Heavens

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly paved the way for future missions when he embarked on a one-year mission in space along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. Kelly will be the first American to complete such a long-duration mission, and one of the first humans in more than 15 years to embrace the challenge. Russian cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev was the last person to spend a year in microgravity in 1999. The 2015-2016 mission builds upon that past knowledge.

JACKSON, Tenn. - Some herbicides are more effective when applied at noon compared to early morning or late evening applications, according to data from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.

The study evaluated three protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) herbicides applied to glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth in soybean plots at sunrise, noon and sunset. After 14 days, the noon applications on average performed 15-20 percent better than the sunrise applications. The noon applications outperformed the sunset applications by an average of approximately 10 percent.

HOUSTON - (Feb. 22, 2016) - A new methodology developed by researchers at Rice and Rutgers universities could help scientists understand how and why a biochemical network doesn't always perform as expected. To test the approach, they analyzed the stress response of bacteria that cause tuberculosis and predicted novel interactions.

The results are described in a PLOS Computational Biology paper published today.

Rochester Institute of Technology researchers continue exploring gravitational waves in a series of upcoming papers. Their reports follow the first direct detection of these waves, predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

NASA satellites provided data on Tropical Cyclone Winston before and after it made an historic landfall in eastern Fiji. The GPM, Suomi NPP and Aqua satellites provided forecasters with data that showed rainfall, strength and extent of the storm.

Tropical Cyclone Winston made landfall on Feb. 20 in Vitu Levi, eastern Fiji as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Winston was the first cyclone of that strength to make landfall in Fiji in recorded history.

COLLEGE STATION -- Dr. Nancy Turner, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist in College Station, was one of a team of researchers who recently studied different interventions to protect from radiation-induced bone loss.

Their paper, "Dried Plum Protects from Bone Loss Caused by Iodizing Radiation," was recently published in Scientific Reports and can be found at http://www.nature.com/articles/srep21343 .

The GPS signal used for 'sat-navs' could help improve understanding of ocean currents, according to new research published in Geophysical Research Letters by National Oceanography Centre (NOC) scientists, alongside colleagues from the University of Michigan and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

A new statistical technique, analysing data records since measuring started 150 years ago, independently confirms that man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions have led to global warming, according to a JRC-led article published Nature Scientific Reports. The analysis also shows that the most pronounced consequences of such emissions are being felt in localised regions around the globe, such as Europe, North America, China, Siberia, the Sahel zone in Africa, and Alaska.

Astronomers have discovered a spectacular tail of gas more than 300,000 light years across coming from a nearby galaxy.

The plume is made up of hydrogen gas--the material new stars are made of--and is five times longer than the galaxy itself.

The discovery was made by an international team of scientists led by Dr Alessandro Boselli at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille in France, and published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

A new set of educational videos, released today, continues an exploration begun three years ago into the creative process that leads to innovation. From 3-D bioprinting that could generate heart tissue to origami-inspired structures built for space exploration, the six new "Science of Innovation" stories highlight how innovation can turn fundamental science and engineering ideas into significant societal and economic impacts.

Over two days, the Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory satellite had excellent views of Tropical Cyclone Uriah in the South Indian Ocean. GPM found heavy rainfall was occurring in the storm but saw a weakening trend begin.

Are big-city transportation systems too complex for human minds?

Many of us know the feeling of standing in front of a subway map in a strange city, baffled by the multi-coloured web staring back at us and seemingly unable to plot a route from point A to point B.

Now, a team of physicists and mathematicians has attempted to quantify this confusion and find out whether there is a point at which navigating a route through a complex urban transport system exceeds our cognitive limits.

To treat a complicated, non-healing bone defect, surgeons often use an implant with living cells to promote bone repair, but the implanted cells have a small chance of surviving because they are not prepared for a lack of oxygen and nutrients at the fracture site. Scientists from KU Leuven, Belgium, have now improved survival of these bone cells by preconditioning them to withstand the harmful environment before implantation. Their findings were published in Cell Metabolism.

Researchers at RMIT University and the University of Adelaide have joined forces to create a stretchable nano-scale device to manipulate light.

The device manipulates light to such an extent that it can filter specific colours while still being transparent and could be used in the future to make smart contact lenses.

Using the technology, high-tech lenses could one day filter harmful optical radiation without interfering with vision - or in a more advanced version, transmit data and gather live vital information or even show information like a head-up display.

The Veterans Affairs (VA) health system fares slightly better than other hospitals when it comes to lower mortality rates among older men with heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

The study, published in the current issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, also showed slightly higher readmission rates at VA hospitals for all three conditions, both nationally and within similar geographic areas.