250 articles from THURSDAY 5.9.2019

Black hole movies coming soon, says leading astronomer

By the time an international group of scientists stunned the world with the first ever image of a black hole, they were already planning a sequel: a movie showing how massive clouds of gas are forever sucked into the void. The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration has already recorded the necessary observations and is processing the mountains of data to produce the first video, which will likely...

Open Lunar Foundation comes out in the open with its plan to build a moon village

After spending five years in semi-stealth mode, a San Francisco venture called the Open Lunar Foundation is talking about its plan to create a settlement on the moon at a cost in the range of $5 billion. "At $5B, it's not only achievable within current NASA budgets, it offers the tantalizing possibility that a single passionate individual could fund the entire program as their...

Ocean Heat Wave Off U.S. West Coast Could Badly Disrupt Marine Life, Scientists Say

(SEATTLE) — Federal scientists said Thursday they are monitoring a new ocean heat wave off the U.S. West Coast, a development that could badly disrupt marine life including salmon, whales and sea lions. The expanse of unusually warm water stretches from Alaska to California, researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. It resembles a similar heat wave...

Spacewatch: European Mars rover ready for final test

European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover arrives in France for final tests before next year’s mission The European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover has arrived in France for final tests before being prepared for its mission next year.Named Rosalind Franklin after the English chemist, the rover is designed to determine whether there has ever been life on Mars. It will also better understand the...

Squirrels, bees could get US aid but not Yellowstone's bison

U.S. wildlife officials rejected petitions Thursday to protect Yellowstone National Park's storied bison herds but pledged to consider protections for two other species—a tiny, endangered squirrel in Arizona and bees that pollinate rare desert flowers in Nevada.

A molecular 'atlas' of animal development

In a paper in Science this week, Penn researchers report the first detailed molecular characterization of how every cell changes during animal embryonic development. The work, led by the laboratories of Perelman School of Medicine's John I. Murray, the School of Arts and Sciences' Junhyong Kim, and Robert Waterston of the University of Washington (UW), used the latest technology in the emergent...

Closing in on elusive particles

In the quest to prove that matter can be produced without antimatter, the GERDA experiment is looking for signs of neutrinoless double beta decay. The experiment has the greatest sensitivity worldwide for detecting the decay in question. To further improve the chances of success, a follow-up project, LEGEND, uses an even more refined decay experiment.

Tiny airborne particles from wildfires have climate change implications

Wildfires are widespread across the globe. They occur in places wherever plants are abundant -- such as the raging fires currently burning in the Brazilian Amazon. Such biomass burning (BB) can be an environmental calamity. The smoke from BB events produces large amounts of aerosol particles and gases. These emissions can cause major problems for visibility and health, as well as for local and...

Newfound phalanx fragment shows Denisovans closer to modern humans than Neanderthals

A phalangeal fragment from Denisova Cave revealed it belonged to the member of a previously unknown human population, the Denisovans. Scientists have now measured and photographed another fragment found in Denisova Cave. Genomic analysis reveals it is the missing piece of the same phalanx whose proximal fragment enabled initial sequencing of the Denisovan genome. The scientists compared the new...

A molecular 'atlas' of animal development

Scientists have studied the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans for decades, making essential contributions to basic science. In the latest milestone, scientists used cutting-edge technology to individually profile the genes expressed in more than 80,000 cells in a developing C. elegans embryo.

High blood pressure treatment may slow cognitive decline

Among middle-aged and older adults, high blood pressure accelerated cognitive decline and treatment slowed the regression. The rate of cognitive decline was similar between adults receiving high blood pressure treatment and those who did not have high blood pressure at all.

OB-GYNs hesitate to talk about fertility

A new study shows many OB-GYNs are uncomfortable counseling their patients on fertility at a time when more women are delaying pregnancy and needing their doctors to be more vigilant about this education.

Temps up, blood pressures down in hot yoga study

Adults taking hot yoga had lower blood pressure measurements after three months of classes, in a small study examining hot yoga's impact on blood pressure. Hot yoga is typically a vigorous workout practiced under hot and humid conditions. Study researchers say this is one of the first studies of hot yoga's benefits in lowering blood pressure and more research is needed to determine if the practice...

Gut bacteria may be linked to high blood pressure and depression

A study of human gut bacteria -- known as the gut microbiome -- suggests that high blood pressure with depression may be a completely different disease than high blood pressure without depression. The gut may be targeted someday to prevent, diagnose and selectively treat different forms of high blood pressure with or without depression.