Every galaxy has a story, and every galaxy has been many others in the past (unlike for humans, this is not purely metaphorical, as galaxies grow via hierarchical assembly). Generally speaking, the most massive galaxies have led the most interesting lives, often within teeming galactic metropolises where they are subject to frequent interactions with assorted neighbors. These interactions influence the structure and motions of the stars, gas, and dark matter that make up the galaxies....

The thruster works by turning xenon gas, a neutral gas used in car headlights and plasma TVs, into xenon ions. As the xenon ions are accelerated out of the thruster, they create the thrust that will propel the spacecraft. The xenon plasma emits a blue glow, seen here, as it operates. An observer in space traveling behind Psyche would see the blue glow of plasma trailing behind the spacecraft. Solar arrays will provide the electricity that powers the thrusters....

We can all picture that incredible image of a black hole that traveled around the world about a year ago. Yet, according to new research by SISSA, ICTP and INFN, black holes could be like a hologram, where all the information is amassed in a two-dimensional surface able to reproduce a three-dimensional image. In this way, these cosmic bodies, as affirmed by quantum theories, could be incredibly complex and concentrate an enormous amount of information inside themselves, as the largest hard disk that exists in nature, in two dimensions....

Nacre, otherwise known as mother of pearl, makes up the opalescent exterior coating of a pearl and the inner coating of mollusk shells. Scientists have long been interested in this lightweight, yet strong material for a range of applications, manufacturing substances that imitate nacre for use as fire retardants, gas barriers and conductors. Flexible conductors made from silver nanowires and a flexible plastic substrate called polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are being developed in laboratories, but researchers are running into problems with adhesion between PET and the silver nanowires....

Columbia, Missouri – From cell phones to cars and flashlights, batteries play an important role in everyday life. Scientists and technology companies constantly are seeking ways to improve battery life and efficiency. Now, for the first time using a water-based solution, researchers at the University of Missouri have created a long-lasting and more efficient nuclear battery that could be used for many applications such as a reliable energy source in automobiles and also in complicated applications such as space flight....

Brown fat is considered a heat organ. People have a few grams of it in areas including the neck, collarbone, kidneys, and spinal cord. When activated by cool temperatures, brown fat uses sugar and fat from the blood to generate heat in the body. The study found that brown fat could also help the body filter and remove branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) from the blood. BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) are found in foods like eggs, meat, fish, chicken, and milk, but also in supplements used by some athletes and people who want to build muscle mass....

Typically, we don’t think too much about the inner workings of our air-conditioning units, even as we enjoy the relief they bring on sweltering days. But Yale researchers have found that microbes are in abundance on the coils within A/C units – some more than others, depending on conditions. The study, from the lab of Jordan Peccia, the Thomas E. Golden, Jr. Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, was published in the journal Indoor Air....

The animals typically used to test drug candidates in preclinical trials (mice and baboons) are poor proxies for human responses to sepsis, as they are frequently resistant to the pathogens that cause sepsis-inducing infections. Pigs are a much better model organism, as their immune systems and humans’ share 80 percent of the same machinery, their blood clotting is similar, and their large size allows their vitals to be monitored in real time....

This could open up some new realms of basic physics research, the team says, and might ultimately lead to new kinds of lasers and other technologies. The results are being reported this week in the journal Science, in a paper by recent MIT graduate Hengyun “Harry” Zhou, MIT visiting scholar Chao Peng (a professor at Peking University), MIT graduate student Yoseob Yoon, recent MIT graduates Bo Zhen and Chia Wei Hsu, MIT Professor Marin Soljačić, the Francis Wright Davis Professor of Physics John Joannopoulos, the Haslam and Dewey Professor of Chemistry Keith Nelson, and the Lawrence C....

The finding confirms early reports, later dismissed by senior Chinese officials, that live animals sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market were the likely source of the pandemic that has claimed at least 6.4 million lives since it first emerged in China nearly three years ago. The study was published in the July 26, 2022, issue of Science. “These are the most compelling and most detailed studies of what happened in Wuhan in the earliest stages of what would become the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Stephen Goldstein, Ph....

