Two previously undetected molecules, formylium (HCO+) and sulfur monoxide (SO), were found in the cooling aftermath of Supernova 1987A, located 163,000 light years away in a nearby neighbor of our own Milky Way galaxy. The explosion was originally witnessed in February 1987, hence its name. These newly identified molecules were accompanied by previously detected compounds such as carbon monoxide (CO) and silicon oxide (SiO). The researchers estimate that about 1 in 1000 silicon atoms from the exploded star can be found in SiO molecules and only a few out of every million carbon atoms are in HCO+ molecules....

All machines convert one form of energy into another form – for example, a car engine turns the energy stored in fuel into motion energy. Those processes of energy conversion, described by the theory called thermodynamics, don’t only take place on the macro-level of big machines, but also at the micro-level of molecular machines that drive muscles or metabolic processes and even on the atomic level. The research team of Prof....

The coronavirus’s tangled strands of RNA could offer new ways to treat people who get infected. To the untrained eye, the loops, kinks, and folds in the single strand of RNA that makes up the coronavirus genome look like a jumble of spaghetti or tangled yarn. But to researchers like Amanda Hargrove, a chemistry professor at Duke University, the complex shapes that RNA takes on as it folds upon itself could have untapped therapeutic potential in the fight against COVID-19....

The momentous 2017 discovery connected several pieces of the puzzle on what happens during and after the merger. However, one piece remains elusive: What remains behind after the merger? In a recent article published in the journal General Relativity and Gravitation, Nikhil Sarin and Paul Lasky, two OzGrav researchers from Monash University, review our understanding of the aftermath of binary neutron star mergers. In particular, they examine the different outcomes and their observational signatures....

The majority of birds form a bond with a solitary mate each mating season, while certain species like swans or geese mate for life. In contrast, some bird species are polygamous, having several partners per breeding season, however, it is unclear why they have evolved a different mating system. An international team of scientists led by Bath analyzed the genomes of 150 bird species, spanning all the major bird families and from locations across the world, including six species that were sequenced for the first time....

A study of the Bhutanese refugee community in Columbus revealed that despite nearly all members having internet access, only a small fraction utilized it to engage with local resources and stay informed about news online. And the study, which was done during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders in Ohio, found that nearly three-quarters of respondents never used the internet for telehealth services. The results showed that the digital divide must be seen as more than just a technological problem, said Jeffrey Cohen, lead author of the study and professor of anthropology at The Ohio State University....

In an article published in the journal Nature, the team, which includes researchers from Southampton, University College London, Frankfurt, and California, present a 13 million-year record of fossil plankton dynamics in the aftermath of near annihilation, providing a remarkable glimpse into how the marine ecosystem ‘reboots’. The Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction occurred when an asteroid impact caused global environmental devastation and is well known for the extinction of dinosaurs, ammonites, and many other groups....

An international research team led by Yale University scientists has for the first time explained the preservation of colors in fossil insects. The discovery shows why colors change during fossilization and reveals hidden gems among insect fossils that could help reconstruct the evolution of colors in these creatures. “This information will help us work out what colors ancient insects were and what they used the colors for,” said principal investigator Maria E....

Sea otters are the smallest marine mammal. As cold-water dwellers, staying warm is a top priority, but their dense fur only goes so far. We have long known that high metabolism generates the heat they need to survive, but we didn’t know how they were producing the heat — until now. Researchers recently discovered that sea otters’ muscles use enough energy through leak respiration, energy not used to perform tasks, that it accounts for their high metabolic rate....

This VLT image of the Thor’s Helmet Nebula was taken on the occasion of ESO’s 50th Anniversary, 5 October 2012, with the help of Brigitte Bailleul — winner of the Tweet Your Way to the VLT! competition. The observations were broadcast live over the internet from the Paranal Observatory in Chile. This object, also known as NGC 2359, lies in the constellation of Canis Major (The Great Dog). The helmet-shaped nebula is around 15,000 light-years away from Earth and is over 30 light-years across....

