Category Astronomy/Space

Messages from the earth will be beamed to the stars. Credit: Paul Quast

Messages from around the world are to be beamed into space at the speed of light as part of a cultural project to create a celestial time capsule. In autumn 2016, dispatches from the public will be converted into radio waves and broadcasted towards the North Star, Polaris, this autumn, reaching their destination in 434 years. The interstellar message in a bottle will comprise of people’s responses to a single question: how will our present environmental interactions shape the future?

A Simple Response to an Elemental Message is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Observatory of Edinburgh, and the UK Astronomical Technology Centre (UKATC) along with other partners...

Mass-Radius Relation for Rocky Planets Based on PREM Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Every school kid learns the basic structure of the Earth: a thin outer crust, a thick mantle, and a Mars-sized core. But is this structure universal? Will rocky exoplanets orbiting other stars have the same 3 layers? New research suggests that the answer is yes – they will have interiors very similar to Earth.

Zeng et al applied a computer model Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM), which is the standard model for Earth’s interior. They adjusted it to accommodate different masses and compositions, and applied it to 6 known rocky exoplanets with well-measured masses and physical sizes...

Star formation in the outer spiral regions of the galaxy NGC 4625 is seen in ultraviolet light (blue); these arms are nearly invisible in optical light, but have hot, newborn stars that radiate in the UV. A new study finds that the star formation processes in these outer regions generally resemble the processes at work in more normal, denser regions where molecular gas abounds. The atomic gas is traced in the radio (purple); optical starlight is red. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Carnegie Observatories/WSRT

Star formation environments can be roughly grouped into 3 types, categorized by the density of their gas (or more precisely, the projected “surface” density of the gas, which is easier to determine than volume density)...

Intraocular pressure-related parameters obtained with 24-hour recording with a CLS (contact lens sensor) were associated with the rate of visual field progression in treated glaucomatous eyes. This technology may be useful in detecting eyes at higher risk of glaucoma progression while receiving treatment.

Study shows that signals from wearable device can help identify patients more likely to deteriorate quickly. A contact lens with a built-in sensor could help determine which glaucoma patients have a higher risk of disease progression. Researchers found certain patterns of electrical signals emitted from the “smart” contact lenses correlate with a faster rate of glaucoma progression.

Glaucoma remains a leading cause of blindness...