Milky Way Family Tree

Family tree of the Milky Way. The main progenitor of the Milky Way is denoted by the trunk of the tree, coloured by stellar mass. Black lines indicate the five identified galaxies. Grey dotted lines depict other mergers that the Milky Way experienced that could not be connected to a specific progenitor. From left to right, the six images along the top of the figure indicate the identified progenitor galaxies: Sagittarius, Sequoia, Kraken, the Milky Way’s Main progenitor, the progenitor of the Helmi streams, and Gaia-Enceladus-Sausage. | © D. Kruijssen

Astrophysicists reconstruct the galaxy merger history of our home galaxy. Galaxies like the Milky Way formed by the merging of smaller progenitor galaxies...

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A 2D Perspective: Stacking Materials to realize a Low Power Consuming Future

Scientists have designed a 2D material-based multi-stacked structure comprising tungsten disulfide (WS2) layer sandwiched between hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layers that displays long-range interaction between successive WS2 layers with potential for reducing circuit design complexity and power consumption.

2D materials have been popular among materials scientists owing to their lucrative electronic properties, allowing their applications in photovoltaics, semiconductors, and water purification. In particular, the relative physical and chemical stability of 2D materials allow them to be “stacked” and “integrated” with each other...

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Astronomers discover New ‘Fossil Galaxy’ Buried Deep within the Milky Way

An all-sky image of the stars in the Milky Way as seen from Earth. The coloured rings show the approximate extent of the stars that came from the fossil galaxy known as Heracles. Credit: Danny Horta-Darrington (LJMU), ESA/Gaia, SDSS

Scientists working with data from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys’ Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) have discovered a “fossil galaxy” hidden in the depths of our own Milky Way. This result, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, may shake up our understanding of how the Milky Way grew into the galaxy we see today.

The proposed fossil galaxy may have collided with the Milky Way ten billion years ago, when our galaxy was still in its infancy...

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Gut Immune Cells may help send Multiple Sclerosis into Remission

This shows a head and neurons
The findings confirm for the first time that gut immune cells are involved in MS relapses in humans. Image is in the public domain

An international research team led by UCSF scientists has shown, for the first time, that gut immune cells travel to the brain during multiple sclerosis (MS) flare-ups in patients. These gut cells seem to be playing a protective role, helping drive MS symptoms back into remission.

Scientists know that in MS, other types of immune cells go haywire and attack myelin, crucial insulation material that helps nerve cells communicate with one another quickly and reliably. The resulting damage leads to periodic MS attacks that can leave patients struggling with vision loss, memory problems, pain and other symptoms...

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