This is a magneto-hydrodynamic 3-D simulations of a relativistic jet. Credit: G. Bodo and P. Rossi (INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Italy) and A. Mignone (Torino University, Italy).

Researchers have discovered a peculiar spiral jet with many twists. A blazar is an astronomical object within an elliptical galaxy, at whose centre there is a supermassive black hole which emits jets of radiation and particles with huge energies. When these are directed towards the Earth we can detect them. They are among the most energetic phenomena in the universe.

In the second half of last year the blazar CTA 102, which is 7,600 million light years from Earth, brightened considerably, drawing the attention of all the astronomers...

Blood vessel-on-a-chips show anti-cancer drug effects in human cells. Credit: 2018 YUKIKO MATSUNAGA, INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), the University of Tokyo, CNRS and INSERM, report a new organ-on-a-chip technology for the study of blood vessel formation and drugs targeting this event. The technology recreates a human blood vessel and shows how new capillaries grow from a single vessel (parent vessel) in response to proper biochemical signaling cues. The technology can further be used to develop drugs targeting this growth as a therapeutic approach to treat cancer and blood-vessel-related diseases. The study can be read in EBioMedicine.

Angiogenesis describes a specific process of blood vessel formation from...

This is MIT professor Stefanie Mueller, pictured in her lab. Credit: Jason Dorfman, MIT CSAIL

3D printing has come a long way since the first “rapid prototyping” patent was rejected in 1980. Still, there’s a big issue: once objects are printed, they’re final. But imagine if, for example, you could recolor your iPhone case or earrings to match whatever outfit you’re wearing. Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have gotten closer to making that a reality. In a new paper, they present “ColorFab,” a method for repeatedly changing the colors of 3D printed objects after fabrication.

Using their own 3D printable ink that changes color when exposed to UV light, the team can recolor a multi-colored object in just over 20 minutes – and they say they...

Jan Egedal, professor of physics at UW-Madison who lead an exploration of magnetic reconnection, stands beside a chamber used for experiments in that exotic phenomenon. Magnetic reconnection seems to be involved in some of the most violent explosions in the universe; the recent study was the clearest view of the magnetic reconnection ever measured in space. The results “blew my mind,” he says. Credit: David Tenenbaum/UW-Madison

Space physicists at University of Wisconsin-Madison have just released unprecedented detail on a bizarre phenomenon that powers the northern lights, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, CMEs (the biggest explosions in our solar system)...