Heavens

Teens with allergies and asthma: Start prepping now for move to college

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILL (May 3, 2016) - You're a teenager with allergies or asthma and later this year you'll be heading off to college. You may be thinking, "I have tons of time to get myself together before I leave." Not so much. Start now to consider how you'll shift gears.

Social clubs fill gap in dementia support

Community-based social groups could play a crucial role in empowering people with early-onset dementia, according to new UBC research.

The study, led by UBC nursing professor Alison Phinney, focused on an independently run program known as Paul's Club, which offers social and recreational activities three days a week out of a hotel in downtown Vancouver. Members range in age from mid-40s to late 60s.

Planet Nine: A world that shouldn't exist

Earlier this year scientists presented evidence for Planet Nine, a Neptune-mass planet in an elliptical orbit 10 times farther from our Sun than Pluto. Since then theorists have puzzled over how this planet could end up in such a distant orbit.

New research by astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) examines a number of scenarios and finds that most of them have low probabilities. Therefore, the presence of Planet Nine remains a bit of a mystery.

How to make cut flowers last longer (video)

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2016 -- After April showers, we get May flowers -- just in time for Mother's Day. Sadly, after a few days, that wonderful bouquet may start wilting. Thankfully, Reactions has picked out the best science-backed tips to maximize the freshness of your cut flowers. Be sure to check out this video before you buy your bouquet: https://youtu.be/ZYifkcmIb-4.

Scientists discover potentially habitable planets

Is there life beyond our solar system? If there is, our best bet for finding it may lie in three nearby, Earth-like exoplanets.

For the first time, an international team of astronomers from MIT, the University of Liège in Belgium, and elsewhere have detected three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star, just 40 light years from Earth. The sizes and temperatures of these worlds are comparable to those of Earth and Venus, and are the best targets found so far for the search for life outside the solar system. The results are published today in the journal Nature.

Three Earth-sized planets found orbiting a tiny nearby star

An international team of astronomers composed of UC San Diego astrophysicists has discovered three Earth-sized planets orbiting near the "habitable zone" of an ultracool dwarf star, the first planets ever discovered around such a tiny and dim star.

The discovery is detailed in a paper published this week in the journal Nature. The planets are so close to Earth -- only 40 light years away--that astronomers should eventually be able to study in greater detail the composition of each of the planets and their atmospheres as well as look for chemical signals of life.

Three potentially habitable worlds found around nearby ultracool dwarf star

A team of astronomers led by Michaël Gillon, of the Institut d'Astrophysique et Géophysique at the University of Liège in Belgium, have used the Belgian TRAPPIST telescope [1] to observe the star 2MASS J23062928-0502285, now also known as TRAPPIST-1.

Sea urchin's teeth inspire new design for space exploration device

The sea urchin's intricate mouth and teeth are the model for a claw-like device developed by a team of engineers and marine biologists at the University of California, San Diego to sample sediments on other planets, such as Mars. The researchers detail their work in a recent issue of the Journal of Visualized Experiments.

Veterans more likely to delay seeking health care--possible link to long wait times for VA care

May 2, 2016 - Military veterans are more likely to report delays in seeking necessary healthcare, compared to the US general population, reports a study in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

Radiation and immunotherapy combination can destroy both primary and secondary tumors

Turin, Italy: Radiation therapy not only kills cancer cells, but also helps to activate the immune system against their future proliferation. However, this immune response is often not strong enough to be able to cure tumours, and even when it is, its effect is limited to the area that has been irradiated.

Unique fragment from Earth's formation returns after billions of years in cold storage

In a paper to be published today in the journal Science Advances, lead author Karen Meech of the University of Hawai`i's Institute for Astronomy and her colleagues conclude that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) formed in the inner Solar System at the same time as the Earth itself, but was ejected at a very early stage.

Light-powered 3-D printer creates terahertz lens

From visible light to radio waves, most people are familiar with the different sections of the electromagnetic spectrum. But one wavelength is often forgotten, little understood, and, until recently, rarely studied. It's called terahertz, and it has important applications in imaging and communications.

"Terahertz is somewhat of a gap between microwaves and infrared," said Northwestern University's Cheng Sun. "People are trying to fill in this gap because this spectrum carries a lot of information."

NASA's Fermi Telescope helps link cosmic neutrino to blazar blast

Nearly 10 billion years ago, the black hole at the center of a galaxy known as PKS B1424-418 produced a powerful outburst. Light from this blast began arriving at Earth in 2012. Now astronomers using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and other space- and ground-based observatories have shown that a record-breaking neutrino seen around the same time likely was born in the same event.

Ocean views linked to better mental health

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Here's another reason to start saving for that beach house: New research suggests that residents with a view of the water are less stressed.

The study, co-authored by Michigan State University's Amber L. Pearson, is the first to find a link between health and the visibility of water, which the researchers call blue space.

Are we alone? Setting some limits to our uniqueness

Are humans unique and alone in the vast universe? This question-- summed up in the famous Drake equation -- has for a half-century been one of the most intractable and uncertain in science.

But a new paper shows that the recent discoveries of exoplanets combined with a broader approach to the question makes it possible to assign a new empirically valid probability to whether any other advanced technological civilizations have ever existed.