Near the middle of the Milky Way, there lives a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A) that any day now might eat a gas cloud (called G2) that’s floating towards it at 5 million miles per hour. Here on earth, we have a front row seat to this extremely rare galactic event that will have ripple effects throughout our galaxy. “As it veers toward the black hole, the doomed cloud will shred and stretch into a piece of string over 100 billion miles long,” explains Dan Evans, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Boston....

Three new views of the Martian moon Phobos have been captured by NASA’s Odyssey orbiter. Taken this past winter and this spring, they capture the moon as it drifts into and out of Mars’ shadow. The orbiter’s infrared camera, the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), has been used to measure temperature variations across the surface of Phobos that provide insight into the composition and physical properties of the moon. Further study could help settle a debate over whether Phobos, which is about 16 miles (25 kilometers) across, is a captured asteroid or an ancient chunk of Mars that was blasted off the surface by an impact....

According to a new study, more than 40% of tuberculosis infections that are resistant to front-line antibiotic treatments have also become resistant to some common backup drugs. Efforts to control tuberculosis are being hindered by the emergence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) strains, making it harder to combat. Researchers published their findings in the journal The Lancet. The MDR strains are resistant to rifampicin and isoniazid, especially in the developing world, where as much as 50% of tuberculosis cases have formed a resistance to these drugs....

Background Many important human biological processes are controlled by complicated chain reactions called signaling pathways, in which certain proteins act as messenger molecules that promote or block the signals of other proteins. The lead researchers were investigating the Hippo pathway, which controls the size of organs in the body, in earlier National Institutes of Health–funded studies of the Zika virus, which can cause undersized brains in infants. Noticing that this pathway also seemed to have virus-fighting effects, they launched the current study investigating SARS-CoV-2....

A new study from UCLA scientists reveals how a mutation in the MET receptor tyrosine kinase gene affects kids with autism spectrum disorders, showing for the first time that the “C” variant, which reduces MET protein expression, specifically impacts the network of connections among different areas of the brain involved in social behavior, including recognizing emotions shown on people’s faces. Over the past decade, researchers have made great strides in identifying genes that lead to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which result in a continuum of social deficits, communication difficulties, and cognitive delays....

Inorganic arsenic, which can contaminate water supplies via runoff from industrial manufacturing and mining processes, is known to cause cancer and death in humans as well as disruption in biological ecosystems. Several approaches have been used to remove arsenic from water in the laboratory, but most have proved to be inadequate for wide-scale use, and especially for sustainable implementations. Now, researchers at Yale University have developed a novel approach that can remove arsenic from water with high efficacy, and has the potential to be implemented sustainably....

During the visit, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson unveiled the first images from Landsat 9, a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) launched in late September. The images show Detroit with neighboring Lake St. Clair, a changing Florida coastline, and areas of Navajo Country in Arizona. They will add to the wealth of data helping us monitor crop health and water used for irrigation, manage vital natural resources, and track the impacts of climate change....

In a new study, scientists at Aalto University in Finland have demonstrated how three vortices can be linked in a way that prevents them from being dismantled. Curiously, the structure of the links resembles a pattern used by Vikings and other ancient cultures. However, this study focused on vortices in a special form of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. The findings have implications for quantum computing, particle physics, and other fields....

Every great structure, from the Empire State Building to the Golden Gate Bridge, depends on specific mechanical properties to remain strong and reliable. Rigidity—a material’s stiffness—is of particular importance for maintaining the robust functionality of everything from colossal edifices to the tiniest of nanoscale structures. In biological nanostructures, like DNA networks, it has been difficult to measure this stiffness, which is essential to their properties and functions. But scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have recently developed techniques for visualizing the behavior of biological nanostructures in both space and time, allowing them to directly measure stiffness and map its variation throughout the network....

Hidden in one of the darkest corners of the Orion constellation, this Cosmic Bat is spreading its hazy wings through interstellar space two thousand light-years away. It is illuminated by the young stars nestled in its core — despite being shrouded by opaque clouds of dust, their bright rays still illuminate the nebula. Too dim to be discerned by the naked eye, NGC 1788 reveals its soft colors to ESO’s Very Large Telescope in this image — the most detailed to date....