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This image shows a visual representation of one of the highest-energy neutrino detections superimposed on a view of the IceCube Lab at the South Pole. Credit: IceCube Collaboration

For the first time, a science experiment has measured Earth’s ability to absorb neutrinos – the smaller-than-an-atom particles that zoom throughout space and through us by the trillions every second at nearly the speed of light. The experiment was achieved with the IceCube detector, an array of 5,160 basketball-sized sensors frozen deep within a cubic kilometer of very clear ice near the South Pole.

“This achievement is important because it shows, for the first time, that very-high-energy neutrinos can be absorbed by something – in this case, the Earth,” said Doug Cowen, professor of physics and astronomy & as...

A Planet Inflated By Its Host Star. Upper left: Schematic of the K2-132 system on the main sequence. Lower left: Schematic of the K2-132 system now. The host star has become redder and larger, irradiating the planet more and thus causing it to expand. Sizes not to scale. Main panel: Gas giant planet K2-132b expands as its host star evolves into a red giant. The energy from the host star is transferred from the planet’s surface to its deep interior, causing turbulence and deep mixing in the planetary atmosphere. The planet orbits its star every 9 days and is located about 2000 light years away from us in the constellation Virgo. Credit: Karen Teramura, UH IfA

Since astronomers first measured the size of an extrasolar planet 17 years ago, they have struggled to answer the question: how did t...

Cinnamaldehyde induces fat cell-autonomous thermogenesis and metabolic reprogramming. Metabolism, 2017; 77: 58 DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2017.08.006

New research from the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute has determined how cinnamon might be enlisted in the fight against obesity. Scientists had previously observed that cinnamaldehyde, an essential oil that gives cinnamon its flavor, appeared to protect mice against obesity and hyperglycemia. But the mechanisms underlying the effect were not well understood.

Researchers in the lab of Jun Wu, research assistant professor at the LSI, wanted to better understand cinnamaldehyde’s action and determine whether it might be protective in humans, too...

Protein synthesis regulatory factor RNG105/caprin1 is essential for long-term memory formation.

The research group of Associate Professor Nobuyuki Shiina of the National Institute for Basic Biology have revealed that the function of RNG105 (aka Caprin1) is essential for the formation of long-term memory. RNG105 is a factor involved in protein synthesis in the vicinity of synapses, which transmit information between neurons. Mice who have lost RNG105 in the cerebrum and hippocampus can form short-term memories of several minutes, but the research group has shown that long-term memory, developed over several days to one week, does not form in these mice...