Heavens

Greenland's snowy surface has been getting darker over the past two decades, absorbing more heat from the sun and increasing snow melt, a new study of satellite data shows. That trend is likely to continue, with the surface's reflectivity, or albedo, decreasing by as much as 10 percent by the end of the century, the study says.

By pushing the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to its limits astronomers have shattered the cosmic distance record by measuring the distance to the most remote galaxy ever seen in the Universe. This galaxy existed just 400 million years after the Big Bang and provides new insights into the first generation of galaxies. This is the first time that the distance of an object so far away has been measured from its spectrum, which makes the measurement extremely reliable. The results will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.

There are two premises.

First, scientific research has demonstrated that when we look at other people's facial expressions, we tend to imitate them in an imperceptible and subconscious manner through a process known as facial mimicry. The hypothesis is that this behaviour helps us understand the emotions we are watching.

Intelligent transportation systems enable people to make smart travel choices, whether it's selecting an alternate route to avoid a minor traffic backup or figuring out the safest evacuation path during a hurricane.

But massive amounts of data are challenging the ability of these systems to provide accurate, real-time information to users.

ITHACA, N.Y. - After combing through Cornell-archived data, astronomers have discovered the pop-pop-pop of a mysterious, cosmic Gatling gun - 10 millisecond-long "fast radio bursts" - caught by the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, as reported in Nature, March 2.

Astronomers for the first time have detected repeating short bursts of radio waves from an enigmatic source that is likely located well beyond the edge of our Milky Way galaxy. The findings indicate that these "fast radio bursts" come from an extremely powerful object which occasionally produces multiple bursts in under a minute.

Scientists at the University of York have conducted new research into measuring how commonly-prescribed pharmaceuticals behave in the guts of starlings.

In a study led by Tom Bean, Professor Alistair Boxall and Dr Kathryn Arnold, from the University's Environment Department, researchers developed an in-vitro model (a laboratory-based system that avoids use of animal tests) to simulate the digestive system of a starling, recreating gastro-intestinal conditions that appear in real birds.

RCW 106 is a sprawling cloud of gas and dust located about 12 000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Norma (The Carpenter's Square). The region gets its name from being the 106th entry in a catalogue of H II regions in the southern Milky Way [1]. H II regions like RCW 106 are clouds of hydrogen gas that are being ionised by the intense starlight of scorching-hot, young stars, causing them to glow and display weird and wonderful shapes.

A new NASA study finds that the recent drought that began in 1998 in the eastern Mediterranean Levant region, which comprises Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey, is likely the worst drought of the past nine centuries.

Scientists reconstructed the Mediterranean's drought history by studying tree rings as part of an effort to understand the region's climate and what shifts water to or from the area. Thin rings indicate dry years while thick rings show years when water was plentiful.

Spending nearly a year in space, 249 miles from Earth, could be a lonely prospect, but an office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, made sure astronaut Scott Kelly could reach home for the entire 340-day duration of his mission. Not only could Kelly communicate with mission control in Houston, but Goddard's Network Integration Center connected him with reporters and even family.

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- Climate change may have a new way of getting under your skin.

Researchers in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University have validated a model showing growth in Kansas for the habitat of the troublesome lone star tick. Previously thought only to live in the eastern third of the state, computational modeling and live specimens have revealed the existence of these ticks as far west as Colby, which is only 55 miles from the Colorado state line.

DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke theorist says there's a very good reason why objects in the universe come in a wide variety of sizes, from the largest stars to the smallest dust motes -- and it has a lot to do with how paint cracks when it dries.

In a paper published March 1 in the Journal of Applied Physics, Adrian Bejan, the J.A. Jones Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Duke University, explains how the need to release internal tension shaped the universe as we see it.

Many technologies used in human societies are beyond the inventive capacities of individuals. Instead, technologies result from a cumulative process where innovations are gradually added across many generations--think from the wheel to modern cars or from early planes to space shuttles.

The chair of ophthalmology at the University of Michigan examined a recent report investigating the value of vision screening for older adults with no symptoms.

Paul Lee's editorial, published online today in JAMA, explains the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force report, also published today in JAMA.

The USPSTF work states that current evidence doesn't allow for assessment of clear recommendation supporting the use of visual acuity in screening those 65 and older who have no symptoms and are not already under eye care.

Aflibercept (trade name: Eylea) has been approved since October 2015 for adults with impaired vision due to myopic choroidal neovascularisation.