Geophysicists studied the activity of high energy electrons and clarified the unexpected protective role of the geomagnetic field surrounding the Earth.

Understanding the ionosphere high in the Earth’s atmosphere is important due to its effects on communications systems, satellites and crucial chemical features including the ozone layer. New insights into the activity of high energy electrons have come from a simulation study led by geophysicist Yuto Katoh at Tohoku University, reported in the journal Earth, Planets and Space.

“Our results clarify the unexpected role of the geomagnetic field surrounding the Earth in protecting the atmosphere from high energy electrons,” says Katoh.

The ionosphere is a wide region between roughly 6...

New study finds dopamine neurons are more diverse than previously thought. Although there is a long-standing, common assumption that most – if not all – dopamine neurons solely respond to rewards or reward-predicting cues, researchers instead discovered that one genetic subtype fires when the body moves and does not respond to rewards at all. The discovery could help explain why loss of dopamine neurons leads to Parkinson’s disease.

In a new Northwestern University-led study, researchers identified and recorded from three genetic subtypes of dopamine neurons in the midbrain region of a mouse model.

Although there is ...

Cornell has used magnetic imaging to obtain the first direct visualization of how electrons flow in a special type of insulator, and by doing so they discovered that the transport current moves through the interior of the material, rather than at the edges, as scientists had long assumed.

The finding provides new insights into the electron behavior in so-called quantum anomalous Hall insulators and should help settle a decades-long debate about how current flows in more general quantum Hall insulators. These insights will inform the development of topological materials for next-generation quantum devices.

The team’s paper, “Direct Visualization of Electronic Transport in a Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator,” published Aug...

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recorded breath-taking new images of the iconic Ring Nebula, also known as Messier 57.

The images, released today by an international team of astronomers led by Professor Mike Barlow (UCL, UK) and Dr Nick Cox (ACRI-ST, France), with Professor Albert Zijlstra of The University of Manchester, showcase the nebula’s intricate and ethereal beauty in unprecedented detail, providing scientists and the public with a mesmerizing view of this celestial wonder.

For many sky enthusiasts, the Ring Nebula is a well-known object that is visible all summer long and is located in the constellation Lyra.

A small telescope will already reveal the characteristic donut-like structure of glowing gas that gave the Ring Nebula its name.

The Ring Nebula...