New Observation Method Helps Unlock Secrets of UK Meteorite

Fragment of Winchcombe meteorite held by researcher. (The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London)

The Winchcombe meteorite, a rare carbonaceous meteorite which crashed onto a driveway in Gloucestershire in 2021, has been found to contain extra-terrestrial water and organic compounds that reveal insights into the origin of Earth’s oceans.

A new study, published today by Science Advances, led by experts from the Natural History Museum and the University of Glasgow reports the orbital history and first laboratory analyses of the Winchcombe meteorite, which was recovered only hours after its spectacular fireball lit up the skies over the U.K. in February 2021.

Denis Vida, a Western physics and astronomy postdoctoral associate, was a key contributor to the study...

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Study finds that Marijuana and E-cigarettes can Harm the Heart as Seriously as Traditional Cigarettes

vaping
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

E-cigarettes and marijuana have harmful effects on the heart similar to those caused by tobacco cigarettes, opening the door to abnormal heart rhythms, reports a team of researchers at UC San Francisco.

The study is published November 15, 2022 in the journal Heart Rhythm.

“We found that cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and marijuana greatly interfere with the electrical activity, structure, and neural regulation of the heart,” said lead author Huiliang Qiu, MD, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in the UCSF Division of Cardiology. “Often, any single change can lead to arrhythmia disease. Unfortunately, these adverse effects on the heart are quite comprehensive.”

For the heart to work well, it must pump blood efficiently and with correct timing...

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Cosmic Chocolate Pralines: General Neutron Star Structure revealed

The study of the sound speed has revealed that heavy neutron stars have a stiff mantle and a soft core, while light neutron stars have a soft mantle and a stiff core – much like different chocolate pralines (image: P. Kiefer/L. Rezzolla)

Physicists model more than one million equations of state. Through extensive model calculations, physicists have reached general conclusions about the internal structure of neutron stars, where matter reaches enormous densities: depending on their mass, the stars can have a core that is either very stiff or very soft.

So far, little is known about the interior of neutron stars, those extremely compact objects that can form after the death of a star: the mass of our sun or even more is compressed into a sphere with the diameter of a large city...

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Uterine Fibroid Growth Activated by Phthalates, Chemicals found in Everyday Products

‘These toxic pollutants are everywhere, and their usage is not banned’. For the first time, scientists at Northwestern Medicine have demonstrated a causal link between environmental phthalates (toxic chemicals found in everyday consumer products) and the increased growth of uterine fibroids, the most common tumors among women.

Manufacturers use environmental phthalates in numerous industrial and consumer products, and they’ve also been detected in medical supplies and food. Although they are known to be toxic, they are currently unbanned in the U.S.

“These toxic pollutants are everywhere, including food packaging, hair and makeup products, and more, and their usage is not banned,” said corresponding study author Dr...

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