SciTech Daily

May 9, 2013

Astronomers Discover Hydrogen Clouds between Nearby Galaxies, Andromeda and Triangulum

Using the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope, astronomers detected a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33). In a dark, starless patch of intergalactic space, astronomers have discovered a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33). The researchers [...]

May 8, 2013

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Thermal Cloak Molds the Flow of Heat Around an Object

Scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have constructed a micro-structured thermal cloak that molds the flow of heat around an object. By means of special metamaterials, light and sound can be passed around objects. KIT researchers now succeeded in demonstrating that the same materials can also be used to specifically influence the propagation of [...]

May 8, 2013

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Study Suggests Europeans Are Closely Related

A newly published study suggests that Europeans are closely related, finding on a genealogical level that everyone in Europe traces back to nearly the same set of ancestors only a thousand years ago. From Ireland to the Balkans, Europeans are basically one big family, closely related to one another for the past thousand years, according [...]

May 8, 2013

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New Climate Model Suggests Boreal Forests to Shift North and Relinquish More Carbon Than Expected

New climate change research from the Berkeley Lab suggests that boreal forests will likely shift north and will relinquish more trapped carbon than most current climate models predict. It’s difficult to imagine how a degree or two of warming will affect a location. Will it rain less? What will happen to the area’s vegetation? New [...]

May 8, 2013

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Potential New Therapy Stops Tumor Growth

Scientists have identified a way to flip a genetic switch off to halt tumor growth, demonstrating a potential new therapy in mice that impacts tumor growth in a significant way. Approximately 90 percent of cancers start within tissues that form the inner linings of various organs. Decades of accumulated genetic mutations can, on occasion, induce [...]

May 8, 2013

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Researchers Believe They Can Reliably Predict Snowstorms on Mars

Using a climate model adapted to the special conditions on Mars, researchers believe they can reliably predict snowstorms on Mars far in advance, helping future missions choose better routes that avoid heavy snowfall. Snowstorms lashing down at the northern hemisphere of Mars during the icy cold winters may be predicted several weeks in advance, say [...]

May 7, 2013

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Increased Parkin Gene Levels Can Delay the Aging Process

In a new study, UCLA researchers increased parkin levels in the cells of fruit flies, discovering that this extended their life span by more than 25 percent as compared with a control group that did not receive additional parkin. UCLA life scientists have identified a gene previously implicated in Parkinson’s disease that can delay the [...]

May 7, 2013

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New Metamaterial Doubles the Range of Light that Can Be Manipulated

By designing a broadband metamaterial that more than doubles the range of wavelengths of light that can be manipulated, Stanford scientists have taken an important step toward designing a metamaterial that works across the entire visible spectrum. All natural materials have a positive index of refraction – the degree to which they refract light. The [...]

May 7, 2013

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Scientists Reveal a New Species of Dinosaur

New research describes the newly discovered species of bone-headed dinosaur, named Acrotholus audeti, which lived about 85 million years ago. Scientists have named a new species of bone-headed dinosaur (pachycephalosaur) from Alberta, Canada. Acrotholus audeti (Ack-RHO-tho-LUS) was identified from both recently discovered and historically collected fossils. Approximately six feet long and weighing about 40 kgs [...]

May 7, 2013

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New Study Suggests Wind, Not Water, Formed Mount Sharp on Mars

In a newly published study, scientists from Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology suggest that Mount Sharp most likely emerged as strong winds carried dust and sand into the 96-mile-wide crater in which the mound sits. A roughly 3.5-mile high Martian mound that scientists suspect preserves evidence of a massive lake might actually [...]

May 7, 2013

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Herschel Makes Detailed Observations of a Hot Molecular Gas at the Center of the Milky Way

Using ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory, scientists have detected and analyzed a variety of simple molecules at the center of Milky Way, allowing them to probe some of the fundamental properties of the interstellar gas surrounding the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. ESA’s Herschel space observatory has made detailed observations of [...]

May 7, 2013

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NASA’s Spitzer Helps Researchers Get a Closer Look at Hot Jupiters

Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers are taking a closer look at exoplanets known as Hot Jupiters, revealing a wide range of climates, raging winds and other aspects of their turbulent nature. Our galaxy is teeming with a wild variety of planets. In addition to our solar system’s eight near-and-dear planets, there are more than [...]