‘Raindrops in the Sun’s corona’: New adaptive optics shows stunning details of our star’s atmosphere

This image of a prominence above the solar surface is a snapshot of a 4-minute time-lapse movie that reveals its rapid, fine, and turbulent restructuring with unprecedented detail. The Sun’s fluffy-looking surface is covered by “spicules”, short-lived plasma jets, whose creation is still the subject of scientific debate. The streaks on the right of this image are coronal rain falling down onto the Sun’s surface. This image was taken by the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory using the new coronal adaptive optics system Cona. The image shows the hydrogen-alpha light emitted by the solar plasma. The image is artificially colorized, yet based on the color of hydrogen-alpha light, and darker color is brighter light. Credit: Schmidt et al./NJIT/NSO/AURA/NSF

Scientist...

Read More

Spleen-based islet transplantation restores glycemic control in type 1 diabetes without full immunosuppression

Spleen-based islet transplantation restores glycemic control without full immunosuppression
Human islets grown in the immune-remodeled spleen of macaques. Credit: Lei Dong/Nanjing University and Jian Xiao/Wenzhou Medical University

Wenzhou Medical University researchers have reimagined the spleen as a viable site for islet transplantation, enabling long-term diabetes control without the burden of full immunosuppression. Nanoparticle-driven spleen remodeling allowed transplanted mouse, rat, and human islets to restore normal blood sugar in diabetic rodents and cynomolgus macaques.

In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys native beta cells, the insulin-producing cells housed within pancreatic clusters called islets of Langerhans...

Read More

AI outperforms humans in emotional intelligence tests, study finds

AI outperforms humans in emotional intelligence tests
Credit: AI-generated image

Is artificial intelligence (AI) capable of suggesting appropriate behavior in emotionally charged situations? A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University of Bern (UniBE) put six generative AIs—including ChatGPT—to the test using emotional intelligence (EI) assessments typically designed for humans.

The outcome: these AIs outperformed average human performance and were even able to generate new tests in record time. These findings open up new possibilities for AI in education, coaching, and conflict management. The study is published in Communications Psychology.

Large language models (LLMs) are artificial intelligence (AI) systems capable of processing, interpreting and generating human language...

Read More

Why are some rocks on the moon highly magnetic?

The moon
An image of the lunar far side.
Credits:Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Why are some rocks on the moon highly magnetic?

A large impact could have briefly amplified the moon’s weak magnetic field, creating a momentary spike that was recorded in some lunar rocks. Scientists may have solved the mystery of why the moon shows ancient signs of magnetism although it has no magnetic field today. An impact, such as from a large asteroid, could have generated a cloud of ionized particles that briefly enveloped the moon and amplified its weak magnetic field.

Where did the moon’s magnetism go? Scientists have puzzled over this question for decades, ever since orbiting spacecraft picked up signs of a high magnetic field in lunar surface rocks...

Read More