Heavens

Before you swat away the next fruit fly, consider instead just how similar its biological complexities are to our own. In a study published in PLOS ONE, researchers led by Deborah Kimbrell, Ph.D., at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and their collaborators, studied how microorganisms may alter fruit flies' immunity in space and in hypergravity, or increased gravity. The article is titled "Toll Mediated Infection Response Is Altered by Gravity and Spaceflight in Drosophila."

Powerful thunderstorms in some areas of newborn Tropical Depression 08W in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean were dropping heavy rainfall on July 3 as NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed overhead.

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Arthur on July 2 at 2:50 p.m. EDT on July 2, it saw a cloud-covered eye as the storm was on the way to becoming a hurricane.

A new report, Technological Breakthroughs for Scientific Progress (TECHBREAK), has been published today by the European Science Foundation.

Scientists have identified a new mutant plant that accumulates excessive amounts of starch, which could help to boost crop yields and increase the productivity of plants grown for biofuels.

Leading international environmental and marine scientists today published a joint call for societies to introduce and enforce use zoning of Earth's coastal ocean waters, mirroring approaches commonly used to manage and protect land resources.

Tropical Storm Arthur appears to be ramping up, and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite spotted heavy rainfall occurring around the storm's center on July 1 when it was centered over the Bahamas.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured a picture of Tropical Storm Douglas as it began moving into cooler waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Those cooler waters, coupled with drier air are expected to bring about the storm's demise, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Ecologist Thomas Mueller uses satellite data to study how the patterns of plant growth relate to the movement of caribou and gazelle. The research sparked an idea: Would the footprint of human activity show up in the data?

Mueller, of the University of Maryland in College Park (now at the Biodiversity and Climate Research Center in Frankfurt) teamed up with university and NASA colleagues to find out. Their new analysis shows that on a global scale, the presence of people corresponds to more plant productivity, or growth.

In cosmology, cold dark matter is a form of matter the particles of which move slowly in comparison with light, and interact weakly with electromagnetic radiation. It is estimated that only a minute fraction of the matter in the Universe is baryonic matter, which forms stars, planets and living organisms. The rest, comprising over 80%, is dark matter and energy.

This image was taken as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems programme [1] using the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. It shows Gum 15, located in the constellation of Vela (The Sails), some 3000 light-years from Earth [2]. This glowing cloud is a striking example of an HII region [3].

The net-zero energy test house at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in suburban Washington, D.C., not only absorbed winter's best shot, it came out on top, reaching its one-year anniversary on July 1 with enough surplus energy to power an electric car for about 1,440 miles.*

Watch the YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJZrOhPk4kg

Friends may be the key to stopping their mates drink walking, a risky behaviour that kills on average two Australians every week, a QUT study has found.

Researcher Dr Ioni Lewis, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q), said in a survey of young people aged 17 to 25, friends were the strongest influence on their intentions to drink walk.

"Drink walking, or walking while intoxicated in a public place, is linked to increased risk of injury and fatality," Dr Lewis said.

COLLEGE STATION, TX – Why is it important to understand a tree's carbon footprint? The authors of a new study say this vital information can help consumers appreciate the true benefits of planting trees in landscapes, and can also help differentiate horticultural products in the marketplace. According to researchers Charles R. Hall and Dewayne Ingram, authors of a study in the May 2014 issue of HortScience, a plant's carbon footprint is an "impact indicator of primary interest" to growers and consumers because it quantifies the global warming potential of the product.

At first glance, Titan has little in common with Earth. The largest moon of Saturn, temperatures on Titan's surface dip nearly 300 F below zero, its seas slosh with liquid methane, and its sky is a murky shade of creamsicle.

And yet, fresh analysis of mysterious features spotted on the moon indicates that it experiences one of the same global processes that is important here on Earth.