Heavens

Squeezing out opal-like colors by the mile

The team, led by the University of Cambridge, have invented a way to make such sheets on industrial scales, opening up applications ranging from smart clothing for people or buildings, to banknote security.

Using a new method called Bend-Induced-Oscillatory-Shearing (BIOS), the researchers are now able to produce hundreds of metres of these materials, known as 'polymer opals', on a roll-to-roll process. The results are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

Obesity continues to increase in Sweden, even in the last few years

Sweden, the country hosting this year's European Obesity Summit in Gothenburg (1-4 June) has always been associated with good health indicators. However new research presented at the summit shows that obesity has continued to increase across mid-Sweden since the start of the new millennium. The study is by Dr Anu Molarius, Competence Centre for Health, Västmanland County Council, Västerås, Sweden, and colleagues.

Personality changes can affect fish body shape, locomotion

Fish that are bred to be bolder or more shy show corresponding changes to their body shape and locomotion, suggesting that personality changes affect other seemingly unrelated traits. The findings could be useful in animal breeding, pest management and studies of complex human behaviors.

NASA satellite sees heavy rain in tropical depression Bonnie

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission known as GPM passed over Tropical Depression Bonnie and found heavy rainfall from a few thunderstorms within.

Tropical Storm Bonnie weakened to a tropical depression on May 29, 2016. The circulation was labeled as "post-tropical" and has been moving very slowly to the northeast near the Carolinas coastline. Bonnie developed organized convection near the center and on June 2, 2016 the system was again labeled a tropical depression.

Technique could help climate models sweat the small stuff

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A team of physicists and mathematicians has come up with a statistical technique that puts the fine details back into computer simulations of large-scale phenomena like air circulation in the atmosphere and currents in the ocean.

Finding connections to nature in cities is key to healthy urban living

The modern city is a place where a vibrant array of ideas, sights, sounds and smells intermingle to spawn creativity, expression and innovation. We are drawn to the noise, the constant connectivity and the delicious food.

Simply put, society is tuned to the pulse of the city -- but at what cost?

Quantum satellite device tests technology for global quantum network

You can't sign up for the quantum internet just yet, but researchers have reported a major experimental milestone towards building a global quantum network - and it's happening in space.

With a network that carries information in the quantum properties of single particles, you can create secure keys for secret messaging and potentially connect powerful quantum computers in the future. But scientists think you will need equipment in space to get global reach.

NASA studies details of a greening Arctic

The northern reaches of North America are getting greener, according to a NASA study that provides the most detailed look yet at plant life across Alaska and Canada. In a changing climate, almost a third of the land cover - much of it Arctic tundra - is looking more like landscapes found in warmer ecosystems.

NASA satellite finds unreported sources of toxic air pollution

Using a new satellite-based method, scientists at NASA, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and two universities have located 39 unreported and major human-made sources of toxic sulfur dioxide emissions.

Purdue team finds convection could produce Pluto's polygons

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- On Pluto, icebergs floating in a sea of nitrogen ice are key to a possible explanation of the quilted appearance of the Sputnik Planum region of the dwarf planet's surface.

Astronomers smash cosmic records to see hydrogen in distant galaxy

An international team of scientists has pushed the limits of radio astronomy to detect a faint signal emitted by hydrogen gas in a galaxy more than five billion light years away -- almost double the previous record.

Using the Very Large Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the US, the team observed radio emission from hydrogen in a distant galaxy and found that it would have contained billions of young, massive stars surrounded by clouds of hydrogen gas.

Purdue, CU-Boulder study shows how comets break up, make up

For some comets, breaking up is not that hard to do.

A new study led by Purdue University and the University of Colorado Boulder indicates the bodies of some periodic comets - objects that orbit the sun in less than 200 years - may regularly split in two, then reunite down the road.

In fact, this may be a repeating process fundamental to comet evolution, according to the study, which is being published in Nature on June 1.

Elliptical galaxies not formed by merging

It all starts from a problem with dust: galaxies with the highest rates of star formation are also the "dustiest", because the violent process of star formation produces gas and heavy molecules. This means that part of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by nascent stars cannot be recorded by the instruments for astronomical observation in the optical and the ultraviolet band, as it is absorbed by dust and gas and re-emitted in the infrared. On top of this, owing to instrument limitations it is even difficult to observe this infrared radiation in the case of very distant, older galaxies.

New study reveals the worldwide reach of social entrepreneurship

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 31, 2016) -- American University's Kogod School of Business Professor Siri Terjesen announces the launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's (GEM) Social Entrepreneurship Report. The report, released today, is the largest comparative study of social entrepreneurship in the world.

New devices, wearable system aim to predict, prevent asthma attacks

Researchers have developed an integrated, wearable system that monitors a user's environment, heart rate and other physical attributes with the goal of predicting and preventing asthma attacks. The researchers plan to begin testing the system on a larger subject population this summer.