This Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s center, a.k.a. Sagittarius A* or Sgr A*, was made from the longest X-ray exposure of that region to date. In addition to Sgr A* more than two thousand other X-ray sources were detected in the region, making this one of the richest fields ever observed.
During the two-week observation period, Sgr A* flared up in X-ray intensity half a dozen or more times. The cause of these outbursts is not understood
An Australian geologist has identified what could be the first ever active flow of fluids through gullies on Mars.
University of Melbourne geologist, Dr Nick Hoffman, identified recent gully and channel development near the polar regions of Mars from images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. But contrary to the majority of scientific opinion which suggests that such features were carved by liquid water, Hoffman says the flow is most likely frozen carbon dioxide.
University of Colorado at Boulder researchers have found, ironically, that two pollutants – carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons emitted from agricultural forest trees – offset each other somewhat in mitigating air quality problems.
Carbon dioxide, believed by scientists to be a major factor in greenhouse warming, has been shown to reduce “agriforest” emissions of hydrocarbons that contribute to ground-based ozone pollution, according to CU-Boulder doctoral candidate Todd Rosenstiel of the envir
A vast, but previously unknown structure has been discovered around our own Milky Way galaxy by an international team of astronomers. The announcement is being made at the American Astronomical Society’s meeting in Seattle, Washington, on behalf of Drs Annette Ferguson, Rodrigo Ibata, Mike Irwin, Geraint Lewis and Nial Tanvir. Their observations suggest that there is a giant ring of several hundred million stars surrounding the main disk of the Milky Way. Despite its size, the ring has not been
Cosmologists hope to “hear the shape of space”, namely its topology, by analyzing in detail the temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). An international team of cosmologists, including researchers from l’Observatoire de Paris, has recently developped a model for the vibrations of the universe. For the first time [1], they have simulated high resolution CMB maps containing the signatures of a wide class of topologies, for comparison with the forthcoming MAP satell
More trees are dying following forest fires in the Amazon than was previously thought, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).
Trees that initially appear to survive fires, such as those caused by El Niño, are in fact dying two to three years later, increasing carbon emissions and causing further loss of Amazonian vegetation.
Dr Barlow of UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences found that many of the large, thicker-barked trees that survive up to two years fol
The department of entomology at Texas A&M University is abuzz with the news the honey bee genome is being sequenced by the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center, especially since Texas A&M helped that project take flight.
“This is a huge deal,” said Dr. Spencer Johnston, professor of entomology with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.
The honey bee was one of five species recently selected by the National Institutes of Health to have its genome sequenced
Significant reduction in severity and duration of cold symptoms
New research confirms the efficacy of zincum gluconicum nasal gel in reducing the severity and duration of common cold symptoms when treatment is started as late as the second day of illness. The study, which appears in the January issue of QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, was the first trial on the naturally acquired common cold to extend initiation of treatment beyond the first 24 hours of illness.
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Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have discovered another fingerprint of human effects on global climate.
Recent research has shown that increases in the height of the tropopause over the past two decades are directly linked to ozone depletion and increased greenhouse gases.
The tropopause is the transition zone between the lowest layer of the atmosphere — the turbulently-mixed troposphere — and the more stable stratosphere. The tropopause lies rough
When Viagra was introduced in 1999, the drug’s manufacturer warned of a number of visual side effects, including possible nerve damage to the eyes. But a UC Irvine College of Medicine study rules out some of these risks — even when the drug is taken in high doses.
According to Dr. Tim McCulley, assistant professor of ophthalmology, blood flow in the eye does not seem to be reduced by even high doses of the popular erectile dysfunction drug. Since Viagra lowers blood pressure overall,
Meta-analysis shows medication treatment decreases risk of future substance abuse
An analysis of all available studies that examine the possible impact of stimulant treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on future substance abuse supports the safety of stimulant treatment. Using a statistical technique called meta-analysis, the researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that medication treatment for children with ADHD resulted in an almost two-f
INASMET Foundation, a member of the TECNALIA Corporation from the Basque Country, is currently carrying out research on intraocular lenses. In fact, INASMET presented two projects at the 17th European Congress on Biomaterials held in Barcelona. Apart from publishing the results of a comparative study on intraocular lenses, they presented a project, currently under development, on intracorneal lenses.
This project started three years ago in collaboration with the Hospital de Donostia, the De
Researchers from the University of California have found a natural detox program for selenium-contaminated farm runoff in the form of wetland vegetation and microbes.
Results from a two-year study by UC Berkeley researchers show that man-made wetlands in the state’s San Joaquin Valley were able to remove an average of 69.2 percent of the selenium in agricultural drainage water. More significantly, some plant populations showed remarkable promise at converting selenium into a harmless g
A new study has discovered an abundance of microbial life deep beneath the ocean floor in ancient basalt that forms part of the Earth’s crust, in research that once more expands the realm of seemingly hostile or remote environments in which living organisms can apparently thrive.
The research was done off the coast of Oregon near a sea-floor spreading center on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, by scientists from Oregon State University and several other institutions. It will be published Friday
Rocks deposited by glaciers on mountain ranges in West Antarctica have given scientists the most direct evidence yet that parts of the ice sheet are on a long-term, natural trajectory of melting.
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been melting and contributing water continuously to the ocean for the last 10,000 years and is likely to keep doing so, says John Stone, University of Washington associate professor of Earth and space sciences.
Measuring and understanding changes in the Eart
An international collaboration of primatologists has gleaned evidence from decades of observations of orangutans that the apes show behaviors that are culturally based.
The scientists’ findings push back the origins of culturally transmitted behavior to 14 million years ago, when orangutans first evolved from their more primitive primate ancestors. Previous evidence for cultural transmission in chimpanzees suggested an origin of cultural traits 7 million years ago.
The research
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