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    TESS discovers three New Planets nearby, including Temperate ‘Sub-Neptune’

    July 30, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This infographic illustrates key features of the TOI 270 system, located about 73 light-years away in the southern constellation Pictor. The three known planets were discovered by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite through periodic dips in starlight caused by each orbiting world. Insets shows information about the planets, including their correct relative sizes, and how they compare to Earth. Temperatures given for TOI 270 planets are equilibrium temperatures, calculated without the warming effects of any possible atmospheres.
    Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger

    Planetary system orbiting an unusually quiet star is ideal for future habitability searches...

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    New Space Discovery sheds light on how Planets Form

    July 30, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Data on the brightness of a young star led to the discovery of exoplanet DS Tuc Ab. Red arrows mark “transits” where the planet crossed between Earth and the planet’s host star. The large, smooth variations are caused by the star, a result of its youth. Figure courtesy of: Elisabeth Newton
    Data on the brightness of a young star led to the discovery of exoplanet DS Tuc Ab. Red arrows mark “transits” where the planet crossed between Earth and the planet’s host star. The large, smooth variations are caused by the star, a result of its youth. Figure courtesy of Elisabeth Newton.

    A young planet and a bright star offer glimpses into the past and future. Researchers at Dartmouth College have discovered a planet orbiting one of the brightest young stars known, according to a study published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Aged at approximately 45 million years old, the star and its planet could provide valuable information on how planetary bodies form.

    Known as an exoplanet because it is outside of the solar system, the planet was found as part of NA...

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    High Levels of Estrogen in the Womb linked to Autism

    July 29, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Beeswarm plots illustrating the distribution of oestriol, oestradiol, oestrone and oestrone sulphate concentrations. Error bars represent the interquartile range, and the black dot represents the median; (n CTR = 177, n ASC = 98)

    Scientist have identified a link between exposure to high levels of oestrogen sex hormones in the womb and the likelihood of developing autism. The discovery adds further evidence to support the prenatal sex steroid theory of autism first proposed 20 years ago.

    In 2015, a team of scientists at the University of Cambridge and the State Serum Institute in Denmark measured the levels of four prenatal steroid hormones, including two known as androgens, in the amniotic fluid in the womb and discovered that they were higher in male foetuses who later de...

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    Engineers use Heat-Free Tech for Flexible Electronics; print metal on flowers, gelatin

    July 29, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A rose with metallic, electronic traces printed on a petal.
    Martin Thuo and his research group have developed heat-free technology that can print conductive, metallic lines and traces on just about anything, including a rose petal. 
    Photo courtesy of Martin Thuo.

    Researchers are using liquid-metal particles to print electronic lines and traces on rose petals, leaves, paper, gelatin – on all kinds of materials. The technology creates flexible electronics that could have many applications such as monitoring crops, tracking a building’s structural integrity or collecting biological data.

    Martin Thuo of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory clicked through the photo gallery for one of his research projects. How about this one? There was a rose with metal traces printed on a delicate petal.
    Or this? A curled sheet of paper with a flexib...

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