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New Nuclei can help Shape our Understanding of Fundamental Science on Earth and in the Cosmos

In making the new isotopes, reported in the journal Physical Review Letters, scientists are a step closer to being able to more directly probe natural processes that make new elements in stars. The new isotopes also can help inform and refine our understanding of fundamental nuclear physics. Credit: FRIB/MSU

In creating five new isotopes, an international research team working at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, at Michigan State University has brought the stars closer to Earth.

The isotopes — known as thulium-182, thulium-183, ytterbium-186, ytterbium-187 and lutetium-190 — were reported Feb.

15 in the journal Physical Review Letters.

These represent the first batch of new isotopes made at FRIB, a user facility for the U.S...

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Study discovers Link between High Levels of Niacin and Heart Disease

Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a new pathway that contributes to cardiovascular disease associated with high levels of niacin, a common B vitamin previously recommended to lower cholesterol.

The team, led by Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., discovered a link between 4PY, a breakdown product from excess niacin, and heart disease. Higher circulating levels of 4PY were strongly associated with development of heart attack, stroke and other adverse cardiac events in large-scale clinical studies. The researchers also showed in preclinical studies that 4PY directly triggers vascular inflammation which damages blood vessels and can lead to atherosclerosis over time.

The study, published in Nature Medicine, also details genetic links between 4PY and vascular inflammation...

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Chameleons inspire new Multicolor 3D-Printing Technology

Inspired by the color-changing abilities of chameleons, researchers developed a dynamic and sustainable color-changing ink seen in this 3D printed chameleon illustration created by the research team. Credit: Sanghyun Jeon, Diao Lab.

Inspired by the color-changing ability of chameleons, researchers have developed a sustainable technique to 3D-print multiple, dynamic colors from a single ink.

“By designing new chemistries and printing processes, we can modulate structural color on the fly to produce color gradients not possible before,” said Ying Diao, an associate professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

The study appears in the jour...

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There’s one last place Planet Nine could be Hiding

Artist’s illustration of Planet Nine with the Sun and orbit of Neptune (ring) in the distance. (Credit: ESO/Tomruen/nagualdesign)

A study recently submitted to The Astronomical Journal continues to search for the elusive Planet Nine (also called Planet X), which is a hypothetical planet that potentially orbits in the outer reaches of the solar system and well beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet, Pluto.

The goal of this study, which is available on the pre-print server arXiv, was to narrow down the possible locations of Planet Nine and holds the potential to help researchers better understand the makeup of our solar system, along with its formation and evolutionary processes. So, what was the motivation behind this study regarding narrowing down the location of a potential Planet 9?

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