Heavens

Planet-forming environments can be much more complex and chaotic than previously expected. This is evidenced by a new image of the star RU Lup, made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Our solar system has one habitable planet -- Earth. A new study shows other stars could have as many as seven Earth-like planets in the absence of a gas giant like Jupiter.

This is the conclusion of a study led by UC Riverside astrobiologist Stephen Kane published this week in the Astronomical Journal.

What The Study Did: This population epidemiology study estimates associations of school closures in the U.S. and the timing of those closures in March with change in daily COVID-19 incidence and mortality through the first week of May, accounting for other existing public health interventions.

Authors: Katherine A. Auger, M.D., M.Sc., of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, is the corresponding author.

Using information from a national database, investigators took an evidence-based approach to defining the lower limit of pulmonary vascular resistance

This new lower parameter can capture more patients who have pulmonary hypertension and are at risk for death or hospitalization

Saturn is truly the lord of the rings in this latest snapshot from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, taken on July 4, 2020, when the opulent giant world was 839 million miles from Earth. This new Saturn image was taken during summer in the planet's northern hemisphere.

Some supposedly inert ingredients in common drugs -- such as dyes and preservatives -- may potentially be biologically active and could lead to unanticipated side effects, according to a preliminary new study by researchers from the UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy and the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR).

Over the past 30 years, mass shootings have fueled calls for changes in gun ownership and concealed carry legislation, but few studies have evaluated whether permissive gun policies deter mass shootings, and none have determined if their effects are the same on firearms homicides. A new study examined the impact of household gun ownership and concealed carry legislation on annual counts of mass shootings and homicides from firearms in the United States over the last 25 years.

Years ago, planetary researchers discovered unusual circular structures on the surface of Venus when observing high-?resolution images from NASA's Magellan mission. Such structures are known as coronae (from the Latin meaning "crowns"; singular: corona). A few years ago, a team of ETH researchers led by Taras Gerya, Professor of Geophysics at the Department of Earth Sciences, used computer models to investigate how these structures may have formed.

Most researchers assume that these odd circular surface features are formed by mantle plumes from deep within the planet.

Things can always be done faster, but can anything beat light? Computing with light instead of electricity is seen as a breakthrough to boost the computer speeds. Transistors, the building blocks of data circuits, require to switch electrical signals into light in order to transmit the information via a fiber-optic cable. Optical computing could potentially save the time and energy used to be spent for such conversion. In addition to the high-speed transmission, outstanding low-noise properties of photons make them ideal for exploring quantum mechanics.

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- Kansas State University physicists have taken extremely fast snapshots of light-induced molecular ring-opening reactions -- similar to those that help a human body produce vitamin D from sunlight. The research is published in Nature Chemistry.

A study conducted by scientists at São Paulo State University's Institute of Geosciences and Exact Sciences (IGCE-UNESP) in Rio Claro, Brazil, has identified 19 asteroids of interstellar origin classified as Centaurs, outer Solar System objects that revolve around the Sun in the region between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune.

The molecular test 'Xpert Ultra' combined with the minimally invasive autopsy technique can facilitate the diagnosis of tuberculosis as cause of death in low-income countries, according to a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation. This technology, which can be applied to easily available bodily fluids such as plasma, could be a valuable tool in regions where the disease burden is high.

SGRB181123B is the most distant short gamma ray burst with its afterglow measured

Incredibly fast and faint, these events are notoriously difficult to catch

Event offers a rare opportunity to study these systems in a much younger universe

New research shows that neutron stars in a 'teenage' universe could merge relatively quickly

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The farther away an object lies in the universe, the fainter it appears through the lens of a telescope.

Japan -- The cold, dark chaos of space is filled with mystery.

Fortunately, the ways in which we can peer into the mists of the void are increasing, and now include Kyoto University's 3.8 meter Seimei telescope.

Every summer millions of people visit parks and protected areas along the shorelines of the Great Lakes to camp, hike, swim and explore nature's beauty.

While COVID-19 has impacted staffing, operations and budgets at the parks, tourists this year also may notice changes if recent record-high water levels persist on Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Superior.