The ability to see the direction in which something is moving is vital for survival. Only in this way is it possible to avoid predators, capture prey or, as humans in a modern world, cross a road safely. However, the direction of motion is not explicitly represented at the level of the photoreceptors but rather must be calculated by subsequent layers of nerve cells. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now discovered that, in fruit flies, four classes of nerve cell are involved in calculating directionally selective signals....

Video evidence from Nekton science cameras onboard the Omega Seamaster II submersible, together with biological samples gathered and extensive sonar mapping, show that predators such as sharks and other large fish feed on swarms of small organisms known as micro-nekton in this zone. These marine organisms can swim against the current and often migrate from the deep sea to the surface at night before returning to the depths in the morning (known as The Vertical Migration)....

Until now, supernovas came in two main “flavors.” A core-collapse supernova is the explosion of a star about 10 to 100 times as massive as our sun, while a Type Ia supernova is the complete disruption of a tiny white dwarf. Today, astronomers are reporting their discovery of a new kind of supernova called Type Iax. This new class is fainter and less energetic than Type Ia. Although both varieties come from exploding white dwarfs, Type Iax supernovas may not completely destroy the white dwarf....

The study, conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Kent, Nottingham Trent University, and Coventry University, utilized self-reported data from over 13,000 individuals in 122 countries, collected during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys assessed people’s strength of bonding with close social circles, such as family and friends, as well as with extended groups, such as country, government, and humanity. People’s pandemic-related health behaviors and mental health and well-being were also measured....

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Astronomers are gearing up for high-energy fireworks coming in early 2018, when a stellar remnant the size of a city meets one of the brightest stars in our galaxy. The cosmic light show will occur when a pulsar discovered by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope swings by its companion star. Scientists plan a global campaign to watch the event from radio wavelengths to the highest-energy gamma rays detectable....

A valve invented by engineer Nikola Tesla a century ago is not only more functional than previously realized, but also has other potential applications today, a team of researchers has found after conducting a series of experiments on replications of the early 20th-century design. Its findings, reported in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that Tesla’s device, which he called a “valvular conduit,” could harness the vibrations in engines and other machinery to pump fuel, coolants, lubricants, and other gases and liquids....

A research team led by J. Nicholas Betley in the School of Arts & Sciences has identified an entirely new way the brain signals fullness after eating. The findings offer a novel target for therapies that could dramatically curb overeating. People with Prader Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder, have an insatiable appetite. They never feel full, even after a hearty meal. The result can be life-threatening overeating and obesity. According to a new study, their constant hunger results in part to disordered signaling in the brain’s cerebellum, a region of the brain also responsible for motor control and learning....

New research reveals that sudden speed jumps in the rotational velocity of pulsars have a minimum size, and that they are caused not by the unpinning and displacement of just one sub-surface superfluid vortex, but by billions. A team of astronomers, including Danai Antonopoulou and Anna Watts from the Anton Pannekoek Institute of Astronomy (UvA), has discovered that sudden speed jumps in the rotational velocity of pulsars have a minimum size, and that they are caused not by the unpinning and displacement of just one sub-surface superfluid vortex, but by billions....

“Many parents suffer from babies’ nighttime crying,” says corresponding author Kumi Kuroda of the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan. “That’s such a big issue, especially for inexperienced parents, that can lead to parental stress and even to infant maltreatment in a small number of cases,” she says. Kuroda and her colleagues have been researching the transport response, an innate reflex exhibited in many altricial mammals, including mice, dogs, monkeys, and humans, whose offspring are immature and unable to care for themselves....

Scientists laid out a possible future geoengineering program whereby high-flying jets would spray microscopic aerosol particles into the atmosphere at latitudes of 60 degrees north and south – approximately Anchorage and the southern tip of Patagonia. If injected at a height of 43,000 feet / 13,000 meters (above airliner cruising altitudes), these aerosols would slowly drift poleward, shading the surface beneath slightly. “There is widespread and sensible trepidation about deploying aerosols to cool the planet,” notes lead author Wake Smith, “but if the risk/benefit equation were to pay off anywhere, it would be at the poles....

