Top: Visible light continuum image. Bottom: Magnetic field strength map. The color shows the field strength, from weak (cool colors) to strong (warm colors). Red indicates a location with a strength of more than 6,000 gauss (600 mT). Credit: NAOJ/JAXA

Astronomers at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) using the HINODE spacecraft observed the strongest magnetic field ever directly measured on the surface of the Sun. Analyzing data for 5 days around the appearance of this record breaking magnetic field, the astronomers determined that it was generated as a result of gas outflow from one sunspot pushing against another sunspot.

Magnetism plays a critical role in various solar phenomena such as flares, mass ejections, flux ropes, and coronal heating...

This graphical abstract depicts the findings of Jang et al., which show that it is actually the small intestine that clears most dietary fructose, and this is enhanced by feeding. High fructose doses spill over to the liver and to the colonic microbiota for metabolism.

Princeton University researchers report that in mice, fructose, a sugar found in fruit, is processed mainly in the small intestine, not in the liver as had previously been suspected. Sugary drinks and processed high-sugar foods overwhelm the small intestine and spill into the liver for processing. Additionally, the authors learned that the ability of the small intestine to process fructose is higher after a meal. The work appears February 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Evidence from previous animal and human studies has s...

A redesigned metastable phase of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) shows extraordinary performance as a cathode material for magnesium batteries. The graphic compares the conventional (right) and metastable structures of V2O5. (Credit: Justin Andrews.)

Move over, lithium-ion; now, there’s a better battery on the horizon. A multi-institution team has discovered an exceptional metal-oxide magnesium battery cathode material, moving researchers one step closer to delivering batteries that promise higher density of energy storage on top of transformative advances in safety, cost and performance in comparison to their ubiquitous lithium-ion (Li-ion) counterparts.

“The worldwide push to advance renewable energy is limited by the availability of energy storage vectors,” says Banerjee in the team’s paper, ...

Schematic illustration showing chemical desorption is at work in interstellar molecular clouds. Molecules are released from an ice dust surface using excess energy from a chemical reaction. Credit: Hokkaido University

Researchers demonstrate how a gas escapes ice at an extremely cold temperature, providing insight about how stars form in interstellar clouds. The mechanism by which hydrogen sulphide is released as gas in interstellar molecular clouds is described by scientists in Japan and Germany. Chemical desorption, is more efficient than previously believed, and this has implications for our understanding of star formation in molecular clouds.

Molecular clouds are rare, but are important parts of the galaxy where molecules form and evolve...