Heavens

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- On May 2, scientists from MIT, the University of Liège, and elsewhere announced they had discovered a planetary system, a mere 40 light years from Earth, that hosts three potentially habitable, Earth-sized worlds. Judging from the size and temperature of the planets, the researchers determined that regions of each planet may be suitable for life.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (http://www.ucr.edu) -- A team of researchers and students at the University of California, Riverside has created a Lego-like system of blocks that enables users to custom make chemical and biological research instruments quickly, easily and affordably. The system of 3D-printed blocks can be used in university labs, schools, hospitals, and anywhere there is a need to create scientific tools.

Satellite data enables scientists to look at tropical cyclones in three dimensions and that provides information about rainfall rates and cloud heights.

UVALDE, TX - According to the authors of a new study, transplant shock is very common in globe artichoke grown in semiarid regions of the United States; high air temperatures and drought stress after transplanting can delay root and shoot growth and significantly reduce marketable yield. To counteract the effects of heat and insufficient irrigation on artichoke crops, researchers are seeking to determine the best nursery practices for plant nutrition and irrigation.

The strongest sustained winds in the Eastern Pacific Ocean's Tropical Storm Estelle covered every quadrant of the storm except the southern area, according to data from NASA's SMAP satellite.

Groundwater discharge that flows into the Upper Colorado River Basin varies in response to drought, which is likely due to aquifer systems that contain relatively young groundwater, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study published in Hydrogeology Journal.

Despite increasing attention to issues of diversity in scientific research, participant populations in behavioral science tend to be relatively homogeneous. Understanding how people differ across various dimensions, and how those differences are driven by underlying psychological, biological, and social processes, is critical to building a rigorous and comprehensive clinical science.

When we exercise, our body's oxidation of fat and carbohydrates depends on the intensity and duration of the activity. A new study analyses the effect of consuming an alkaloid, p-synephrine, on the burning of lipids and refutes the value of "miracle" diets: it is not possible to lose more than a kilogramme of fat per month.

TORONTO Tuesday, Jul 19, 2016 - Two astronomers -- with the help of Twitter -- have uncovered the strongest evidence yet that an enormous X-shaped structure made of stars lies within the central bulge of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Previous computer models, observations of other galaxies, and observations of our own galaxy have suggested that the X-shaped structure existed. But no one had observed it directly; and some astronomers argued that previous research that pointed indirectly to the existence of the X could be explained in other ways.

Infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite shows that Hurricane Darby is losing its punch.

NASA's Aqua satellite saw an almost well-rounded Tropical Storm Estelle and identified the locations of the strongest convection in the developing eyewall.

BINGHAMTON, NY - When it comes to messaging users on dating websites, men tend to be more aggressive and contact users they are interested in, whereas women tend to be more conscious of their own attractiveness to other users, according to new research.

This summer, with sea ice across the Arctic Ocean shrinking to below-average levels, a NASA airborne survey of polar ice just completed its first flights. Its target: aquamarine pools of melt water on the ice surface that may be accelerating the overall sea ice retreat.

NASA's Operation IceBridge completed the first research flight of its new 2016 Arctic summer campaign on July 13. The science flights, which continue through July 25, are collecting data on sea ice in a year following a record-warm winter in the Arctic.

Infrared data from the Suomi NPP satellite showed that Tropical Cyclone Abela continues to weaken in the Western Pacific Ocean.

On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Tropical Cyclone Abela was centered near 14.7 degrees south latitude and 54.7 degrees east longitude. That's about 540 nautical miles east-northeast of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Abela was a minimal tropical storm with maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/62 kph). Abela was moving to the west at 17 knots (19.5 mph/31.4 kph).

MINNEAPOLIS - Contrary to popular belief, taking estrogen after menopause may not affect the memory and thinking abilities of healthy women no matter when the treatment is started. The research is published in the July 20, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The recent study is among the first large, long-term clinical trial to examine the cognitive effects of estradiol, a type of estrogen, on women both close to and long after menopause.