Heavens

CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 18, 2014)—Calcium and vitamin D are commonly recommended for older women, but the usual supplements may send calcium excretion and blood levels too high for some women, shows a new study published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society.

Depression is almost twice as common, and poor quality of life almost five times as common, in people with bipolar disorder who have elevated or low levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood. Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, report this in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

From allowing our eyes to see, to enabling green plants to harvest energy from the sun, photochemical reactions – reactions triggered by light – are both ubiquitous and critical to nature. Photochemical reactions also play essential roles in high technology, from the creation of new nanomaterials to the development of more efficient solar energy systems. Using photochemical reactions to our best advantage requires a deep understanding of the interplay between the electrons and atomic nuclei within a molecular system after that system has been excited by light.

Although Cristina had started a weakening trend TRMM's Precipitation Radar instrument still found rain falling at a rate of almost 97 mm (about 3.8 inches) per hour in the northwestern side of Cristina's eye wall. At Goddard, TRMM's PR data was used to create a 3-D view of the Cristina's rainfall structure. That 3-D image showed powerful thunderstorms in the northwestern side of the storm were reaching heights above 13.5 km (about 8.4 miles). These same TRMM data showed that Cristina's eye wall was broken on the eastern side.

Tropical Depression Hagibis appeared out for the count when it made landfall along southeastern China on June 16, but moved back into the South China Sea where it regenerated and sped northeast through the East China Sea. The next day, the TRMM satellite noticed power had come back to Hagibis in the form of some moderate rainfall in the depression's northeastern quadrant.

WASHINGTON - Middle- and upper-class elementary school students in Kentucky demonstrated worse academic performance when they were required to start classes early, compared to peers whose school day started later, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Water is thought to be embedded in the moon's rocks or, if cold enough, "stuck" on their surfaces. It's predominantly found at the poles. But scientists probably won't find it intact on the sunlit side.

New research at the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates that ultraviolet photons emitted by the sun likely cause H2O molecules to either quickly desorb or break apart. The fragments of water may remain on the lunar surface, but the presence of useful amounts of water on the sunward side is not likely.

A powerful new model to detect life on planets outside of our solar system, more accurately than ever before, has been developed by UCL (University College London) researchers.

The new model focuses on methane, the simplest organic molecule, widely acknowledged to be a sign of potential life.

Researchers from UCL and the University of New South Wales have developed a new spectrum for 'hot' methane which can be used to detect the molecule at temperatures above that of Earth, up to 1,500K/1220°C – something which was not possible before.

An infrared image from NOAA's GOES-West satellite showed what appeared to be a ghostly ring of clouds and no convection in former Hurricane Cristina on Monday, June 16 as the system weakened to a remnant low pressure area.

Convection is rising air that forms the thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone and when there is none, there are no thunderstorms to keep it going. That's exactly what happened to Cristina in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on Sunday, June 15.

Tropical storm Hagibis only lived through 6 bulletins issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in its short lifetime in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The final bulletin was issued on June 15 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) after Hagibis made landfall in China.

Beneath the barren whiteness of Greenland, a mysterious world has popped into view. Using ice-penetrating radar, researchers have discovered ragged blocks of ice as tall as city skyscrapers and as wide as the island of Manhattan at the very bottom of the ice sheet, apparently formed as water beneath the ice refreezes and warps the surrounding ice upwards.

The newly revealed forms may help scientists understand more about how ice sheets behave and how they will respond to a warming climate. The results are published in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience.

CINCINNATI—Investigators at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found a therapy that reverses new onset Type 1 diabetes in mouse models and may advance efforts in combating the disease among humans.

The study, led by William Ridgway, MD, was presented Saturday, June 14, 2014, at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions in San Francisco.

ITHACA, N.Y. – When it hasn't been your day – your week, your month, or even your year – it might be time to turn to Facebook friends for a little positive reinforcement. According to a new study by social scientists at Cornell University, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Facebook, emotions can spread among users of online social networks.

June 14, 2014 (San Francisco) – Improving the overall quality of one's diet helps to prevent type 2 diabetes, independent of other lifestyle changes, according to a study presented at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions®.

If the icy surface of Pluto's giant moon Charon is cracked, analysis of the fractures could reveal if its interior was warm, perhaps warm enough to have maintained a subterranean ocean of liquid water, according to a new NASA-funded study.

Pluto is an extremely distant world, orbiting the sun more than 29 times farther than Earth. With a surface temperature estimated to be about 380 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (around minus 229 degrees Celsius), the environment at Pluto is far too cold to allow liquid water on its surface. Pluto's moons are in the same frigid environment.