Heavens | Page 541 | Science Codex

Low blood levels of vitamin D linked to chubbier kids, faster weight gain

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Kids who are deficient in vitamin D accumulated fat around the waist and gained weight more rapidly than kids who got enough vitamin D, a new University of Michigan study suggests.

Vitamin D, which is primarily provided to the body by the sun, has been a hot topic in the U.S. lately. The federal standards for vitamin D intake have come under fire by public health professionals as being much too low, and disagreement continues over the proper amount of vitamin D necessary for optimal health.

GOES-13 satellite sees cold front stalking remnant low of Tomas

GOES-13 satellite sees cold front stalking remnant low of Tomas

The GOES-13 satellite is watching a flurry of activity in the Atlantic Ocean today as a cold front approaches the remnants of Hurricane Tomas and threatens to swallow it in the next couple of days.

NASA sees Tropical Depression Jal's remnants entering and leaving India

NASA sees Tropical Depression Jal's remnants entering and leaving India

The many faces of the shear Alfvén wave

The many faces of the shear Alfvén wave

When physicists probe the mysteries of plasma, the fourth state of matter, they often discover phenomena of striking beauty. Much as when the Hubble Space Telescope sent back vivid images from space of ionized gas clouds (an interstellar plasma!), new 3D images of shear Alfvén waves are delighting both scientists and a new generation of science enthusiasts.

Scientists unlock the secrets of exploding plasma clouds on the sun

Scientists unlock the secrets of exploding plasma clouds on the sun

Major clinical trial prompts call for change to treatment guidelines for severe malaria worldwide

The largest ever clinical trial in patients hospitalised with severe malaria has concluded that the drug artesunate should now be the preferred treatment for the disease in both children and adults everywhere in the world. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is published today online in the journal The Lancet.

NASA extends TIMED mission for fourth time

NASA extends TIMED mission for fourth time

Nine years after beginning its unprecedented look at the gateway between Earth's environment and space, not to mention collecting more data on the upper atmosphere than any other satellite, NASA's Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission has been extended again.

Cosmic alignment a roadmap to new galaxies

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 4, 2010 – UC Irvine astronomers, along with scientists across the globe, are discovering hundreds of new galaxies through brighter galaxies in front of them that deflect their faint light back to the massive Herschel telescope. This effect, identified by Albert Einstein a century ago, is known as cosmic gravitational lensing.

Deep impact spacecraft successfully flies by comet Hartley 2

Deep impact spacecraft successfully flies by comet Hartley 2

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Maryland-led EPOXI mission successfully flew by comet Hartley 2 at 10 a.m. EDT today, and the spacecraft has begun returning images. Hartley 2 is the fifth comet nucleus visited by any spacecraft and the second one visited by the Deep Impact spacecraft.

NYU researchers find corn starch solution can help shape solid materials

New York University researchers have developed a method to shape solid materials using a corn starch solution. The process, devised by researchers in NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Department of Physics, offers a potential technique for material cutting and manufacturing processes.

Their work is described in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Did Earth encounter pieces of an alien visitor last night?

Did Earth encounter pieces of an alien visitor last night?

Cosmic curiosity reveals ghostly glow of dead quasar

Cosmic curiosity reveals ghostly glow of dead quasar

NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tomas' power fluctuate

NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tomas' power fluctuate

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite traveled over Tomas twice on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The second time was at 2005 UTC (4:05 p.m. EDT) when it was still classified as a tropical storm. During TRMM's second overpass, Tomas' center of circulation wasn't evident. Today, Nov. 3 that center is reforming.

What will Webb see? Supercomputer models yield sneak previews

What will Webb see? Supercomputer models yield sneak previews

Tropical Storm Anggrek is tightly wrapped in NASA satellite imagery

Tropical Storm Anggrek is tightly wrapped in NASA satellite imagery

Bands of strong thunderstorms are wrapping around the center of Tropical Storm Anggrek in the Southern Indian Ocean, according to satellite imagery. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared look at those strong thunderstorms today.