Hybrid laser 3-D-view. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Twente

Researchers have developed the world’s most narrowband diode laser on a chip. This laser represents a breakthrough in the fast-growing field of photonics, and will bring applications like 5G internet and accurate GPS closer. We are slowly reaching the bounds of what is possible with electronics. That is why scientists and the private sector are committed to photonics – a key technology that makes numerous other innovations possible. This involves the deployment of photons (light particles) for transporting and processing data.

For photonic chips to function as efficiently as possible, one has to be able to properly control the light signals...

Artist’s impression of HD189733b, showing the planet’s atmosphere being stripped by the radiation from its parent star. Credit: Ron Miller

New models of massive stellar eruptions hint at an extra layer of complexity when considering whether an exoplanet may be habitable or not. Models developed for our own Sun have now been applied to cool stars favoured by exoplanet hunters, in research presented by Dr Christina Kay, of the NASA Goddard Flight Center, on Monday 3rd July at the National Astronomy Meeting at the University of Hull.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are huge explosions of plasma and magnetic field that routinely erupt from the Sun and other stars...

A cutout of the map of M81’s stellar halo in resolved RGB stars (Smercina et al. 2017, in preparation). The colors correspond to the metallicity bins defined on the CMD in the top left figure. The known galaxies in the field are labeled. d1005+68 is located at the bottom left of the map, indicated by a black arrow. It appears as a significant overdensity of blue (metal-poor) RGB stars, very near to the dwarf spheroidal, BK5N. Credit: Smercina et al., 2017.

Astronomers have detected a new faint dwarf spheroidal galaxy using Japan’s Subaru Telescope located in Hawaii. The newly found dwarf, designated d1005+68, belongs to a nearby galaxy group known as the M81 Group. Dwarf galaxies are small galaxies composed of about 100 million up to several billion stars...

Demyelination by MS. The CD68 colored tissue shows several macrophages in the area of the lesion. Original scale 1:100. Credit: Marvin 101/Wikipedia

Over-the-Counter antioxidant lipoic acid holds promise in improving patients’ lives after an OHSU pilot study. Treatment options currently are limited for people suffering from secondary progressive MS. The randomized double-blind study involved 51 participants who completed the 2-year trial. 27 people were given a 1,200-milogram daily dose of lipoic acid, with the remaining 24 participants given a placebo. Researchers are using the findings from the pilot trial to design the expanded multi-site clinical trial to begin later this year in Portland and other sites that have yet to be finalized.

“These are high doses,” said Rebecca Spain, M.D...