This is an artistic simulation of WASP 127b orbiting a star. Credit: Gabriel Pérez, SMM (IAC).

Scientists have observed a rare gaseous planet, with partly clear skies, and strong signatures of alkali metals in its atmosphere. The extrasolar planet WASP-127b is one of the least dense exoplanets ever found. It has a radius 1.4 times greater than Jupiter, but only 20% of its mass. Such a planet has no analogue in the solar system and is rare even within the exoplanet diversity. It takes just over four days to complete an orbit around its parent star and its surface temperature is around 1400 K (1127 ° C).

The observations of WASP-127b reveal the presence of a large concentration of alkali metals in its atmosphere, allowing simultaneous detections of Sodium, Potassium and Lithium, for the fi...

Artistic simulation of a planetary system composed by three rocky planets with the same size of the Earth. Credit: Gabriel Pérez Díaz, SMM (IAC)

Today marks the discovery of two new planetary systems, one of them hosting three planets with the same size of the Earth. The information about these new exoplanets has been obtained from the data collected by the K2 mission of NASA’s Kepler satellite, which started in November 2013. The work, which will be published in the Monthly Notices of the magazine Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), reveals the existence of two new planetary systems detected from the eclipses they produce in the stellar light of their respective stars...

The aorta of a mouse model of atherosclerosis on a high-fat diet for 12 months (top) has significantly more plaques (bright red) than the aorta of the same type of mouse that also produces the anti-inflammatory E06 antibody (bottom). Credit: UC San Diego Health

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine discovered that they can block inflammation in mice with a naturally occurring antibody that binds oxidized phospholipids (OxPL), molecules on cell surfaces that get modified by inflammation. Even while on a high-fat diet, the antibody protected the mice from arterial plaque formation, hardening of the arteries and liver disease, and prolonged their lives.

This study, published June 6 by Nature, marks the first demonstration in a living system that OxPL triggers in...

1.2m, 5.2kg turbine blade fabricated entirely with cellulose and chitosan, the most ubiquitous biopolymers on earth and produced in large amounts in almost every ecosystem. Both ingredients are obtained from by-products of the industry, resulting in production with negative ecological footprint.

Researchers have recently demonstrated the use of cellulose to sustainably manufacture/fabricate large 3D objects. Their approach diverges from the common association of cellulose with green plants and is inspired by the wall of the fungus-like oomycetes, which is reproduced introducing small amounts of chitin between cellulose fibers. The resulting fungal-like adhesive material(s) (FLAM) are strong, lightweight and inexpensive, and can be molded or processed using woodworking techniques.

Cellulose...