Heavens

Tropical Cyclone Colin is not as tightly wrapped as it was a day ago. Satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua and TRMM satellites show Colin is not as organized as it was, and most of the strongest precipitation was occurring on the southern side of the storm and waning.

On January 14, 2014 at 0900 UTC, Colin had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots/46.0 mph/74.0 kph. It was far from land, and centered 1,171 nautical miles/1,348 miles/2,169 km from Diego Garcia near 26.7 south and 73.3 east. Colin was moving to the south at 9 knots/10.3 mph/16.67 kph.

What's likely to be the "next big thing?" What might be the most fertile areas for innovation? Where should countries and companies invest their limited research funds? What technology areas are a company's competitors pursuing?

The low pressure area designated as System 94S has been trying to organize off the northern coast of Australia's Northern Territory for a couple of days. NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead on January 14 and saw some areas of heavy rainfall as the low appears more organized.

Solar energy has long been used as a clean alternative to fossil fuels such as coal and oil, but it could only be harnessed during the day when the sun's rays were strongest. Now researchers led by Tom Meyer at the Energy Frontier Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have built a system that converts the sun's energy not into electricity but hydrogen fuel and stores it for later use, allowing us to power our devices long after the sun goes down.

Researchers at Georgia Tech studying the burgeoning phenomenon of crowdfunding have learned that the language used in online fundraising hold surprisingly predictive power about the success of such campaigns.

As part of their study of more than 45,000 projects on Kickstarter, Assistant Professor Eric Gilbert and doctoral candidate Tanushree Mitra reveal dozens of phrases that pay and a few dozen more that may signal the likely failure of a crowd-sourced effort.

URBANA, Ill. – When children and child-care providers sit around a table together at mealtime, passing bowls and serving themselves, children learn to recognize when they are full better than they do when food is pre-plated for them, reports a new University of Illinois study of feeding practices of two- to five-year-old children in 118 child-care centers.

Tropical Cyclone Colin continued moving through the Southern Indian Ocean on January 13 while NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead and calculated the rates in which rain was falling throughout the storm.

Tropical Cyclone Ian has been battered by wind shear and infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite revealed that the bulk of the precipitation has been pushed east and southeast of the storm's center.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – One in three women suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD), a range of symptoms which include bladder and bowel problems as well as pelvic pain, according to the American Urogynecologic Society. Now, University of Missouri researchers have demonstrated that a comprehensive, nonsurgical treatment significantly improves symptoms in women with PFD.

Like lifting a giant veil, the near-infrared vision of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope uncovers a dazzling new view deep inside the Tarantula Nebula. Hubble reveals a glittering treasure trove of more than 800,000 stars and protostars embedded inside the nebula.

These observations were obtained as part of the Hubble Tarantula Treasury Program.

When complete, the program will produce a large catalog of stellar properties, which will allow astronomers to study a wide range of important topics related to star formation.

A photogenic and favorite target for amateur astronomers, the full beauty of nearby barred spiral galaxy M83 is unveiled in all of its glory in this Hubble Space Telescope mosaic image. The vibrant magentas and blues reveal the galaxy is ablaze with star formation. The galaxy, also known as the Southern Pinwheel, lies 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra.

The first powerful "X-class" solar flare of 2014, in association with another solar phenomenon, a giant cloud of solar particles known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), erupted from the sun on Tuesday, sending radiation and particles speeding toward Earth and disrupting operations on the ground.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 9, 2014 -- A team led by SF State astronomer Stephen Kane has discovered a new giant planet located in a star system within the Pisces constellation. The planet, perhaps twice the mass of Jupiter, could help researchers learn more about how extrasolar planets are formed.

The hardening of the arteries, also called atherosclerosis, that can lead to heart attack or stroke. has also been linked to autoimmune disorders. It has not been clear why these diseases are related, but a study published January 9th by Cell Press in the journal Immunity reveals that a molecule that causes atherosclerosis also activates white blood cells called T cells, causing clinical symptoms of autoimmune disease to worsen in mice. The findings shed light on the tight link between autoimmunity and atherosclerosis, opening new avenues for the treatment of autoimmune disorders.

This new Hubble image is the best-ever view of a cosmic creepy-crawly known as the Tarantula Nebula, a region full of star clusters, glowing gas, and dark dust. Astronomers are exploring and mapping this nebula as part of the Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project, in a bid to try to understand its starry anatomy.