M.J. Owens, M. Lockwood and L.A. Barnard (2017). ‘Coronal mass ejections are not coherent magnetohydrodynamic structures’. Nature Scientific Reports. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04546-3

Long-term power cuts, destruction of electronic devices and increased cancer risk for aeroplane passengers are all potential effects of the Earth being hit by a powerful solar eruption. Yet, new research has found space scientists have their work cut out to predict when these coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are on a collision course with Earth.

A study of CMEs by scientists at the University of Reading has found they have cloud-like structures...

NASA-funded CHESS mission will check out the space between stars Floating clouds of the interstellar medium are the focus of the NASA-funded CHESS sounding rocket mission, which will check out the earliest stages of star formation. Here, the CHESS payload is integrated with the sounding rocket before launch. Credit: Kevin France

Deep in space between distant stars, space is not empty. Instead, there drifts vast clouds of neutral atoms and molecules, as well as charged plasma particles called the interstellar medium—that may, over millions of years, evolve into new stars and even planets. These floating interstellar reservoirs are the focus of the NASA-funded CHESS sounding rocket mission, which will check out the earliest stages of star formation.

CHESS—short for the Colorado High-resolu...

Genes, Environment, and the Risk for Autism: Environment factors (ozone) can interact with genetic factors (copy number variation) to produce an even higher risk for autism than expected by adding the two risk factors, one that might not be found by studying the factors independently. Credit: Penn State University

Increased risk for autism when genetic variation and air pollution meet. A new analysis shows that individuals with high levels of genetic variation and elevated exposure to ozone in the environment are at an even higher risk for developing autism than would be expected by adding the 2 risk factors together...

Enhancing Magnetic Functionality with Scandium: Breaking Stereotypes in the Design of Rare Earth Materials. Chemistry of Materials, 2017; 29 (9): 3962 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b00314

Researchers at the US. Dept of Energy’s Ames Laboratory discovered that they could functionalize magnetic materials through a thoroughly unlikely method, by adding amounts of the virtually non-magnetic element scandium to a gadolinium-germanium alloy. It was so unlikely they called it a “counterintuitive experimental finding” in their published work on the research. “People don’t talk much about scandium when they are talking magnetism, because there has not been much reason to,” said Yaroslav Mudryk, an Associate Scientist at Ames Laboratory. “It’s rare, expensive, and displays virtually no magnetism.”

“Co...