Heavens

The National Hurricane Center issued the last advisory on Post-Tropical Cyclone Colin at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC). At that time the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Colin was located near 36.5 degrees north latitude and 72.2 degrees west longitude. That put the center of Colin about 205 miles (330 km) east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The post-tropical cyclone was moving toward the northeast near 40 mph (65 kph) and that general motion is expected to continue through Wednesday night, June 8, 2016.

For the first time, scientists used methods of network science to solve a fundamental astrophysical problem -- explaining the so-called "initial mass function", a distribution of stars by mass in galaxies and starclusters. The study has been published in the recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal: http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/824/1/17

Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Harvard University have developed a new algorithm that could help astronomers produce the first image of a black hole.

The algorithm would stitch together data collected from radio telescopes scattered around the globe, under the auspices of an international collaboration called the Event Horizon Telescope. The project seeks, essentially, to turn the entire planet into a large radio telescope dish.

Research has found that hearing loss has wide-ranging impacts not only on older people's ability to communicate, but also on their ability to move about and participate in different hobbies and activities. This has been revealed in studies funded by the Academy of Finland whose results have been published in international scientific journals.

An effective treatment that can prevent HIV infection and reduce the human and financial costs of the preventable condition is taking too long to be commissioned and made available on the NHS, warns Deborah Gold, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, in an article published by The BMJ today.

Compelling evidence of the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention has been known for over five years, but "we are still waiting for the NHS to embrace this potentially revolutionary intervention," explains Gold.

PULLMAN, Wash.--A Washington State University biologist has found what he calls "very strong support" for an 86-year-old hypothesis about how nutrients move through plants. His two-decade analysis of the phenomenon has resulted in a suite of techniques that can ultimately be used to fight plant diseases and make crops more efficient.

A key component of a future gravitational wave observatory passed a series of tests with flying colors, while coming closer to experiencing true free fall than any other human-made object ever has. At the heart of the experiment is a two-kilogram cube of a high-purity gold and platinum alloy that is currently sailing through space almost completely free of any force other than gravity.

HANOVER, N.H. - June 7, 2016 - Dam removal in New England is not only an important aspect of river restoration but it also provides an opportunity to enhance the magnitude and rate of river re-connection, and improve watershed resilience in response to human impact on the environment, if a broader strategic removal approach is implemented throughout the region, according to a new Dartmouth-led study published in Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene.

Recording artists are frequently the face of commercial products -- and children and adolescents are frequently their target audience. Now, a new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center finds that the vast majority of the food and beverage products marketed by some of the most popular music stars are unhealthy.

And this type of advertising is contributing to the alarming rise in childhood and teen obesity, the authors warn.

Galaxies "waste" large amounts of heavy elements generated by star formation by ejecting them up to a million light years away into their surrounding halos and deep space, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

The research, which was recently published online in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, shows that more oxygen, carbon and iron atoms exist in the sprawling, gaseous halos outside of galaxies than exist within the galaxies themselves, leaving the galaxies deprived of raw materials needed to build stars and planets.

Astronomers have used Hubble to measure the distances to stars in nineteen galaxies more accurately than previously possible. They found that the Universe is currently expanding faster than the rate derived from measurements of the Universe shortly after the Big Bang. If confirmed, this apparent inconsistency may be an important clue to understanding three of the Universe's most elusive components: dark matter, dark energy and neutrinos.

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the universe is expanding 5 percent to 9 percent faster than expected.

"This surprising finding may be an important clue to understanding those mysterious parts of the universe that make up 95 percent of everything and don't emit light, such as dark energy, dark matter, and dark radiation," said study leader and Nobel Laureate Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute and The Johns Hopkins University, both in Baltimore, Maryland.

NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) calculated rainfall that occurred over a week and caused major flooding in Texas and Oklahoma, as well as soaking rains in South Carolina from Tropical Depression Bonnie.

IMERG uses data from NASA and the Japan Aerospace Agency's Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) satellite and other satellites.

Each injury means a little more as individuals age -- more impact and more healing time.

A group of scientists and dermatologists are now looking at the role sweat glands play in how aging skin recovers from wounds. It's a step to better learn about aging skin, in order to better treat -- and slow -- the process.

Their research, recently published in Aging Cell, compared 18 elderly subjects' skin to 18 young adults' skin, to see how each group healed from skin lesions. The lesions were smaller than the diameter of a pencil eraser, performed under local anesthesia.

A Montana State University physicist who has developed a new model that predicts the speed of solar plasma during solar flares, likening it to the path traveled by a thrown baseball, will present his findings at the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society conference being held this week in Boulder, Colorado.