Heavens

An unexpected discovery by astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is forcing scientists to rethink their understanding of the environment in globular star clusters, tight-knit collections containing hundreds of thousands of stars.

Astronomers have made the unexpected discovery of two black holes inside an ancient cluster of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way.

The research, published today in the prestigious journal Nature, describes the detection of two black holes that are about 10 to 20 times heavier than our Sun in the globular cluster named M22.

Black holes, so dense that even light can't escape them, are what is left when a massive star reaches the end of its life and collapses in on itself.

WASHINGTON – New research suggests that cutting down swaths of forest in snowy regions at least doubles – and potentially quadruples – the number of large floods that occur along therivers and streams passing through those forests.

Fertility treatment has a strong emotional impact on women who want to have children. A study of European countries with the highest number of assisted reproduction cycles identifies which aspects of reproduction treatment contribute to psychological stress.

Inability to conceive is extremely stressful for women who want to have a family. This notion is shown by a study published in the 'Human Reproduction' journal on patients in four countries with the highest number of cases of assisted reproduction cycles in Europe: France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The second highest cause of automobile crashes is rear-end collisions – 17 percent. Thousands of people die. The solution? "It is simple," said Clay Gabler, a professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech. "Slow the striking vehicle."

A quarter of households in refugee camps in Algeria are currently suffering from the double burden of excess weight and under-nutrition. According to a study published in the journal PLOS Medicine, obesity is an emerging threat to this community, with one in two women of childbearing age being overweight, whilst nutritional deficiencies such as iron-deficiency anaemia and stunted growth remain a persistent problem.

Infrared NASA satellite imagery revealed that the strongest thunderstorms within Tropical Storm Gaemi in the western North Pacific Ocean were located around the storm's center and in a band of thunderstorms east of the center.

On Oct. 2, 2012 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) Tropical Storm Gaemi had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph). It was located about 515 nautical miles (592 miles/954 km) east of Hue, Vietnam, near 15.3 North latitude and 116.7 East longitude. Gaemi is moving to the southeast at 9 knots (10 mph/16.6 kph).

Wind shear is pushing the heaviest rainfall within Tropical Storm Maliksi east of the storm's center, and NASA's TRMM satellite captured it on Oct. 2 as it passed overhead from space.

Forecasters know that Tropical Storm Nadine is a fighter as it continues to stay alive in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Even satellite imagery shows Nadine's fighting spirit, because although Nadine is now a tropical storm, infrared data clearly shows that Nadine maintained an eye early on Oct. 2.

NASA satellites continue to watch the long-lived Nadine in the eastern Atlantic. Today, Oct. 1, NASA satellite data revealed that Nadine has weakened from a hurricane and is now a tropical storm.

Over the weekend of Sept. 29 and 30, Hurricane Nadine dramatically rebounded. On September 19, 2012 Nadine appeared to be dissipating quickly and was expected to become post-tropical but after over a week of meandering near the Azores, Nadine sprang to life again as a hurricane on Friday September 28, 2012.

The twenty-first tropical depression of the northwestern Pacific Ocean was born as a NASA satellite flew overhead on Oct. 1, capturing its "baby picture" in infrared light.

On Monday, Oct. 1 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), Tropical Depression 21W (TD21W) had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots. It was centered about300 nautical miles south of Hong Kong, near 17.4 North latitude and 114.8 East longitude. TD21W has tracked northward at 5 knots and is expected to curve to the northwest and west.

The western North Pacific is in full swing, tropically speaking and NASA observed the birth of Tropical Storm Maliksi on Sept. 30. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of the storm when it was a depression and revealed a large area of powerful thunderstorms around its center that hinted at its strengthening.

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years. The loss was due to storm damage (48%), crown of thorns starfish (42%), and bleaching (10%) according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today by researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville.

"We can't stop the storms but, perhaps we can stop the starfish. If we can, then the Reef will have more opportunity to adapt to the challenges of rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification, says John Gunn, CEO of AIMS.

Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite today, Sept. 28, revealed strong convection and thunderstorms have built up again in Tropical Storm Nadine as it moved over warm waters in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. That convection strengthened Nadine back into a hurricane today. Nadine has lasted over two weeks, but is nowhere near breaking the record for longest-lived tropical cyclone.

The National Hurricane Center issued their last advisory on Miriam on Sept. 27 at 11 p.m. EDT when it became a remnant low pressure area. At that time, the center of post-tropical cyclone Miriam was located near latitude 22.0 north and longitude 116.7 west, just over 400 miles west of the southern tip of Baja California. Miriam had maximum sustained winds near 30 knots (35 mph/55 kmh).