Heavens

NASA's Aqua satellite imagery showed just a small area of strong thunderstorms remained in the now weaker Tropical Depression Pali as it moved closer to the Equator. NASA's RapidScat instrument measured surface winds in the storm as it was weakening to a depression.

The low pressure area known as System 90L developed rapidly since Jan. 13 and became Hurricane Alex on Jan. 14. Several satellites and instruments captured data on this out-of-season storm. NASA's RapidScat instrument observed sustained winds shift and intensify in the system and NASA's Aqua satellite saw the storm develop from a low pressure area into a sub-tropical storm. NOAA's GOES-East satellite data was made into an animation that showed the development of the unusual storm.

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- If you're too "basic" to "YOLO" or think that slang is never "on fleek," fear not: How teenagers speak IRL is not ruining the English language, according to Kansas State University linguistics research.

In fact, teenagers may not be causing language change the way that we typically think, said Mary Kohn, assistant professor of English. Kohn studies language variation and how language changes over time.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Damage developing in a material can be difficult to see until something breaks or fails. A new polymer damage indication system automatically highlights areas that are cracked, scratched or stressed, allowing engineers to address problem areas before they become more problematic.

When white light is passed through a prism, the rainbow on the other side reveals a rich palette of colors. Theorists from the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw have shown that in models of the Universe using any of the quantum theories of gravity there must also be a 'rainbow' of sorts, composed of different versions of spacetime. The mechanism predicts that instead of a single, common spacetime, particles of different energies essentially sense slightly modified versions thereof.

A Japanese research project developed "DESTCloud," an evaluation platform that validates the disaster tolerance and fault tolerance of wide-area distribution systems consisting of multiple computers on a network. This platform, utilizing a wide-area virtualized environment comprised of multiple research institutes both inside Japan and overseas known as "distcloud," can validate disaster tolerance and fault tolerance of the systems that operate in the virtualized environment by intentionally causing interference to the network that interconnects the organizations.

Newly formed dwarf galaxies were likely the reason that the universe heated up about 13 billion years ago, according to new work by an international team of scientists that included a University of Virginia researcher. The finding opens an avenue for better understanding the early period of the universe's 14 billion year history.

How many of Seattle's residents could live off food grown in their city?

If abundant P-Patches and backyard gardens teeming with kale come to mind, you're like many residents who assume urban agriculture in Seattle could support 50, 80 or even 100 percent of the people who live in the city.

NASA's RapidScat instrument and Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core satellite analyzed the surface winds and rainfall rates occurring System 90L, an unusual storm in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which may become subtropical.

For the past few days System 90L, a low pressure center far south-southwest of the Azores, has been monitored by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) for possible development into a subtropical or tropical storm.

After the Big Bang, the Universe expanded and, by cooling down, the matter progressively took shape. The first stars and galaxies form several hundred thousand years later. One billion year later the Universe is observed to be reheated, and hydrogen, the most abundant element, is again ionized, as it was shortly after the Big Bang. How has this important transformation, named cosmic reionization, been possible?

The world's largest canyon may lie under the Antarctic ice sheet, according to analysis of satellite data by a team of scientists, led by Durham University.

Although the discovery needs to be confirmed by direct measurements, the previously unknown canyon system is thought to be over 1,000km long and in places as much as 1km deep, comparable in depth to the Grand Canyon in USA, but many times longer.

Zooming in on black holes is the main mission for the newly installed instrument GRAVITY at ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile. During its first observations, GRAVITY successfully combined starlight using all four Auxiliary Telescopes. The large team of European astronomers and engineers, led by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, who designed and built GRAVITY, are thrilled with the performance. During these initial tests, the instrument has already achieved a number of notable firsts.

High levels of vitamin D are linked to improved fertility and reproductive success, a study of wild sheep has found.

The study, carried out on a remote Hebridean island, adds to growing evidence that vitamin D - known as the sunshine vitamin - is associated with reproductive health.

Experts hope that further studies will help to determine the relevance of the results for other mammals, including people.

Ants don't get distracted by social information when on the move, only fully responding to it when at rest, a new study from the University of Bristol, UK indicates. Such sporadic monitoring of the social environment may reduce information overload and enhance the robustness of complex societies, the researchers suggest.

Higher consumption of potatoes before pregnancy is associated with greater risk of developing diabetes while pregnant (known as gestational diabetes mellitus or GDM), concludes a study published by The BMJ today.

The US-based researchers suggest that substituting potatoes with other vegetables, legumes (such as peas, beans and lentils), or whole grain foods might lower the risk.