Aerosol simulations show how airborne particles containing SARS-CoV-2 spread within a music classroom and how to use portable HEPA air purifiers to reduce their spread. The University of Minnesota School of Music was concerned about one-on-one teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and wondered if it should supplement its ventilation system with portable HEPA air purifiers. So, school officials reached out to Suo Yang, a professor within the College of Science and Engineering, and his team to figure it out....

The world’s largest solar observatory, the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, just released its first image of a sunspot. Although the telescope is still in the final phases of completion, the image is an indication of how the telescope’s advanced optics and four-meter primary mirror will give scientists the best view of the Sun from Earth throughout the next solar cycle. The image, taken January 28, 2020, is not the same naked eye sunspot currently visible on the Sun....

The stars are constantly moving across the sky. Known as proper motion, this motion is imperceptible to the unaided eye but is being measured with increasing precision by Gaia. This animation shows the proper motions of 40,000 stars, all located within 100 parsecs (326 light-years) of the Solar System. The animation begins with the stars in their current positions; the brightness of each dot representing the brightness of the star it represents....

The myco-architecture project out of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley is prototyping technologies that could “grow” habitats on the Moon, Mars and beyond out of life – specifically, fungi and the unseen underground threads that make up the main part of the fungus, known as mycelia. “Right now, traditional habitat designs for Mars are like a turtle — carrying our homes with us on our backs – a reliable plan, but with huge energy costs,” said Lynn Rothschild, the principal investigator on the early-stage project....

Muscle soreness and achy joints are common symptoms among COVID-19 patients. But for some people, symptoms are more severe, long-lasting, and even bizarre, including rheumatoid arthritis flares, autoimmune myositis or “COVID toes.” A new Northwestern Medicine study has, for the first time, confirmed and illustrated the causes of these symptoms through radiological imaging. “We’ve realized that the COVID virus can trigger the body to attack itself in different ways, which may lead to rheumatological issues that require lifelong management,” said corresponding author Dr....

By the late 16th century in Britain, deeds — legal documents concerning the ownership and occupation of property — were primarily handwritten on parchment made from animal skin. It has not been clear which species were used to make them. Researchers at the Universities of Exeter, York and Cambridge, UK found that, of 477 British legal documents dating from the 16th to 20th century, most were written on sheepskins. Sean Doherty, at the University of Exeter, the corresponding author said: “We were surprised to discover that the deeds were made almost exclusively from sheepskin, as previous research has indicated that other non-legal documents were written on skins from a range of species....

Peering deep into the vast stellar halo that envelops our Milky Way galaxy, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered tantalizing evidence for the possible existence of a shell of stars that are a relic of cannibalism by our Milky Way. Hubble was used to precisely measure, for the first time ever, the sideways motions of a small sample of stars located far from the galaxy’s center. Their unusual lateral motion is circumstantial evidence that the stars may be the remnants of a shredded galaxy that was gravitationally ripped apart by the Milky Way billions of years ago....

The deforestation fires in this area are notable for their size and intensity. “What is happening there is nothing like the small-scale clearing done by families that was common decades ago,” explained Morton. “These newer clearings are well beyond the scale of what a family could do. We have already identified 10 deforestation fire events in Rondônia that are larger than 50 square kilometers—meaning each one is larger than a combined 7000 soccer fields....

The new device is made of silicon solar cells combined with advanced solar materials integrated with optimally designed chemical components. The solar flow battery, made by the Song Jin lab in the UW-Madison chemistry department, achieved a new record efficiency of 20 percent. That bests most commercially available silicon solar cells used today and is 40 percent more efficient than the previous record holder for solar flow batteries, also developed by the Jin lab....

Decades later, our planet is now surrounded by spacecraft carrying out extraordinary work to study our changing climate, save lives following disasters, deliver global communication and navigation services and help us answer important scientific questions. But these satellites are at risk. Accidental collisions between objects in space can produce huge clouds of fast-moving debris. These clouds can spread and damage additional satellites with cascading effect, eventually making the most useful orbits around Earth no longer safe for spacecraft or people....