A new paper suggests hydrogen—possibly water ice—in the Medusa Fossae area of Mars, which is in an equatorial region of the planet to the lower left in this view. Credit: Steve Lee (University of Colorado), Jim Bell (Cornell University), Mike Wolff (Space Science Institute), and NASA

Scientists taking a new look at older data from NASA’s longest-operating Mars orbiter have discovered evidence of significant hydration near the Martian equator – a mysterious signature in a region of the Red Planet where planetary scientists figure ice shouldn’t exist...

These are projected density distributions of dark matter (background and top panel) and gas (bottom three panels) components when the massive star forms. The stellar cradle is extremely assymmetry as a wide wedge-shaped structure (middle panel) due to the initial supersonic gas motions left over from the Big Bang. The circle in the right panel indicates the gravitationally unstable region with mass of 26,000 solar-masses. Credit: Shingo Hirano

An international team has successfully used a supercomputer simulation to recreate the formation of a massive black hole from supersonic gas streams left over from the Big Bang. Their study shows this black hole could be the source of the birth and development of the largest and oldest supermassive black holes recorded in our Universe...

Structural characterization of retrocyclin. (a) CD spectrum demonstrating the similarity in structure between retrocyclin and RTD-1, both at 0.5 mg/ml in a 1:1 mixture of trifluoroethanol in PBS at pH 7.4. (b) A hypothetical model of retrocyclin made by templating its sequence on the backbone of a similar peptide from porcine neutrophils, protegrin-1 (PDB accession code: 1PG1). (c) A cartoon version of b, wherein arginines are black, cysteines are gray, and the other residues are identified by single letter code. (d) A similar cartoon of rhesus RTD-1, indicating the similarity in structure with retrocyclin.

New research in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology identifies potential protective agent against flu infection...

Zinc rich food items

Study may provide a road map for treatment and prevention. Zinc supplements can significantly inhibit the proliferation of esophageal cancer cells, according to a new study. Previous studies had shown that zinc is essential for maintaining human health and protects the esophagus from cancer. However, it has never been fully understood why zinc has the ability to prevent cancer in the esophagus.

In this study, a team led by Zui Pan, an associate professor of nursing at UTA’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation and a noted esophageal cancer researcher, discovered that zinc selectively halts the growth of cancer cells but not normal esophageal epithelial cells...