Lupus 4 is located about 400 light-years away from Earth, straddling the constellations of Lupus (The Wolf) and Norma (The Carpenter's Square). The cloud is one of several affiliated dark clouds found in a loose star cluster called the Scorpius–Centaurus OB association. An OB association is a relatively young, yet widely dispersed grouping of stars [1]. The stars likely had a common origin in a gigantic cloud of material.

NASA satellites calling here you come again, Tropical Storm Dolly

Tropical Storm Dolly visited Mexico six years ago, and NASA satellite data is calling "Here you come again," reminiscent of the famous country singer's hit song, as another storm named Dolly heads for a second landfall in Mexico.

Humiliation tops list of mistreatment toward med students

Each year thousands of students enroll in medical schools across the country. But just how many feel they've been disrespected, publicly humiliated, ridiculed or even harassed by their superiors at some point during their medical education?

Recently, researchers at Michigan State University were the first to analyze 12 years worth of national survey data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, questioning graduating students about their medical school experience during the clinical portion of their education.

INFORMS study on Iron Dome asks: What was its impact?

A new study published by The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) examines the strengths and weaknesses of the Iron Dome system, which Israeli authorities have credited with saving lives during the recent conflict with Hamas.

Modeling Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense and Israel's Iron Dome System is by Michael J. Armstrong of the Goodman School of Business, Brock University, in Ontario, Canada. It appears in the Articles in Advance section of the INFORMS journal Operations Research.