Maps of the temperature and lava crust age within Loki Patera, derived from the LBTO observations. The higher temperatures in the southeast (location 3) indicate that new magma was exposed most recently in this location. Credit: Large Binocular Telescope Observatory

Rare occultation of Io by Europa allows detailed infrared mapping of Loki Patera. Taking advantage of a rare orbital alignment between 2 of Jupiter’s moons, Io and Europa, researchers have obtained an exceptionally detailed map of the largest lava lake on Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system. On March 8, 2015, Europa passed in front of Io, gradually blocking out light from the volcanic moon...

MRI of a patient with (cerebral cavernous malformation) CCM disease. Credit: Issam Awad, University of Chicago

Bacteria in the gut microbiome drive the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), clusters of dilated, thin-walled blood vessels in the brain that can cause stroke and seizures, according to new research published this week in Nature by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Altering the microbiome in CCM patients may be an effective therapy for this cerebrovascular disease. CCM disease, which occurs in about 1 in 100 to 200 people, can present in 2 forms. One is sporadic, accounting for 80% of cases, and is most frequent in older individuals. The remaining 20% are familial, inherited cases...

On the left is a low-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) image of a ferroelectric material that is continuously graded from barium strontium titanate (BSTO, top) to barium titanate (BTO, bottom). The material is grown on a gadolinium scandate (GSO) substrate buffered by a strontium ruthenate (SRO) bottom electrode. To the right are local nanobeam diffraction-based 2D maps of a-axis and c-axis lattice parameters that confirm large strain gradients in the ferroelectric material. The material is promising as electrically-tunable capacitors with extreme temperature stability. Credit: Anoop Damodaran/Berkeley Lab

Scientists have greatly expanded the range of functional temperatures for ferroelectrics, a key material used in a variety of everyday applications, by creating...

Preparation and coherent manipulation of pure quantum states of a single molecular ion. Nature 545, 203–207 (11 May 2017) doi:10.1038 (link is external)/nature22338. Chemistry, Metrology, AtoCredit: N. Hanacek/NIST

NIST physicists have solved the seemingly intractable puzzle of how to control the quantum properties of individual charged molecules, or molecular ions. The solution is to use the same kind of “quantum logic” that drives an experimental NIST atomic clock. The new technique achieves an elusive goal, controlling molecules as effectively as laser cooling and other techniques can control atoms. Quantum control of atoms has revolutionized atomic physics, leading to applications such as atomic clocks...