Pale white veils and the narrow bridge between the clouds represent the distribution of the RR Lyrae stars. Credit: V Belokurov, D Erkal, A Mellinger

The Magellanic Clouds, the 2 largest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, appear to be connected by a bridge stretching across 43,000 light years, according to an international team of astronomers led by researchers from the University of Cambridge. The discovery is based on the Galactic stellar census being conducted by the European Space Observatory, Gaia which scientists have been eagerly anticipating for 15 years. The first portion of information from the satellite was released 3 months ago and is freely accessible to everyone...

Scientists have uncovered key processes in the healthy development of cells which line the human gut, furthering their understanding about the development of cancer.

Scientists have uncovered key processes in the healthy development of cells which line the human gut, furthering their understanding about the development of cancer. A University of East Anglia (UEA) study shows that a protein called ninein is essential for normal tissue development in the gut. The research aimed to unravel some of the poorly-understood mechanisms involved in rearranging the cytoskeleton – in cells that are undergoing a shape change during normal development.

Using ‘mini-guts’ created in the lab, they studied the tubular filaments which are part of the cytoskeleton called microtubules, and their dramatic rearr...

1. Hypoxia-induced HIF1α targets in melanocytes reveal a molecular profile associated with poor melanoma prognosis. Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research, 2017; DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.12579
2. Hypoxia-dependent regulation of HIF-1 activity.

Insights provide possible new targets for personalized treatments. Cancerous tumors are voracious. Once they have consumed all the oxygen and nutrients in the original tumor site, the cancer cells metastasize to find more nourishment. Searching for clues about how the body signals the lack of oxygen in melanoma skin cancer, NIH researchers focused on HIF1alpha (hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha), a protein that acts as a sensor for oxygen and nutrients in many types of cancer...

A layered ruthenate Ca2RuO4-y ceramic body contracts on heating, or exhibits negative thermal expansion (NTE). The sintered-body structure shows colossal NTE when extremely anisotropic thermal expansion of the crystal grains produces deformation, consuming open spaces (voids) on heating. The total volume change related to NTE reaches 6.7 percent at most, the largest reported so far. Credit: Koshi Takenaka

Machines and devices in modern industry are required to withstand harsh conditions. When environmental temperature changes, the volume of the materials used to make these devices usually changes slightly, typically by <0.01%. Although this may seem trivial, over time this thermal expansion can seriously degrade the performance of industrial systems and equipment.

Materials that contract o...