In this image, the Andromeda galaxy shreds the large galaxy M32p, which eventually resulted in M32 and a giant halo of stars. Credit: Richard D’Souza. Image of M31 courtesy of Wei-Hao Wang.
Credit: Image of stellar halo of M31 courtesy of AAS/IOP.

Scientists at the University of Michigan have deduced that the Andromeda galaxy, our closest large galactic neighbor, shredded and cannibalized a massive galaxy two billion years ago. Even though it was mostly shredded, this massive galaxy left behind a rich trail of evidence: an almost invisible halo of stars larger than the Andromeda galaxy itself, an elusive stream of stars and a separate enigmatic compact galaxy, M32...

Whole-brain low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy markedly improves cognitive dysfunctions in mouse models of dementia -Crucial roles of endothelial nitric oxide synthase Journal: Brain Stimulation. DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2018.05.012

Ultrasound waves applied to the whole brain improve cognitive dysfunction in mice with conditions simulating vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The research, conducted by scientists at Tohoku University in Japan, suggests that this type of therapy may also benefit humans.

The team, led by cardiologist Hiroaki Shimokawa, found that applying low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) to the whole brain of the mice improved blood vessel formation and nerve cell regeneration without having obvious side effects...

MIT chemists have designed a polymer that can reversibly switch from a large structure (orange spheres) to the smaller blue shapes, in response to light.
Image: Demin Liu/Molgraphics

New material reversibly changes its structure in response to different wavelengths of light. MIT researchers have designed a polymer material that can change its structure in response to light, converting from a rigid substance to a softer one that can heal itself when damaged.

“You can switch the material states back and forth, and in each of those states, the material acts as though it were a completely different material, even though it’s made of all the same components,” says Jeremiah Johnson, an associate professor of chemistry at MIT, a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and th...

HaloSat, a new CubeSat mission to study the halo of hot gas surrounding the MilkyWay, was released from the International Space Station over Australia on July 13. Credit: NanoRacks/NASA

A new mission called HaloSat will help scientists search for the universe’s missing matter by studying X-rays from hot gas surrounding the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers keep coming up short when they survey “normal” matter, the material that makes up galaxies, stars and planets. A new NASA-sponsored CubeSat mission called HaloSat, deployed from the International Space Station on July 13, will help scientists search for the universe’s missing matter by studying X-rays from hot gas surrounding our Milky Way galaxy.

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the oldest light in the universe, radiation from when ...