The super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e, depicted with its star in this artist’s concept, likely has an atmosphere thicker than Earth’s but with ingredients that could be similar to those of Earth’s atmosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Twice as big as Earth, the super-Earth 55 Cancri e was thought to have lava flows on its surface. The planet is so close to its star, the same side of the planet always faces the star, such that the planet has permanent day and night sides. Based on a 2016 study using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists speculated that lava would flow freely in lakes on the starlit side and become hardened on the face of perpetual darkness...

The artificial cartilage is very flexible yet resistant to tearing. Credit: Joseph Xu, Michigan Engineering

The unparalleled liquid strength of cartilage, which is about 80% water, withstands some of the toughest forces on our bodies. Synthetic materials couldn’t match it – until “Kevlartilage” was developed by researchers at the University of Michigan and Jiangnan University. “We know that we consist mostly of water – all life does – and yet our bodies have a lot of structural stability,” said Nicholas Kotov, the Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor of Engineering at U-M, who led the study. “Understanding cartilage is understanding how life forms can combine properties that are sometimes unthinkable together.”

Many people with joint injuries would benefit from a good replacement for ...

This is Michal Rawlik of ETH Zürich and Nicholas Ayres of Sussex University. Credit: University of Sussex

Scientists at the University of Sussex have disproved the existence of a specific type of axion – an important candidate ‘dark matter’ particle – across a wide range of its possible masses. The data were collected by an international consortium, the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment (nEDM) Collaboration, whose experiment is based at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland. Data were taken there and, earlier, at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble. Professor Philip Harris said: “Experts largely agree that a major portion of the mass in the universe consists of ‘dark matter’. Its nature, however, remains completely obscure...

The Van Allen Belts, shown in green in this illustration, are concentric doughnut-shaped belts filled with charged particles, trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. Credit: Tony Phillips/NASA

Scientists have long known that solar-energized particles trapped around the planet are sometimes scattered into Earth’s upper atmosphere where they can contribute to beautiful auroral displays. Yet for decades, no one has known exactly what is responsible for hurling these energetic electrons on their way. New research using data from NASA’s Van Allen Probes mission and FIREBIRD II CubeSat has shown that a common plasma wave in space is likely responsible for the impulsive loss of high-energy electrons into Earth’s atmosphere...