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    Researchers uncover key clues about the Solar System’s History

    December 6, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    illustration of winds whipping around the sun.
    Illustration of solar wind flowing over asteroids in the early solar system. The magnetic field of the solar wind (white line/arrows) magnetizes the asteroid (red arrow). Researchers at the University of Rochester used magnetism to determine, for the first time, when carbonaceous chondrite asteroids first arrived in the inner solar system. (University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw)

    In a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment, researchers at the University of Rochester were able to use magnetism to determine, for the first time, when carbonaceous chondrite asteroids—asteroids that are rich in water and amino acids—first arrived in the inner solar system...

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    Dark Excitons hit the spotlight

    December 6, 2020, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    The instrument used an initial pump pulse of light to excite electrons and generate excitons. This was rapidly followed by a second pulse of light that used extreme ultraviolet photons to kick the electrons within excitons out of the material and into the vacuum of an electron microscope. The electron microscope then measured the energy and angle that the electrons left the material.

    Heralding the end of a decade-long quest, in a promising new class of extremely thin, two-dimensional semiconductors, scientists have for the first time directly visualized and measured elusive particles, called dark excitons, that cannot be seen by light.

    The powerful technique, described in leading journal Science, could revolutionize research into two-dimensional semiconductors and excitons, with pro...

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    Scientists peer into the 3D Structure of the Milky Way

    December 6, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    SEDIGISM survey image

    Survey of the sky pushes the boundaries of what we know about the structure of our galaxy. Scientists from Cardiff University have helped produce a brand-new, three-dimensional survey of our galaxy, allowing them to peer into the inner structure and observe its star-forming processes in unprecedented detail.

    The large-scale survey, called SEDIGISM (Structure, Excitation and Dynamics of the Inner Galactic Interstellar Medium), has revealed a wide range of structures within the Milky Way, from individual star-forming clumps to giant molecular clouds and complexes, that will allow astronomers to start pushing the boundaries of what we know about the structure of our galaxy.

    SEDIGISM has been unveiled today through the publication of three separate papers in the Monthly Notices of t...

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    Oral Drug blocks SARS-CoV-2 Transmission, researchers find

    December 4, 2020, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    coronavirus sars-cov-2 covid-19

    Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection with a new antiviral drug, MK-4482/EIDD-2801 or Molnupiravir, completely suppresses virus transmission within 24 hours, researchers at Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University have discovered.

    The group led by Dr. Richard Plemper, Distinguished University Professor at Georgia State, originally discovered that the drug is potent against influenza viruses.
    “This is the first demonstration of an orally available drug to rapidly block SARS-CoV-2 transmission,” said Plemper. “MK-4482/EIDD-2801 could be game-changing.”
    Interrupting widespread community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 until mass vaccination is available is paramount to managing COVID-19 and mitigating the catastrophic consequences of the pandemic.
    Because the drug can be take...

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