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    ‘Strange’ Glimpse into Neutron Stars and Symmetry Violation

    March 13, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Inner vertex components of the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (righthand view) allow scientists to trace tracks from triplets of decay particles picked up in the detector’s outer regions (left) to their origin in a rare “antihypertriton” particle that decays just outside the collision zone. Measurements of the momentum and known mass of the decay products (a pi+ meson, antiproton, and antideuteron) can then be used to calculate the mass and binding energy of the parent particle. Doing the same for the hypertriton (which decays into different “daughter” particles) allows precision comparisons of these matter and antimatter varieties.

    New results from precision particle detectors at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) offer a fresh glimpse of the particle...

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    ‘Primitive’ Stem Cells shown to Regenerate Blood Vessels in the Eye

    March 13, 2020, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Human vascular progenitor cells (green), made from Zambidis’ lab-grown naive stem cells, engraft into blood vessels (red) in a mouse retina. Credit: Elias Zambidis, Johns Hopkins Medicine

    Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have successfully turned back the biological hands of time, coaxing adult human cells in the laboratory to revert to a primitive state, and unlocking their potential to replace and repair damage to blood vessels in the retina caused by diabetes. The findings from this experimental study, they say, advance regenerative medicine techniques aimed at reversing the course of diabetic retinopathy and other blinding eye diseases.

    “Our study results bring us a step closer to using stem cells more widely in regenerative medicine, without the historical problems...

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    Drones can now Scan Terrain and Excavations without Human Intervention

    March 12, 2020, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Measuring and documenting gravel and limestone quarries, cliff faces and similar natural and man-made formations is often done using drones that photograph the area. New research may make the pilots superfluous. (NB: The vertical rod on top of the drone carries a wind detector for test purposes, and it is not present on the final version of the drone.) Photo: Erdal Kayacan.

    Drone pilots may become superfluous in the future. New research from Aarhus University has allowed artificial intelligence to take over control of drones scanning and measuring terrain.

    A research project at Aarhus University (AU) in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) aims to make measuring and documenting gravel and limestone quarries much faster, cheaper and easier in the future.

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    Exoplanet where it Rains Iron discovered

    March 12, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

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    Artist’s impression of the night side of WASP-76b

    Researchers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed an extreme planet where they suspect it rains iron. The ultra-hot giant exoplanet has a day side where temperatures climb above 2400 degrees Celsius, high enough to vaporise metals. Strong winds carry iron vapour to the cooler night side where it condenses into iron droplets.

    “One could say that this planet gets rainy in the evening, except it rains iron,” says David Ehrenreich, a professor at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He led a study, published today in the journal Nature, of this exotic exoplanet. Known as WASP-76b, it is located some 640 light-years away in the constellation of Pisces.

    This strange phenomenon happens because the ‘iron rain’ plane...

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