Heavens

An international team of astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, has obtained the most detailed 'fingerprint' of a rocky planet outside our solar system to date, and found a planet of two halves: one that is almost completely molten, and the other which is almost completely solid.

LAWRENCE -- The best way to reduce a child's chances of developing asthma might be making sure Mom had enough vitamin D during the second trimester, a new study from the University of Kansas shows.

The most cost-effective way to get Mom more vitamin D could be as simple as health recommendations that consider the benefits of soaking up a little more sun, a practical and cost-effective way to get a dose of D.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 12 of us in the U.S. suffers from asthma.

When evaluating the same black student, white teachers expect significantly less academic success than black teachers, a new study concludes. This is especially true for black boys.

When a black teacher and a white teacher evaluate the same black student, the white teacher is about 30 percent less likely to predict the student will complete a four-year college degree, the study found. White teachers are also 12 percent less likely to expect their black students will graduate high school.

(Vienna, March 30, 2016) Every year, tens of millions of individuals across Europe undergo endoscopic procedures to assist with the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal diseases. However, significant variation in current endoscopy provision across Europe has been reported1, with back-to-back colonoscopy studies demonstrating that a concerning 22% of all adenomas are missed and that a three-to-six fold variation in adenoma detection is present between endoscopists2.

Physicists of MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences developed optical technology for the "correction" of light coming from distant stars, which will significantly improve the "seeing" of telescopes and therefore will enable us to directly observe exoplanets as Earth-twins. Their work has been published in the Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS).

The detector group at the Swiss Light Source at PSI has been one of the pioneers in the development of custom-made hybrid pixel array detectors (HPADs) for synchrotron applications. In a paper published recently [Jungmann-Smith et al. (2016). J. Synchrotron Rad. 23, 385-394; doi:10.1107/S1600577515023541], this group shows that it is now possible to develop HPADs with sufficient low noise to allow single-photon detection below 1 keV as well as to perform spectroscopic imaging. A commentary has also been written about the work [Graafsma (2016). J.

Near the edge of the visible Universe are some of the brightest objects ever observed, known as quasars, which are believed to contain supermassive black holes of more than a billion times the mass of our Sun. Simulations by Kentaro Nagamine at Osaka University's Department of Earth and Space Science, Isaac Shlosman at the University of Kentucky and co-workers have revealed for the first time exactly how these black holes formed 700 million years after the Big Bang.

Tropical Cyclone 17S formed in the Southern Indian Ocean late on March 28. NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead.

The storm formed on March 28 around 2100 UTC (5 p.m. EDT) and strengthened into a tropical storm. At 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Tropical cyclone 17S's maximum sustained winds were near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph). It was located near 17.8 degrees south latitude and 78.3 degrees east longitude, about 726 nautical miles south-southeast of Diego Garcia. It was moving to the south at 15 knots (17.2 mph/27.7 kph).

Astronomers using an orbiting radio telescope in conjunction with four ground-based radio telescopes have achieved the highest resolution, or ability to discern fine detail, of any astronomical observation ever made. Their achievement produced a pair of scientific surprises that promise to advance the understanding of quasars, supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies.

New York, NY - March 29, 2016 - Physicians and fellows from the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) will be presenting abstracts at the American College of Cardiology 65th Annual Scientific Session taking place April 2-4, 2016 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. They will be sharing the latest data on drug-eluting stents, imaging technologies, dual antiplatelet therapy, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds.

Astronomers using an orbiting radio telescope in conjunction with four ground-based radio telescopes have achieved the highest resolution, or ability to discern fine detail, of any astronomical observation ever made. Their achievement produced a pair of scientific surprises that promise to advance the understanding of quasars, supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies.

The first scientific Roadmap for European Astrobiology was published on March 21st. This strategic landmark for European astrobiology has been produced through the European Commission-funded AstRoMap project (2013-2015). In putting this research roadmap document together, the 19 authors relied on the outcome and findings of the AstRoMap project as well as on wide community consultation and four disciplinary workshops organised between 2013 and 2014.

WASHINGTON - Weather and environmental forecasts made several weeks to months in advance can someday be as widely used and essential as current predictions of tomorrow's weather are, but first more research and sustained investment are needed, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The committee that conducted the study and wrote the report developed a research agenda, outlining strategies to address the scientific and capability gaps that currently limit the accuracy and usefulness of long-term weather and ocean predictions.

BINGHAMTON, NY - Researchers at Binghamton University and pharmacy solutions provider Innovation Associates have developed an optimized approach for determining prescribed medication associations within a high-volume pharmacy environment that could save money and time.

Arctic sea ice appears to have reached a record low wintertime maximum extent for the second year in a row, according to scientists at the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA.