A portion of the Medusae Fossae Formation on Mars showing the effect of billions of years of erosion. The image was acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

The dust that coats much of the surface of Mars originates largely from a single thousand-kilometer-long geological formation near the Red Planet’s equator, scientists have found. A study published in the journal Nature Communications found a chemical match between dust in the Martian atmosphere and the surface feature, called the Medusae Fossae Formation...

Topical Curcumin Nanocarriers are Neuroprotective in Eye Disease. Scientific Reports, 2018; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29393-8

A derivative of turmeric could be used in eye drops to treat the early stages of glaucoma, finds a new study led by UCL and Imperial College London researchers. In the new Scientific Reports paper, the researchers report a new method to deliver curcumin, extracted from the yellow spice turmeric, directly to the back of the eye using eye drops, overcoming the challenge of curcumin’s poor solubility.

The research team found the eye drops can reduce the loss of retinal cells in rats, which is known to be an early sign of glaucoma. They are also investigating how the eye drops could be used as a diagnostic tool for a range of conditions...

The photo shows a rare-earth crystal that serves as quantum memory. The crystal is cooled to 3 degrees above absolute zero temperature.
Credit: © UNIGE

Quantum communication and cryptography are the future of high-security communication. But many challenges lie ahead before a worldwide quantum network can be set up, including propagating the quantum signal over long distances. One of the major challenges is to create memories with the capacity to store quantum information carried by light. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in partnership with CNRS, France, have discovered a new material in which an element, ytterbium, can store and protect the fragile quantum information even while operating at high frequencies...

This image shows the same map of H3+ brightness as in redmap.jpg. However, here, we have overlain three different measurements of Jupiter’s magnetic equator. The first, in blue (with the broadest dashes), is the best past estimate of what was thought to be the equator using ultraviolet light; the second, in red and yellow (with medium dashes) is the location of the dark ribbon seen in this map; the third is the new measurement of the magnetic equator recently measured by the Juno spacecraft. This magnetic measurement shows how closely the dark ribbon follows Jupiter’s magnetic equator.
Credit: University of Leicester

New data from Jupiter observations is a gift to astronomers...