ScienceMania

One star's 'massive fail' could help solve a mystery   Date:May 25, 2017 Source:Ohio State University Summary:For the first time in history, astronomers have been able to watch as a dying star was reborn as a black hole. It went out with a whimper instead of a bang.       FULL STORY In the failed supernova of a red supergiant, the envelope of the star is ejected and expands, producing a cold, red transient source surrounding the newly formed black hole, as illustrated by the expanding shell (left to right). Some residual material may fall onto the black hole, as illustrated by the stream and the disk, potentially powering some optical and infrared emissions years after the collapse . For the first time in history, astronomers have been able to watch as a dying star was reborn as a black hole. It went out with a whimper instead of a bang. The star, which was 25 times as massive as our sun, should have exploded in a very bright supernova. Instea...

Date:May 30, 2017 Source:University of Texas at Austin Summary:Astronomers have put a basic principle of black holes to the test, showing that matter completely vanishes when pulled in. Their results constitute another successful test for Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. FULL STORY This artist's impression shows a star crossing the event horizon of a supermassive black hole located in the center of a galaxy. The black hole is so large and massive that tidal effects on the star are negligible, and the star is swallowed whole. The effects of gravitational lensing distorting the light of the star are not shown here. Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University have put a basic principle of black holes to the test, showing that matter completely vanishes when pulled in. Their results constitute another successful test for Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Most scientists agree that black holes, cosmic entities of such...

Blood stem cells grown in lab for the first time Human blood stem cells have been grown in the laboratory for the first time by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital. Date-18/05/2017 Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have, for the first time, generated blood-forming stem cells in the lab using pluripotent stem cells, which can make virtually every cell type in the body. The advance, published in the journal  Nature , opens new avenues for research into the root causes of blood diseases and to creating immune-matched blood cells for treatment purposes, derived from patients' own cells. "We're tantalisingly close to generating bona fide human blood stem cells in a dish," says senior investigator George Daley, PhD, who heads a research lab in Boston Children's Hospital's Stem Cell Program and is dean of Harvard Medical School. "This work is the culmination of over 20 years of striving." "This is a very big deal,...

Space Stephen Hawking says we have 100 years to colonize a new planet—or die. Could we do it? Here's what it would take to survive this particular doomsday prophecy By   Sarah Fecht   May 5, 2017 Living on Mars would arguably be harder than fixing up our own planet. NASA Stephen Hawking  is making apocalyptic predictions again. The respected theoretical physicist warns that humanity needs to become a  multi-planetary species   within the next century  if we don’t want to go extinct.  Last year, he prophesied  that we had maybe 1,000 years left on Earth, and the inspiration for this newly-urgent timeline is unclear—except for the fact that Hawking’s new documentary about  colonizing Mars is coming out soon. To be sure, Earth is facing some big problems, including  climate change , overpopulation, epidemics, and asteroid strikes. But before we flee this planet like an action hero jumping out of ...

Einstein's Theory of General Relativity n 1905, Albert Einstein determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers, and that the speed of light in a vacuum was independent of the motion of all observers. This was the theory of special relativity. It introduced a new framework for all of physics and proposed new concepts of space and time. Einstein then spent 10 years trying to include acceleration in the theory and published his theory of general relativity in 1915. In it, he determined that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, which is felt as gravity. The tug of gravity Two objects exert a force of attraction on one another known as "gravity." Sir Isaac Newton quantified the gravity between two objects when he formulated his three laws of motion. The force tugging between two bodies depends on how massive each one is and how far apart the two lie. Even as the center of the Earth is pulling you toward it (keepi...

Science of teleportation Etymology The use of the term  teleport  to describe the hypothetical movement of material objects between one place and another without physically traversing the distance between them has been documented as early as 1878. American writer  Charles Fort  is credited with having coined the word  teleportation  in 1931 [3] [4]  to describe the strange disappearances and appearances of  anomalies , which he suggested may be connected. As in the earlier usage, he joined the  Greek   prefix   tele-  (meaning "distant") to the root of the  Latin   verb   portare  (meaning "to carry"). [5]  Fort's first formal use of the word occurred in the second chapter of his 1931 book  Lo! : [6] Mostly in this book I shall specialize upon indications that there exists a transportory force that I shall call  Teleportation . I shall be accused of having assembled lies, yarns,...

Date:May 19, 2017  Summary:In studies with mice, researchers discovered that to maintain certain short-term memories, the brain’s cortex relies on connections with the thalamus. FULL STORY To maintain certain short-term memories, the brain’s cortex relies on connections with the thalamus, new research shows. New research from scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus shows that distant parts of the brain are called into action to store a single memory. In studies with mice, the researchers discovered that to maintain certain short-term memories, the brain's cortex -- the outer layer of tissue thought to be responsible for generating most thoughts and actions -- relies on connections with a small region in the center of the brain called the thalamus. The thalamus is best known as a relay center that passes incoming sensory information to other parts of the brain for processing. But clinical findings suggested that certain parts of the thal...