White dwarf stars may host more habitable exoplanets than expected

Woman standing with arms akimbo in front of dark space backdrop with stars and planets.
Aomawa Shields, UC Irvine associate professor of physics and astronomy, headed a study comparing the climates of two exoplanets. Computer simulations led her team to conclude that white dwarf stars – previously considered inhospitable to life-supporting exoplanets – could, in fact, host planets in their habitable zones with comparatively temperate climates. Steve Zylius / UC Irvine

Among the roughly 10 billion white dwarf stars in the Milky Way galaxy, a greater number than previously expected could provide a stellar environment hospitable to life-supporting exoplanets, according to astronomers at the University of California, Irvine.

In a paper published recently in The Astrophysical Journal, a research team led by Aomawa Shields, UC Irvine associate professor of physics and as...

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Waste to wealth: Pomelo peel can be used for electricity generation and sensing devices

Waste to wealth: Pomelo peel can be used for electricity generation and sensing devices
The researchers developed pomelo peel-based devices for energy harvesting and self-powered sensing. Credit: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c02319

Pomelo is a large citrus fruit commonly grown in Southeast and East Asia. It has a very thick peel, which is typically discarded, resulting in a considerable amount of food waste. In a new study published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers explore ways to utilize waste pomelo-peel biomass to develop tools that can power small electric devices and monitor biomechanical motions.

“There are two main parts of the pomelo peel—a thin outer layer and a thick, white inner layer. The white part is soft and feels like a sponge when you push on it...

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Scientists discover new sources for ‘the molecule that made the universe’

MSU scientists discover new sources for 'the molecule that made the universe'
A star-forming region in the Tarantula Nebula as captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. MSU researchers have recently uncovered alternative sources of the molecule H₃⁺, which plays a crucial role in the birth of stars and other cosmic chemistry. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

From helping catalyze interstellar reactions and fueling the birth of stars to its presence in neighborhood gas giants like Saturn and Jupiter, trihydrogen, or H3+, is best known as the “the molecule that made the universe.”

While we have a clear picture of how the majority of H3+ is formed—a hydrogen molecule, or H2, colliding with its ionized counterpart, H2+—scientists are keen to understand alternative sources of H3+ and to better measure its abundance throughout the cosmos...

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Newly discovered ‘Ovoid’ brain cells reshape understanding of how memory works

Meet the newly discovered brain cell that allows you to remember objects

Take a look around your home and you’ll find yourself surrounded by familiar comforts—photos of family and friends on the wall, well-worn sneakers by the door, a shelf adorned with travel mementos. Objects like these are etched into our memory, shaping who we are and helping us navigate environments and daily life with ease. But how do these memories form? And what if we could stop them from slipping away under a devastating condition like Alzheimer’s disease?

Scientists at UBC’s faculty of medicine have just uncovered a crucial piece of the puzzle. In a study published in Nature Communications, the researchers have discovered a new type of brain cell that plays a central role in our ability to remember and recognize objects.

Called “ovoid cells,” these highly-specialized neur...

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