Heavens

Once a hurricane, Henriette weakened to a depression in the Central Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Aug. 11 and dissipated by Aug. 12 as two other low pressure areas continued to struggle. NASA's TRMM satellite noticed that Henriette's weakening trend began on Aug. 8.

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite flew over Henriette again on August 9, 2013 at 0122 UTC (~ 4 p.m. local time). During a TRMM orbit overpass on August 8, 2013 at 1709 UTC. (1:09 a.m. EDT), Henriette's eye that was visible but disappeared from view on Aug. 9.

Four NASA satellites provided data on Super-Typhoon Utor before and after the storm made landfall in the Philippines. Satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua, Terra, TRMM and CloudSat satellites captured information about the powerful Super-Typhoon on Aug. 11 and 12. That data was used by forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center before and after Utor hit the Philippines.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Idaho's two large fires on August 10, 2013. The fires consist of the Pony Complex fire (left) and the Beaver Creek Complex fire (right). Both sets of fires were started by lightning strikes on Aug. 7 and 8.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Designing products for the developing world can be a hit-or-miss endeavor: While there may be a dire need for products addressing problems, such as access to clean water, sanitation and electricity, designing a product that consumers will actually buy is a complicated process. More often than not, such products — even those that are distributed at no charge — go unused due to poor quality, unreliability or differences in cultural expectations.

Scientists would love to know which forces created our universe some 14 billion years ago. How could – due to a breaking of symmetry – matter, and thus stars and galaxies, be created from an originally symmetrical universe in which the same conditions prevailed everywhere shortly after the Big Bang. Now, the Big Bang is an experiment that cannot be repeated. But the principle of symmetry and its disturbance can definitely be investigated under controlled laboratory conditions.

The Black Forest wildfire this June was one of the most destructive in Colorado history, in terms of homes lost. It started close to houses and quickly spread through the ponderosa pine canopies on the rolling hills near Colorado Springs. The wildfire destroyed 500 homes in the first 48 hours and killed two people.

Hot, dry and windy weather played a role in that wildfire, said Don Smurthwaite, spokesperson with the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho.

Tropical Depression 11W formed in the western North Pacific Ocean and appears to be tracking toward Luzon, in the Northern Philippines. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of the tropical depression as it continues to organize and strengthen.

On Aug. 8 at 1853 UTC (2:53 p.m. EDT) NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed some cloud top temperatures in bands of thunderstorms and around the center of Tropical Depression 11W were as cold as -63F/-52C, indicating strong storms.

The Central and Eastern Pacific Oceans continue to be active on Aug. 9, as Hurricane Henriette weakens and two other low pressure systems continue developing. All three systems were captured on the one panoramic satellite image.

The process cells use to 'swallow' up nutrients, hormones and other signals from their environment – called endocytosis – can play a crucial role in shaping the cells themselves, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found. The study, published today in Nature Communications, could help explain how the cells on your skin become different from those that line your stomach or intestine.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- By tracking the previously unknown movements of a set of specialized cells, Whitehead Institute scientists are shedding new light on how the immune system mounts a successful defense against hostile, ever-changing invaders.

Gemini Observatory's latest instrument, a powerful infrared camera and spectrograph at Gemini South, reveals its potential in a series of striking on-sky commissioning images released today.

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have solved a 40-year mystery on the origin of the Magellanic Stream, a long ribbon of gas stretching nearly halfway around our Milky Way galaxy.

WASHINGTON, DC—A lot of people mix up the ozone hole and global warming, believing the hole is a major cause of the world's increasing average temperature. Scientists, on the other hand, have long attributed a small cooling effect to the ozone shortage in the hole.

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have solved the 40-year-old mystery of the origin of the Magellanic Stream, a long ribbon of gas stretching nearly halfway around the Milky Way. New Hubble observations reveal that most of this stream was stripped from the Small Magellanic Cloud some two billion years ago, with a smaller portion originating more recently from its larger neighbour.

IDAHO FALLS — Modernizing nuclear power plants to help extend their operating lifetimes is no small task. But the endeavor offers an opportunity to improve control-room design and layout.