NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn may have ended in 2017, but researchers are still analyzing the vast amount of data it sent back over its final spectacular months. Astronomers most recent findings, published Thursday, center on five of Saturn’s small ring moons: Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora and Epimetheus. During six close flybys near the end of its mission, Cassini uncovered new insights into how the moons formed, and what gives them their different colors.
And astronomer ...read more
Heart disease is the leading cause of death around the world. Many cardiovascular disorders damage blood vessels, the network of ducts the heart pumps blood through to send oxygen and nutrients to the rest of the body. But fixing damaged blood vessels often requires replacing them with blood vessels from other parts of the body or synthetic substitutes. Neither solution is great.
Now researchers report Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine that they have engineered a ...read more
A new global study of ancient Martian riverbeds shows they are wider than Earth rivers on average, and once carried large volumes of water and runoff. They also flowed until surprisingly recently in Mars’ history, perhaps into the last billion years. This is a puzzle, given the Red Planet’s current desert environment, its thin atmosphere and dim sunlight. These features should have prevented vast water resources even early in the world’s history. Now scientists must p ...read more
We have a complicated relationship with melanin, the natural chemical pigment that gives color to our eyes, hair and skin. It protects our skin from harmful radiation from the sun, but can also lead to cancer. There’s also the whole matter of discrimination based on differences in physical appearance caused by melanin, which we as a species are apparently still working on.
Scientifically, things are no different. A type of melanin known as eumelanin is electrically conductive, meaning it ...read more
Most exoplanet observations are indirect, inferring the existence and characteristics of a planet by watching the light or motion of its host star. But direct exoplanet observations have begun, and the GRAVITY instrument on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Cerro Paranal, Chile, is leading the way. In a paper published March 27 in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the GRAVITY Collaboration presents a peek at the swirling, stormy atmosphere of the exoplanet HR8799e using optical interfe ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine