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This infrared image shows IC 417, an emission nebula that is energized by hot, massive blue stars. A cluster of young stars called ‘Stock 8’ can be seen at center right; the light from this cluster carves out a bowl in the nearby dust clouds, seen here as green fluff. Along the sinuous tail in the center and to the left, groupings of red point sources are also young stars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / 2MASS.

Astronomers Snap Incredible Image of Spider Nebula

Apr 18, 2016 by News Staff

This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) shows an emission nebula known as IC 417. This infrared...

System outline of a blood oxygen level monitor: red and green PLEDs are directed to shine into the finger; reflected light from inside the finger is caught by an ultraflexible organic photodetector; this reflected light provides a measure of blood oxygen and pulse rate; the output of the sensor can be shown on a PLED display. Image credit: Tomoyuki Yokota et al. / Someya Laboratory, University of Tokyo.

Japanese Researchers Develop Ultraflexible ‘E-Skin’

Apr 18, 2016 by News Staff

Professor Takao Someya’s research group at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering has developed an ultraflexible ‘e-skin’...

The surface of Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view; image scale is 1.6 km per pixel; north on Europa is at right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.

Europa’s Creeping Ice Might Make Far More Heat than Planetary Researchers Thought

Apr 18, 2016 by News Staff

As Europa — the sixth-closest moon of Jupiter and the smallest of its four Galilean satellites — orbits, its icy surface heaves and falls with...

The Ganzhorn’s mouse lemur (Microcebus ganzhorni). Image credit: Giuseppe Donati.

Three New Species of Mouse Lemurs Found in Madagascar

Apr 15, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Three new species of the genus Microcebus (mouse lemurs) have been discovered by an international team of scientists from the German Primate Center, the...

Composite image of the gravitational lens SDP.81 showing the distorted ALMA image of the more distant galaxy (red arcs) and the Hubble optical image of the nearby lensing galaxy (blue center object). By analyzing the distortions in the ring, astronomers have determined that a dark dwarf galaxy (data indicated by white dot near left lower arc segment) is lurking nearly 4 billion light-years away. Image credit: Y. Hezaveh, Stanford University / ALMA / NRAO / ESO / NAOJ / NASA / ESA / Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers Spot Dwarf Dark-Matter Dominated Galaxy 4 Billion Light-Years Away

Apr 15, 2016 by News Staff

Analysis of the very high resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the gravitational lens SDP.81 reveals a dwarf...

The binturong (Arctictis binturong). Image credit: Carolina Tiger Rescue.

Researchers Explain Why Binturongs Smell Like Popcorn

Apr 15, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Prof. Christine Drea of Duke University has identified a chemical compound that gives binturongs (Arctictis binturong) their...

Cassini Samples, Analyzes Interstellar Dust at Saturn

Apr 15, 2016 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft has detected the faint but distinct signature of dust coming from outside our Solar System, from the Local Interstellar...

This wide-field view of the sky around Alpha Centauri was created from photographic images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Image credit: ESO / Digitized Sky Survey 2 / Davide De Martin.

Breakthrough Starshot: Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner Announce Plan to Reach Alpha Centauri

Apr 14, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Theoretical physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking and science philanthropist Yuri Milner unveiled this week a new initiative, called Breakthrough Starshot, to...

Postnatal maturation of pancreatic beta cells necessary for maximal glucosestimulated insulin secretion is coordinated by the estrogen-related receptor g (ERRg). ERRg drives a transcriptional program promoting mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, and its expression in iPSC-derived beta-like cells generates functional beta cells in vitro. Image credit: Eiji Yoshihara et al.

Scientists Create Insulin-Producing Beta Cells in a Dish

Apr 14, 2016 by News Staff

Generating functional pancreatic β (beta) cells in the lab has been a challenge for diabetes researchers. When human stem cells develop into beta cells...

This is an artist’s impression of PSO J318.5-22. Image credit: MPIA / V. Ch. Quetz.

Free-Floating Giant Planet Analog Found 95 Light-Years Away

Apr 14, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers has discovered one of the youngest and brightest free-floating, planet-like objects within relatively close proximity...

A schematic image representing a periodic variation in the density of Cooper pairs (pairs of blue arrows pointing in opposite directions) within a cuprate superconductor. Image credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Cooper-Pair Density Wave: Elusive State of Superconducting Matter Detected for First Time

Apr 13, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers, led by Prof. Séamus Davis of Cornell University and Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Dr. Andrew Mackenzie of...

Depiction of an Evenki shaman wearing antler headdress (Witsen, 1785). Image credit: Aimée Little et al.

Reconstruction of 11,000-Year-Old Shamanic Headdresses Sheds Light on Hunter-Gatherer Rituals

Apr 13, 2016 by News Staff

New research published online in the journal PLoS ONE is the first scientific analysis of the oldest known evidence of a shamanic costume in Europe. Depiction...

This image shows the Fornax Galaxy Cluster. The brightest galaxies are labeled. Image credit: ESO / Aniello Grado / Luca Limatola.

ESO’s VST Telescope Takes Stunning Image of Fornax Galaxy Cluster

Apr 13, 2016 by News Staff

ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at Paranal Observatory in Chile has taken the best ever photo of a concentration of galaxies known as the Fornax Cluster. This...

Small fragments of raw glass as they were found at the site. Image credit: Assaf Peretz / Israel Antiquities Authority.

Israeli Archaeologists Uncover Roman Period Glass Factory

Apr 13, 2016 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have uncovered the remains of 1,600-year-old glass kilns (Late Roman period) in the Jezreel...

Propionibacterium acnes, a bacterium common in acne pustules. Image credit: Bobby Strong / CDC.

Zolav: Novel Antibiotic for Treatment of Acne

Apr 12, 2016 by News Staff

A new study published in the Journal of Drug Design, Development and Therapy demonstrates the potential of Zolav® as a new treatment for acne vulgaris. Propionibacterium...

Ink inscriptions on clay (ostraca) from Arad. These documents are dated to the latest phase of the First Temple Period in Judah, around 600 BC. Image credit: Michael Cordonsky / Tel Aviv University / Israel Antiquities Authority.

Analysis of 2,600-Year-Old Ink Inscriptions Provides Clues for Dating of Old Testament Texts

Apr 12, 2016 by News Staff

Historians have long debated whether the first major phase of compilation of Biblical texts took place before or after the destruction of Jerusalem and...

Marine Scientists Capture Rare Video of Swarming Red Crabs

Apr 12, 2016 by News Staff

A team of marine scientists has captured a rare video of thousands of pelagic red crabs (Pleuroncodes planipes) swarming in hypoxic (low-oxygen) waters...

The Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis). Image credit: Dalgial / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study Reveals How Chinese Skullcap Makes Anti-Cancer Compounds

Apr 11, 2016 by News Staff

A new study, published in the journal Science Advances, has revealed how the popular Chinese herbal remedy Huang-Qin (Scutellaria baicalensis) —...

This Hubble image shows the low surface brightness galaxy UGC 477, which lies in the constellation of Pisces, about 115 million light-years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Astronomers Take Stunning Image of UGC 477

Apr 11, 2016 by News Staff

Hubble astronomers provide a beautiful look inside UGC 477, a type of galaxy known as a low surface brightness galaxy. This Hubble image shows the low...