Picture of the bristlecone pine forest in California, the United States where the bristlecone pine sample for this study used to live (taken by Prof. A.J.T. Jull). In this forest, there are many living old trees exceed 1000 years old. Harsh environments make bristlecone pines very dense and long lives. Credit: A.J.T.Jull

Analysis of tree rings reveals highly abnormal solar activity in the mid-Holocene. An international team led by researchers at Nagoya University, along with US and Swiss colleagues, has identified a new type of solar event and dated it to the year 5480 BC; they did this by measuring carbon-14 levels in tree rings, which reflect the effects of cosmic radiation on the atmosphere at the time...

Artist illustration depicting the record breaking “tidal disruption event” (TDE). The red shows hotter material that falls toward the black hole and generates a distinct X-ray flare. The blue shows a wind blowing from the infalling material. Credit: CXC/M. Weiss; X-ray: NASA/CXC/UNH/D. Lin et al, Optical: CFHT

A giant black hole ripped apart a nearby star and then continued to feed off its remains for close to a decade, according to research led by the University of New Hampshire. This black hole meal is more than 10X longer than any other previous episode of a star’s death. “We have witnessed a star’s spectacular and prolonged demise,” said Dacheng Lin, a research scientist at UNH’s Space Science Center...

An engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis says a compound found in green tea may be of particular benefit to patients struggling with multiple myeloma and amyloidosis. Aggregation of Full Length Immunoglobulin Light Chains from AL Amyloidosis Patients Is Remodeled by Epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2016; jbc.M116.750323 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M116.750323

Epigallocatechine-3-gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol found in green tea leaves, may be of particular benefit to patients struggling with multiple myeloma and amyloidosis. These patients are susceptible to a frequently fatal condition called light chain amyloidosis, in which parts of the body’s own antibodies become misshapen and can accumulate in various organs, including the heart and kidneys...

A schematic illustration of a microbial fuel cell using a paper electrode coated with carbon paste. Credit: Michael Osadciw/University of Rochester

The concept behind microbial fuel cells, which rely on bacteria to generate an electrical current, is more than a century old. But turning that concept into a usable tool has been a long process. Microbial fuel cells, or MFCs, are more promising today than ever, but before their adoption can become widespread, they need to be both cheaper and more efficient. Researchers at the University of Rochester have made significant progress toward those ends. In a fuel cell that relies on bacteria found in wastewater, Kara Bren, a professor of chemistry, and Peter Lamberg, a postdoctoral fellow, have developed an electrode using paper.

Until now, most el...