“We’re now seeing not just the face of the clock, we’re seeing how the components inside interact to make it work,” said Juli Feigon, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the UCLA College and a senior author of the study. “At each step, we zoom in closer and see more and more details, and can now begin to deduce not just what the enzyme looks like, but also how it functions....

Gravitational waves, first detected in 2016, offer a new window into the universe, with the potential to tell us about everything from the time following the Big Bang to more recent events in galaxy centers. And while the billion-dollar Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detector watches 24/7 for gravitational waves to pass through the Earth, new research shows those waves leave behind plenty of “memories” that could help detect them even after they’ve passed....

Individual body odor plays an important role in partner selection. Humans, mice, fish and birds, and probably other vertebrates too, receive important information about a potential partner’s immune system from their body odor. A partner is chosen on the bases of whether he or she offers the optimum complement to the individual’s own immune genes. The aim is to pass on a wide variety of immune genes to the offspring so that they are resistant to a broad spectrum of pathogens....

The devices are a common fixture in nail salons, and generally use a particular spectrum of UV light (340-395nm) to cure the chemicals used in gel manicures. While tanning beds use a different spectrum of UV light (280-400nm) that studies have conclusively proven to be carcinogenic, the spectrum used in the nail dryers has not been well studied. “If you look at the way these devices are presented, they are marketed as safe, with nothing to be concerned about,” said Ludmil Alexandrov, a professor of bioengineering as well as cellular and molecular medicine at UC San Diego, and corresponding author of the study published on January 17 in the journal Nature Communications....

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have developed a method for greatly enhancing biofuel production in tiny marine algae. As reported in this week’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Scripps graduate student Emily Trentacoste led the development of a method to genetically engineer a key growth component in biofuel production. In the quest to loosen humanity’s dependence on traditional fossil fuel consumption, and with it rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and their damaging impacts on the environment, finding economically viable fuels from biological sources has been elusive....

Ask Assistant Professor of Psychology Joshua Buckholtz to explain his research into mental disorders, and he’ll likely start with a question that’s got more to do with basic medicine: When is the flu appendicitis? The answer, of course, is never. Each is associated with a very specific — and nonoverlapping — set of biological causes and effects. Understanding what these are, Buckholtz explained, allows doctors to discriminate between the two with near-perfect accuracy....

The overall winning image by David Costantini from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France depicts a magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) chick. The large seabird is found near the tropical and subtropical waters off America, as well as the Cape Verde and Galápagos islands. The chick represented in the winning image is suffering from a viral infection from which it is unlikely to recover. David Costantini said: “I took the photograph in French Guiana, where viral outbreaks annually affect a population of frigatebirds....

Despite its wide distribution, it was previously believed that only one species of this plant existed in the world. However, Professor Suetsugu Kenji and colleagues have discovered that a variant found in Japan is actually a new species, shaking up our understanding of this unusual-looking genus of plants. It has rosy pink petals and stems resembling milk glass, giving it a beautiful, otherworldly appearance. As it was first found around Kirishima in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, the new species has been named Monotropastrum kirishimense....

The scientists published their findings in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The hydrogel is a mesh of organic molecules, with many small empty spaces, allowing it to absorb water like a sponge. It could be the first organic metamaterial with mechanical meta-properties. Hydrogels have already been considered in the use of drug delivery, since the spaces can be filled with drugs that release slowly as the gel biodegrades inside the body....

The rapid growth of the solar power industry over the past decade may have exacerbated the global warming situation it was meant to soothe, simply because most of the energy used to manufacture the millions of solar panels came from burning fossil fuels. That irony, according to Stanford University researchers, is coming to an end. For the first time since the boom started, the electricity generated by all of the world’s installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels last year probably surpassed the amount of energy going into fabricating more modules, according to Michael Dale, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Global Climate & Energy Project (GCEP)....