Heavens

TORONTO, ON - Quantum mechanics is famous for saying that a tree falling in a forest when there's no one there doesn't make a sound. Quantum mechanics also says that if anyone is listening, it interferes with and changes the tree. And so the famous paradox: how can we know reality if we cannot measure it without distorting it?

TUCSON, Ariz. (June 2, 2011) -- In just 10 weeks, a group of University of Arizona engineering students took five crates of surplus hardware and two heavy-duty test vehicles, which didn't run, and mixed them with youthful enthusiasm, tenacity and many long hours to build two robotic vehicles that successfully drove themselves around UA's test mine.

Researchers investigating the foetal origins of chronic disease have discovered that combinations of a mother's body size and the shape and size of her baby's placenta can predict heart disease in men in later life. The research is published online today in the European Heart Journal [1].

Hurricane season starts today, June 1, in the Atlantic Ocean and the tropics are paying attention to the calendar. The GOES-13 satellite has been capturing images of a low pressure area that formed off the North Carolina coast yesterday and is now located off of the northeastern Florida coast.

With those months of blazing summer sunshine head, scientists are reporting that an extract of the honeysuckle plant could make a highly-effective natural coating for clothing designed to protect people from exposure to potentially harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. Their report appears in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

Understanding the way plants use and store light to produce energy could be the key ingredient in the fight against climate change, a scientist at Queen Mary, University of London says.

Professor Alexander Ruban from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences has been studying the mechanisms behind photosynthesis, a process where plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce food and release oxygen, for 30 years.

We see NGC 6744 almost face on, meaning we get a dramatic bird's eye view of the galaxy's structure. If we had the technology to escape the Milky Way and could look down on it from intergalactic space, this view is close to the one we would see — striking spiral arms wrapping around a dense, elongated nucleus and a dusty disc. There is even a distorted companion galaxy — NGC 6744A, seen here as a smudge to the lower right of NGC 6744, which is reminiscent of one of the Milky Way's neighbouring Magellanic Clouds.

The strength of sun cream recently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to stave off sunburn is far too low and "not in the interests of public health," warns the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB).

NICE should rethink its advice, and soon, it says.

NICE recommends sunscreens with a sun protection factor, or SPF, of 15 as sufficient to prevent sunburn and the subsequent potential risk of skin cancer.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---University of Michigan astronomers examined old galaxies and were surprised to discover that they are still making new stars. The results provide insights into how galaxies evolve with time.

U-M research fellow Alyson Ford and astronomy professor Joel Bregman presented their findings May 31 at a meeting of the Canadian Astronomical Society in London, Ontario.

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and Aqua satellite provided forecasters some insights into the behavior of Super Typhoon Songda over the past weekend. Former Super typhoon Songda brought rainfall to parts of Japan over the weekend and today marine warnings for high surf remain in several Sub-prefecture regions as extra-tropical depression Sondga's remnants push further out to sea.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Yellow starthistle already causes millions of dollars in damage to pastures in western states each year, and as climate changes, land managers can expect the problem with that weed and others to escalate.

(Garrison, NY) In a feature article in The New Republic, Daniel Callahan and Sherwin Nuland propose a radical reinvention of the American medical system requiring new ways of thinking about living, aging, and dying. They argue that a sustainable—and more humane— medical system in the U.S.

Product designers harness time-consuming procedures in prototype construction. Only then are they able to assess the results of their work in a comprehensive manner. In a three-dimensional model world, they are able to do so instantly and can experience how the product fits into its natural surroundings. Design alterations can be visualized immediately, saving time and cutting the costs associated with the development process.

What would it take to make a manned mission to Mars a reality? A team of aeronautical and textile engineering students from North Carolina State University believe part of the solution may lie in advanced textile materials. The students joined forces to tackle life-support challenges that the aerospace industry has been grappling with for decades.

On April 29, 2009, a five-second-long burst of gamma rays from the constellation Canes Venatici triggered the Burst Alert Telescope on NASA's Swift satellite. As with most gamma-ray bursts, this one -- now designated GRB 090429B -- heralded the death of a star some 30 times the sun's mass and the likely birth of a new black hole.