Yasha Neiman grapples with complex conundrums in quantum gravity on a daily basis. Credit: OIST

A new perspective bridges two approaches to understanding quantum gravity. “As we learn more, reality becomes ever more subtle; the absolute becomes relative, the fixed becomes dynamical, the definite is laden with uncertainty,” writes physicist Yasha Neiman. A professor and head of the Quantum Gravity Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), he grapples with this conundrum on a daily basis. Quantum gravity, Neiman’s branch of physics, aims to unify quantum mechanics, which describes nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles, with Einstein’s theory of General Relativity – the modern theory of gravitation as curvature of space and time...

A potential interstellar dust track (circled) in Stardust’s aerogel collector. Credit: UC Berkeley/Andrew Westphal

More samples of comets are urgently required to better understand the early history of the solar system, say researchers analyzing comet dust brought back to Earth by NASA’s Stardust mission in 2006. The dust particles are from Comet 81P/Wild (also known as Wild 2) and date to the beginning of the solar system, containing clues about its earliest history. “The future of Stardust science”, which is a paper published in June 2017 in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, summarizes the roughly 150 scientific publications based on Stardust science...

UT Southwestern researchers have helped reveal the molecular structure of alpha Klotho (a-Klotho), the so-called “anti-aging” protein

Researchers reveal the molecular structure of the so-called ‘anti-aging’ protein alpha Klotho (a-Klotho) and how it transmits a hormonal signal that controls a variety of biologic processes. Studies at UTSW two decades ago by Dr. Makoto Kuro-o, Professor of Pathology, demonstrated that mice lacking either a-Klotho or the hormone FGF23 suffered from premature and multiple organ failure as well as other conditions, including early onset cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cognitive decline...

These schematics show the printing of water in oil using a nanoparticle supersoap. Gold nanoparticles in the water combine with polymer ligands in the oil to form an elastic film (nanoparticle supersoap) at the interface, locking the structure in place. Credit: Berkeley Lab

Reconfigurable material could be used for liquid electronics and chemical synthesis, among other applications. Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to print 3D structures composed entirely of liquids. Using a modified 3D printer, they injected threads of water into silicone oil – sculpting tubes made of one liquid within another liquid.

They envision their all-liquid material could be used to construct liquid electronics that power flexible,...