How many millimeters has the sea level risen? How fast are the continents moving? How big is the impact of high and low pressure areas on the altitude of landmasses? In order to answer these questions, measurements are being made around the clock at more than 1700 globally distributed observing stations. These data are then evaluated by researchers from the German Geodetic Research Institute of the Technical University of Munich (DGFI-TUM). Their new realization of the global reference system that has now been published, is so exact that it even allows to detect seasonal variations.
Heavens
The number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) in India may be up to two to three times higher than current estimates, suggests a new study.
The research team, comprising researchers from Imperial College London, the Government of India's Revised National TB Control Programme, the World Health Organisation, and other organisations, have published their findings in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Mosquitoes continue to build resistance to existing pesticides. Research has now shown that the chemical substances emitted by one of the mosquito's natural enemies - the backswimmer - makes the biological pesticide Bti more deadly. These so-called predator cues also impair the mosquito's immune system. Scientists at KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium, argue that a cocktail of biological pesticides and synthetic predator cues very well be the future of mosquito control.
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) surveyed dozens of young stars -- some Sun-like and others approximately double that size -- and discovered that the larger variety have surprisingly rich reservoirs of carbon monoxide gas in their debris disks. In contrast, the lower-mass, Sun-like stars have debris disks that are virtually gas-free.
Astronomers using ESO telescopes and other facilities have found clear evidence of a planet orbiting the closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri. The long-sought world, designated Proxima b, orbits its cool red parent star every 11 days and has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. This rocky world is a little more massive than the Earth and is the closest exoplanet to us -- and it may also be the closest possible abode for life outside the Solar System. A paper describing this milestone finding will be published in the journal Nature on 25 August 2016.
Washington, DC-- An international team of astronomers including Carnegie's Paul Butler has found clear evidence of a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Solar System. The new world, designated Proxima b, orbits its cool red parent star every 11 days and has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface, if it were present. This rocky world is a little more massive than the Earth and is the closest exoplanet to us; it may even be the closest possible abode for life beyond our own Sun.
In a study published online this week in Science Translational Medicine, investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome report that resolvins and maresins, molecules produced in the body naturally from certain omega-3 fatty acids, regulate subsets of white blood cells that play a central role in inflammation and the immune system. The new findings suggest that resolvins and maresins are part of a new class of molecules that may be useful for treating chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
LOS ANGELES (Aug. 24, 2016) -- Biomedical investigators at Cedars-Sinai have identified an enzyme found in all human cells that alerts the body to invading bacteria and jump-starts the immune system.
In their study, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cell, the investigators provide clues to unraveling some of the mysteries surrounding the human immune system, which defends the body against harmful microbes such as bacteria.
New Haven, Conn. - A new method for analyzing the chemical composition of stars may help scientists winnow the search for Earth 2.0.
Yale University researchers Debra Fischer and John Michael Brewer, in a new study that will appear in the Astrophysical Journal, describe a computational modeling technique that gives a clearer sense of the chemistry of stars, revealing the conditions present when their planets formed. The system creates a new way to assess the habitability and biological evolution possibilities of planets outside our solar system.
Some problems, says Paolo Bocchini, cannot be solved through intuition.
"If you are trying to solve a problem that has, say, ten possible outcomes -- you can probably find a way to figure out which one is optimal," says Bocchini, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Lehigh University. "But what if the possible solutions number as high as 10 to the 120th power?"
The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite provided scientists with a look at rainfall rates and cloud heights within Tropical Storm Gaston as it continued to intensify in the Atlantic Ocean.
Astronomers studying distant galaxies powered by monster black holes have uncovered an unexpected link between two very different wavelengths of the light they emit, the mid-infrared and gamma rays. The discovery, which was accomplished by comparing data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, has enabled the researchers to uncover dozens of new blazar candidates.
The remaining traces of rainfall in weakening Tropical Depression Kay was in a small area when the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed overhead early on Aug. 23.
Tropical Depression 14W appeared to be a small storm when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead early on Aug. 24.
On Aug. 24 at 12:00 a.m. EDT (0400 UTC) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed some isolated strong storms over around a weak low-level center. Persistent northerly vertical wind shear has prevented the tropical cyclone from intensifying.
Archaeologists translating a very rare inscription on an ancient Etruscan temple stone have discovered the name Uni -- an important female goddess.
The discovery indicates that Uni -- a divinity of fertility and possibly a mother goddess at this particular place -- may have been the titular deity worshipped at the sanctuary of Poggio Colla, a key settlement in Italy for the ancient Etruscan civilization.