Heavens

A new paper published in Nature Geoscience by LSU Department of Geography and Anthropology Chair Patrick Hesp and United States Geological Survey scientist David Rubin is titled "Multiple origins of linear dunes on Earth and Titan," and examines a possible new mechanism for the development of very large linear dunes formed on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

Scientists at Texas A&M University explore the possibility of recreating Einstein's general relativity in a paper appearing in Physical Review Letters and highlighted with a Viewpoint in Physics (http://physics.aps.org).

Hurricane Bill was raining on Bermuda on Friday, August 21, 2009, and NASA satellites were providing forecasters with information about Bill's rainfall, clouds and winds.

NASA and the Japanese Space Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over the center of Hurricane Bill on August 21, 2009 at 0225 UTC (August 17 at 10:25 p.m. EDT) capturing rainfall data.

Black holes, the mysterious regions in space once thought to be absent of light, are constantly under investigation. In a paper published in the Physical Review Letters, the journal of the American Physical Society, Dartmouth researchers propose a new way of creating a reproduction black hole in the laboratory on a much-tinier scale than their celestial counterparts.

We all know that influenza vaccination helps prevent disease, but a new study from Canada suggests it may also prevent another public health problem: inappropriate antibiotic use. The findings come from a new study in the September 1, 2009 issue of Clinical Infectious Disease, which is now available online.

NASA satellites continue to capture important wind speed and cloud data that forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are using to help their forecasts. QuikScat has been particularly helpful in determining the extent of hurricane and tropical storm-force winds, and they go a great distance.

Durham, N.C. – Researchers at Duke University Medical Center may have a new way to stop and even prevent the urinary tract infections (UTIs) that plague more than a third of all adults, some of them repeatedly.

The researchers have discovered how cells within the bladder are able to sense the presence of E. coli bacteria hiding within compartments in the bladder's own cells. This starts a process that then kicks them out.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Hospitals that treat more black cancer patients have worse survival rates on average for patients with breast and colon cancer, regardless of race, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The research helps explain why African-Americans with breast or colon cancer are less likely than white patients to survive the disease.

A team of scientists associated with the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration has completed new research on the origin of the universe and the results will appear in the journal Nature.

Pasadena, Calif.—An investigation by the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration has significantly advanced our understanding the early evolution of the universe.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- An investigation by a major scientific group headed by a University of Florida professor has advanced understanding of the early evolution of the universe.

The dense star cluster RCW 38 glistens about 5500 light years away in the direction of the constellation Vela (the Sails). Like the Orion Nebula Cluster (ESO 12/01), RCW 38 is an "embedded cluster", in that the nascent cloud of dust and gas still envelops its stars. Astronomers have determined that most stars, including the low mass, reddish ones that outnumber all others in the Universe, originate in these matter-rich locations. Accordingly, embedded clusters provide scientists with a living laboratory in which to explore the mechanisms of star and planetary formation.

Scientists from NRL's Space Science and Remote Sensing Divisions, in collaboration with researchers from the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) located in Socorro, N.M., have generated the first scientific results from the Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array (LWDA). The measurements were obtained during field tests and calibration of two prototype antennas for the much larger Long Wavelength Array (LWA), which will eventually consist of nearly 13,000 similar antennas.

If some day you are tested for the H1N1 virus without the painful prick of a needle, thank a pig -- and a team of Kansas State University researchers and their collaborators who are connecting animal and human health.

K-State professors Dick Hesse and Bob Rowland -- along with a research partner at Iowa State University -- are collaborating with Susan Wong, a scientist at the New York State Department of Health, on diagnostic and intervention tools for the H1N1 virus.

Bill was the third tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, behind Ana and Tropical Depression One. Over the weekend Bill grew into the first hurricane in the Atlantic this season. Two NASA Satellites captured Bill's rainfall and cloud temperatures as he was powering up.