Space Oddity: Uncovering the Origin of the Universe’s Rare Radio Circles

Faint blue circles of light against a starry space background.
Odd radio circles, like ORC 1 pictured above, are large enough to contain galaxies in their centers and reach hundreds of thousands of light years across. (cr: Jayanne English / University of Manitoba)

Outflowing galactic winds from exploding stars may explain the enormous rings. Astronomers believe they may have found the origin of the universe’s giant odd radio circles: they are shells formed by outflowing galactic winds, possibly from massive exploding stars known as supernovae.

t’s not every day astronomers say, “What is that?” After all, most observed astronomical phenomena are known: stars, planets, black holes and galaxies...

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Researchers Identify why Cancer Immunotherapy can cause Colitis

green background intestines in pink
Jacob Dwyer, Michigan Medicine

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have identified a mechanism that causes severe gastrointestinal problems with immune-based cancer treatment.

They also found a way to deliver immunotherapy’s cancer-killing impact without the unwelcome side effect.

The findings are published in Science.

“This is a good example of how understanding a mechanism helps you to develop an alternative therapy that’s more beneficial. Once we identified the mechanism causing the colitis, we could then develop ways to overcome this problem and prevent colitis while preserving the anti-tumor effect,” said senior study author Gabriel Nunez, M.D., Paul de Kruif Professor of Pathology at Michigan Medicine.

Immunotherapy has emerged as a pr...

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A Butterfly-Inspired Design to Create Crumple-Recoverable Electronics

A butterfly-inspired design to create crumple-recoverable electronics
Credit: Roh et al, Nature Electronics (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-023-01089-6

Over the past decades, electronics engineers have created devices of various shapes and with increasingly sophisticated designs. This includes electronics that can be folded onto themselves, such as foldable phones, along with various other compressible devices.

Researchers at Ajou University and other institutes in South Korea recently introduced a new design for developing crumple-recoverable electronics, or in other words, electronics that can recover their original shape after being crumpled or compressed onto themselves to reduce their size...

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Mysterious Missing Component in the Clouds of Venus Revealed

four views of Venu's High Clouds
Submitted by Vanessa Bismuth on Fri, 05/01/2024 – 12:22

Researchers may have identified the missing component in the chemistry of the Venusian clouds that would explain their color and splotchiness in the UV range, solving a long-standing mystery.

What are the clouds of Venus made of? Scientists know it’s mainly made of sulfuric acid droplets, with some water, chlorine, and iron. Their concentrations vary with height in the thick and hostile Venusian atmosphere. But until now they have been unable to identify the missing component that would explain the clouds’ patches and streaks, only visible in the UV range.

In a new study published in Science Advances, researchers from the University of Cambridge synthesised iron-bearing sulfate minerals that are stable under the harsh chem...

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