Heavens

Using infrared data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, an international team of astronomers has imaged a giant planet around the bright star GJ 504. Several times the mass of Jupiter and similar in size, the new world, dubbed GJ 504b, is the lowest-mass planet ever detected around a star like the sun using direct imaging techniques.

Tropical Depression Gil has been weakening for a couple of days, while Tropical Storm Henrietta appears to be strengthening in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured both storms in one image that clearly showed Henrietta was the larger storm, and NASA's Aqua satellite peered under Henrietta's clouds to reveal a developing eye.

More forms of mercury can be converted to deadly methylmercury than previously thought, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Geoscience. The discovery provides scientists with another piece of the mercury puzzle, bringing them one step closer to understanding the challenges associated with mercury cleanup.

DURHAM, N.C. -- The painful, red skin that comes from too much time in the sun is caused by a molecule abundant in the skin's epidermis, a new study shows.

Blocking this molecule, called TRPV4, greatly protects against the painful effects of sunburn. The results were published the week of Aug. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Early Edition online. The research, which was conducted in mouse models and human skin samples, could yield a way to combat sunburn and possibly several other causes of pain.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Geologists from Brown University have developed a promising new explanation for a mysterious type of crater on the surface on Mars.

The researchers asked healthy people to solve a math problem only when the correct answer to a yes or no question was shown to them on a screen. The mental load associated with solving that problem caused an automatic increase in pupil size, which the researchers showed they could measure and translate into an accurate answer to questions like "Are you 20 years old?"

Employment gaps may promote but also reduce cognitive function in older age, as new research from the University of Luxembourg has shown. In particular, some of the findings suggest that leaves reported as unemployment and sickness are associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment indicating that these kinds of employment gaps may decrease cognitive reserve in the long run. Strongest evidence was found for training and maternity spells being related to slower cognitive decline, suggesting beneficial associations of these kinds of leaves on cognitive function.

Quantum computation, quantum communication and quantum cryptography often require entanglement. For many of these upcoming quantum technologies, entanglement – this hard to grasp, counter-intuitive aspect in the quantum world – is a key ingredient. Therefore, experimental physicists often need to verify entanglement in their systems. "Two years ago, we managed to verify entanglement between up to 14 ions", explains Thomas Monz. He works in the group of Rainer Blatt at the Institute for Experimental Physics, University Innsbruck.

Shergottites are the most common type of martian meteorite. Their composition is basaltic, similar to igneous rocks from Iceland and Hawaii, but with some important differences.

When the shergottites are dated using common isotope-decay techniques, they generally are found to be only a few hundred-million years old. On Mars, the only sources of igneous rocks of that age are the large volcanoes, such as Olympus Mons, which are also made of basalt.

Research from the University of Copenhagen has revealed the effects of a decade of decentralised wage negotiations in the private sector. In an article in the Journal of Labor Economics, researchers conclude that wages have risen for all employees and that companies are now better able to retain key personnel.

"Average wages rise when employees and managers negotiate on an individual basis, without a collective-bargaining agreement dictating fixed rates for all," explains Jakob Roland Munch, professor of economics at the University of Copenhagen.

WASHINGTON -- The United States lags behind other international plans to evaluate obesity prevention efforts, and the country needs to know whether these efforts are having their intended impact, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The committee that wrote the report concluded that more systematic and routine evaluations could help determine how well obesity prevention programs and policies are being implemented and which interventions work best. The committee also recommended specific national and community plans for evaluation of obesity prevention efforts.

The Eastern Pacific Ocean has kicked into high gear on Aug. 2 and NOAA's GOES-15 satellite is watching Hurricane Gil and two developing tropical low pressure areas on both sides of Gil.

TORONTO, ON – University of Toronto Engineering professor Ben Hatton is turning to nature to find a way to cut down on the energy leaks from windows.

Researchers at the University of Basel have successfully replaced the rare element iodine in copper-based dye-sensitized solar cells by the more abundant element cobalt, taking a step forward in the development of environmentally friendly energy production. The journal «Chemical Communications» has published the results of these so-called Cu-Co cells.

At NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M., a sounding rocket is being readied for flight. Due to launch on Aug. 8, 2013, the VERIS rocket, short for Very high Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, will launch for a 15-minute trip carrying an instrument that can measure properties of the structures in the sun's upper atmosphere down to 145 miles across, some eight times clearer than any similar telescope currently in space.