Galaxies from the SAMI survey, imaged with Japan’s Subaru telescope. Credit: D. Taranu (University of Western Australia), C. Foster (University of Sydney), NAOJ (the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

For the first time astronomers have measured how a galaxy’s spin affects its shape. It sounds simple, but measuring a galaxy’s true 3D shape is a tricky problem that astronomers first tried to solve 90 years ago. “This is the first time we’ve been able to reliably measure how a galaxy’s shape depends on any of its other properties – in this case, its rotation speed,” said research team leader Dr Caroline Foster of the University of Sydney, who completed this research while working at the Australian Astronomical Observatory.

Galaxies can be shaped like a pancake, a sea urchin or a foo...

This is a ground-based telescopic view of NGC 6791. Credit: NASA, ESA, DSS, and L. Bedin (STScI)

By conducting an orbital analysis, a team of astronomers led by Luis Martinez-Medina of the National Autonomous University of Mexico has uncovered new details about the origin and evolution of the old, metal-rich open cluster NGC 6791. Located about 13,300 light years from the Earth in the Lyra constellation, NGC 6791 is one of the most studied open clusters. It is ~8 billion years and an iron to hydrogen abundance ratio more than twice that of our sun. This makes it one of the oldest and most metal-rich clusters in the Milky Way galaxy. With a mass of approximately 5,000 solar masses, it is also one of the most massive open clusters known to date.

“In this work, we explore possible locations f...

Electron microscope view of bacteria in a sinus cavity

Researchers identify amino acids that hold the key to the process. Bitter taste receptors in the upper airway are a first line of defense against sinus infections, but their ability to kill harmful toxins and pathogens is blocked when the sweet taste receptors are also stimulated. While glucose and other sugars are known to trigger these sweet taste receptors, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania have now shown amino acids can also have that effect. This new understanding could help pave the way toward new treatments for chronic sinus infections.

The clinical name for chronic sinus infections is rhinosinusitis...

A property of NV centers in diamond is that the states of their electron spins can be determined from the photons they emit. Placing a system of this kind between two mirrors can considerably improve the rate and yield of emitted photons. As a result, key conditions are met for using NV centers in quantum technology applications. Credit: University of Basel, Department of Physics

Scientists have succeeded in dramatically improving the quality of individual photons generated by a quantum system and have put a 10-year-old theoretical prediction into practice. They have taken an important step towards future applications in quantum information technology. For a number of years, scientists have been working on using electron spins to store and process information...