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    Hubble Watches Spun-up Asteroid Coming Apart

    March 31, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space


    This Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the gradual self-destruction of an asteroid, whose ejected dusty material has formed two long, thin, comet-like tails. The longer tail stretches more than 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) and is roughly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide. The shorter tail is about a quarter as long. The streamers will eventually disperse into space.
    Credits: NASA, ESA, K. Meech and J. Kleyna (University of Hawaii), and O. Hainaut (European Southern Observatory)

    A small asteroid has been caught in the process of spinning so fast it’s throwing off material, according to new data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. Images from Hubble show two narrow, comet-like tails of dusty debris streaming from the asteroid (6478) Gault...

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    Researchers discover the Source of New Neurons in Brain’s Hippocampus

    March 31, 2019, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    The dentate gyrus of mouse hippocampus at postnatal day 7, blue is nuclei marker, green is progeny of HOPX-expressing progenitor cells, and red is marker of cell proliferation.
    Credit: Daniel A. Berg and Allison M. Bond

    Findings extend understanding of how a continuous supply of neurons throughout life is connected with learning and memory. Researchers have shown, in mice, that one type of stem cell that makes adult neurons is the source of this lifetime stock of new cells in the hippocampus. These findings may help neuroscientists figure out how to maintain youthful conditions for learning and memory, and repair and regenerate parts of the brain after injury and aging.

    “We’ve shown for the first time, in mammals, that neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus grow and develo...

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    AI can predict Premature Death, study finds

    March 31, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Top 15 risk factor variables for predicting mortality listed in descending order of “importance” by algorithm derived from the training cohort of 376,971 patients.

    Computers which are capable of teaching themselves to predict premature death could greatly improve preventative healthcare in the future, suggests a new study by experts at the University of Nottingham. The team of healthcare data scientists and doctors have developed and tested a system of computer-based ‘machine learning’ algorithms to predict the risk of early death due to chronic disease in a large middle-aged population.

    They found this AI system was very accurate in its predictions and performed better than the current standard approach to prediction developed by human experts...

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    Deep Groundwater may Generate Surface Streams on Mars

    March 31, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Recurrent Slope Linae on the Palikir Crater walls on Mars.
    Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    New research suggests that deep groundwater could still be active on Mars and could originate surface streams in some near-equatorial areas on Mars. In mid-2018, researchers supported by the Italian Space Agency detected the presence of a deep-water lake on Mars under its south polar ice caps. Now, researchers at the USC Arid Climate and Water Research Center (AWARE) have published a study that suggests deep groundwater could still be active on Mars and could originate surface streams in some near-equatorial areas on Mars.

    The researchers at USC have determined that groundwater likely exists in a broader geographical area than just the poles of Mars and that there is an active system, as d...

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