Astronomers have discovered a magnetar at the centre of our Milky Way. This pulsar has an extremely strong magnetic field and enables researchers to investigate the direct vicinity of the black hole at the heart of the galaxy. An international team of scientists headed by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn have, for the first time, measured the strength of the magnetic field around this central source and were able to show that the latter is fed by magnetic fields.
Heavens
A study of a cross-section of youth mental health services across Canada has found that two in five young people receiving services are experiencing significant concurrent mental health and substance use problems. The project, led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), also shows that increased collaboration between youth service providers can enhance services for youth.
EAST LANSING, Mich. — A study led by a Michigan State University scholar questions whether higher education ranking systems are creating competition simply for the sake of competition at a time when universities are struggling financially.
Global rankings that emphasize science and technology research – such as the Academic Rankings of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University – have become increasingly popular and influential during the past decade, said Brendan Cantwell, lead author and assistant professor of educational administration.
A radical shortening of their bony tails over 100 million years ago enabled the earliest birds to develop versatile legs that gave them an evolutionary edge, a new study shows.
URBANA, Ill. – With little research on how nutrition affects reproductive performance in dairy cows, it is generally believed that a cow needs a higher energy intake before calving. Research by University of Illinois scientists challenges this accepted wisdom.
Wildfires continue to be a problem in Canada. Currently in the central region, including the Northern Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, numerous fires were spotted by the Aqua satellite on this image captured on August 12, 2013.
As Typhoon Utor was exiting the northwestern Philippines, NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead and detected some heavy rainfall in Utor's thunderstorm "feeder-bands" as it re-strengthened over the South China Sea.
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite passed over Utor on August 12, 2013 at 0621 UTC/2:21 a.m. EDT as it was exiting the Philippines into the South China Sea.
People who are feeling embarrassed are more likely to choose items that hide or 'repair' the face, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research indicates that feelings of embarrassment can be alleviated by using so-called 'restorative' products -- effectively helping people to "save face."
Lightning ignited the Gold Pan Complex Fire on July 16, 2013, in the River of No Return Wilderness, Idaho. As of August 9, the fire had burned 17,103 acres of mixed conifer forest. Many of the burned trees may have already been dead as a result of insects. The fire has a high potential for growth.
Two research teams from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the University of Leiden in the Netherlands have jointly reported the discovery of Neandertal bone tools coming from their excavations at two neighboring Paleolithic sites in southwest France. The tools are unlike any others previously found in Neandertal sites, but they are similar to a tool type well known from later modern human sites and still in use today by high-end leather workers.
Once a hurricane, Henriette weakened to a depression in the Central Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Aug. 11 and dissipated by Aug. 12 as two other low pressure areas continued to struggle. NASA's TRMM satellite noticed that Henriette's weakening trend began on Aug. 8.
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite flew over Henriette again on August 9, 2013 at 0122 UTC (~ 4 p.m. local time). During a TRMM orbit overpass on August 8, 2013 at 1709 UTC. (1:09 a.m. EDT), Henriette's eye that was visible but disappeared from view on Aug. 9.
Four NASA satellites provided data on Super-Typhoon Utor before and after the storm made landfall in the Philippines. Satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua, Terra, TRMM and CloudSat satellites captured information about the powerful Super-Typhoon on Aug. 11 and 12. That data was used by forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center before and after Utor hit the Philippines.
NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Idaho's two large fires on August 10, 2013. The fires consist of the Pony Complex fire (left) and the Beaver Creek Complex fire (right). Both sets of fires were started by lightning strikes on Aug. 7 and 8.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Designing products for the developing world can be a hit-or-miss endeavor: While there may be a dire need for products addressing problems, such as access to clean water, sanitation and electricity, designing a product that consumers will actually buy is a complicated process. More often than not, such products — even those that are distributed at no charge — go unused due to poor quality, unreliability or differences in cultural expectations.
Scientists would love to know which forces created our universe some 14 billion years ago. How could – due to a breaking of symmetry – matter, and thus stars and galaxies, be created from an originally symmetrical universe in which the same conditions prevailed everywhere shortly after the Big Bang. Now, the Big Bang is an experiment that cannot be repeated. But the principle of symmetry and its disturbance can definitely be investigated under controlled laboratory conditions.