Category Uncategorized

This image combines an image taken with Hubble Space Telescope in the optical (taken in spring 2014) and observat ions of its auroras in the ultraviolet, taken in 2016. Credit: NASA, ESA

This aurora observation programme is supported by measurements made by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, currently on its way to Jupiter.
Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, is best known for its colourful storms, the most famous being the Great Red Spot. Now astronomers have focused on another beautiful feature of the planet, using the ultraviolet capabilities of the Hubble. This programme will determine how various components of Jupiter’s auroras respond to different conditions in the solar wind.

This observation programme is perfectly timed as NASA’s Juno spacecraft is currently in the solar wind nea...

This is a schematic of how a “chimeric autoantibody receptor,” or CAAR, that displays fragments of the autoantigen Dsg3 helps fight an autoimmune disease called pemphigus vulgaris, a condition in which a patient’s own immune cells attack Dsg3, which normally adheres skin cells. Credit: Christoph T. Ellebrecht, MD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Preclinical study shows that engineered T cells can selectively target the antibody-producing cells that cause autoimmune disease. The autoimmune disease the team studied is pemphigus vulgaris (PV), a condition in which a patient’s own immune cells attack a protein called desmoglein-3 (Dsg3) that normally adheres skin cells...

Highlights •PM20D1 is a secreted enzyme that regulates N-acyl amino acids in vivo •N-acyl amino acids are endogenous metabolites that uncouple mitochondria •Increased PM20D1 or N-acyl amino acid administration augments energy expenditure

Findings show potential for obesity treatment. Investigators have identified a natural molecular pathway that enables cells to burn off calories as heat rather than store them as fat. This raises the possibility of a new approach to treating and preventing obesity, diabetes, and other obesity-linked metabolic disorders including cancer.

Prof. Bruce Spiegelman, PhD discovered the mechanism in energy-burning brown and beige fat cells in mice...

The NIST-4 watt balance has measured Planck’s constant to within 34 parts per billion, demonstrating that the high-tech scale is accurate enough to assist with 2018’s planned redefinition of the kilogram. Credit: J. L. Lee/NIST

A high-tech version of an old-fashioned balance scale at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has just brought scientists a critical step closer toward a new and improved definition of the kg. The scale, NIST-4 watt balance, has conducted its first measurement of the Planck’s constant to within 34 parts per billion – demonstrating the scale is accurate enough to assist the international community with the redefinition of the kilogram, an event slated for 2018.

The redefinition-which is not intended to alter the value of the kilogram’s mass, but ...