N-body simulation of the merger of a Milky Way-like galaxy (with its stars in blue) and a smaller disky galaxy resembling the Small Magellanic Cloud in mass (with it stars in red). At the beginning, the two galaxies are clearly separated, but gravity pulls them together and this leads to the full accretion of the smaller one. Distinguishing the accreted stars from the rest is not easy by the final stage, but it is possible using the motions of the stars and their chemical composition. Credit
Credit: H.H. Koppelman, A. Villalobos, A. Helmi (University of Groningen)

Some ten billion years ago, the Milky Way merged with a large galaxy. The stars from this partner, named Gaia-Enceladus, make up most of the Milky Way’s halo and also shaped its thick disk, giving it its inflated form...

The superior fascicle of the anterior talofibular ligament (1) is an intra-articular non-isometric structure, that is, it relaxes when the foot is on dorsal flexion and it stresses when in plantar flexion. The interior fascicle of the anterior talofibular ligament (2), together with the calcaneofibular ligament (3) and arciform fibbers that unify them, create the new lateral fibulotalocalcanean complex. This is an extra-articular and isometric structure, that is, it is always tense and stabilizes the ankle in any foot position. Credit: University of Barcelona

Researchers describe a new ligament in the lateral side of the ankle. The ligament complex would explain chronic pain after an ankle sprain...

Quantum illustration.
Credit: Stevens Institute of Technology

Researchers have developed a scalable method for creating large numbers of quantum light sources on a chip with unprecedented precision that not only could pave the way for the development of unbreakable cryptographic systems but also quantum computers that can perform complex calculations in seconds that would take normal computers years to finish. Household lightbulbs give off a chaotic torrent of energy, as trillions of miniscule light particles – called photons – reflect and scatter in all directions...

An artist’s illustration of what Phaeton might look like up close.
Credit: Heather Roper

Blue asteroids are rare, and blue comets are almost unheard of. An international team led by Teddy Kareta, a doctoral student at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, investigated (3200) Phaethon, a bizarre asteroid that sometimes behaves like a comet, and found it even more enigmatic than previously thought.

Kareta presented the results during a press conference on Oct. 23 at the 50th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Science in Knoxville, Tennessee. Using telescopes in Hawaii and Arizona, the team studied sunlight reflected off Phaethon, which is known to be blue in color...