Heavens

The GPS signal used for 'sat-navs' could help improve understanding of ocean currents, according to new research published in Geophysical Research Letters by National Oceanography Centre (NOC) scientists, alongside colleagues from the University of Michigan and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

A new statistical technique, analysing data records since measuring started 150 years ago, independently confirms that man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions have led to global warming, according to a JRC-led article published Nature Scientific Reports. The analysis also shows that the most pronounced consequences of such emissions are being felt in localised regions around the globe, such as Europe, North America, China, Siberia, the Sahel zone in Africa, and Alaska.

Astronomers have discovered a spectacular tail of gas more than 300,000 light years across coming from a nearby galaxy.

The plume is made up of hydrogen gas--the material new stars are made of--and is five times longer than the galaxy itself.

The discovery was made by an international team of scientists led by Dr Alessandro Boselli at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille in France, and published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

A new set of educational videos, released today, continues an exploration begun three years ago into the creative process that leads to innovation. From 3-D bioprinting that could generate heart tissue to origami-inspired structures built for space exploration, the six new "Science of Innovation" stories highlight how innovation can turn fundamental science and engineering ideas into significant societal and economic impacts.

Over two days, the Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory satellite had excellent views of Tropical Cyclone Uriah in the South Indian Ocean. GPM found heavy rainfall was occurring in the storm but saw a weakening trend begin.

Are big-city transportation systems too complex for human minds?

Many of us know the feeling of standing in front of a subway map in a strange city, baffled by the multi-coloured web staring back at us and seemingly unable to plot a route from point A to point B.

Now, a team of physicists and mathematicians has attempted to quantify this confusion and find out whether there is a point at which navigating a route through a complex urban transport system exceeds our cognitive limits.

To treat a complicated, non-healing bone defect, surgeons often use an implant with living cells to promote bone repair, but the implanted cells have a small chance of surviving because they are not prepared for a lack of oxygen and nutrients at the fracture site. Scientists from KU Leuven, Belgium, have now improved survival of these bone cells by preconditioning them to withstand the harmful environment before implantation. Their findings were published in Cell Metabolism.

Researchers at RMIT University and the University of Adelaide have joined forces to create a stretchable nano-scale device to manipulate light.

The device manipulates light to such an extent that it can filter specific colours while still being transparent and could be used in the future to make smart contact lenses.

Using the technology, high-tech lenses could one day filter harmful optical radiation without interfering with vision - or in a more advanced version, transmit data and gather live vital information or even show information like a head-up display.

The Veterans Affairs (VA) health system fares slightly better than other hospitals when it comes to lower mortality rates among older men with heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

The study, published in the current issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, also showed slightly higher readmission rates at VA hospitals for all three conditions, both nationally and within similar geographic areas.

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers at the University of Arizona have taken the first direct, time-resolved images of an exoplanet. Their results were published today in The Astrophysical Journal.

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have measured the rotation rate of an extreme exoplanet by observing the varied brightness in its atmosphere. This is the first measurement of the rotation of a massive exoplanet using direct imaging.

"The result is very exciting," said Daniel Apai of the University of Arizona in Tucson, leader of the Hubble investigation. "It gives us a unique technique to explore the atmospheres of exoplanets and to measure their rotation rates."

The Southern Indian Ocean's Tropical Cyclone Uriah is now past its peak and continues to weaken. Infrared satellite imagery from NASA revealed wind shear has already begun to take a toll on the storm. Wind shear began affecting Tropical Cyclone Uriah on February 17 as it reached its peak intensity. By February 18, increasing vertical wind shear's effect became more apparent.

Tropical Cyclone Winston made a U-turn in the Southern Pacific Ocean just north of Niue, and appears to be headed back toward Fiji.

On Feb. 18, the gale warning for Niue has been cancelled now that Winston has moved west. However, a tropical cyclone alert is in force for Fiji, specifically the Lau group, Taveuni, Lomaiviti group, eastern half of Viti Levu, Kadavu. In Tonga warnings remain in effect. A storm warning is in effect for Vava'u and a gale warning is in effect for Niuatoputapu, Ha'apai, Tongatapu and 'Eua.

Researchers have shown how a bizarrely shaped black hole could cause Einstein's general theory of relativity, a foundation of modern physics, to break down. However, such an object could only exist in a universe with five or more dimensions.

Tsukuba, Japan - Researchers have thus far been unable to comprehensively explain how various factors regulate the size of a population of regulatory T (Treg) immune cells, which influence other immune system components and affect inflammation. However, as recently reported in an article published online in Nature Immunology, a team of researchers based at the University of Tsukuba have now shown how beneficial bacteria in the gut can help Treg cells to proliferate, but that dying epithelial cells suppress this effect.