First 3D renders from JunoCam data reveal ‘Frosted Cupcake’ Clouds on Jupiter

First 3D renders from JunoCam data reveal “frosted cupcake” clouds on Jupiter
Intensity data of visible light seen by a camera can be plotted as a 3D elevation landscape. This is a still from a computer animation showing a flight over such a landscape for processed, red-filtered image data collected by JunoCam, the wide-angle visible light imager of NASA’s Juno spacecraft, during its 43rd close Jupiter flyby. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt

Animations of the relative heights of the cloud tops of Jupiter reveal delicately textured swirls and peaks that resemble the frosting on top of a cupcake. The results have been presented today by citizen scientist and professional mathematician and software developer, Gerald Eichstädt, at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 in Granada.

The animation uses data from JunoCam, the visible...

Read More

High-Fat Diets Trigger Inflammatory Immune Cell Generation in Bone

High-fat diets drive the production of inflammatory immune cells in the bone  marrow of mice
High-fat diets trigger inflammatory immune cell generation in bone

A study suggests that high-fat diets fuel the creation of inflammatory immune cells in the bone marrow of mice. The results may help explain how high-fat diets trigger inflammation, which can contribute to the development of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and other complications in individuals with obesity.

An invasion of inflammatory immune cells, called monocytes, into fat tissue is a hallmark of obesity, but what leads to this harmful phenomenon is unclear. Many immune cells, including monocytes, are produced in the bone marrow, which is very sensitive to environmental changes. Scientists have already shown that fat cells in the bone marrow rapidly expand in response to a high-fat diet.

“We wanted to know ...

Read More

Researchers Create New Magnetic Quasiparticle

Florian Dirnberger_Vinod Menon_Magnetic Quasiparticle Creation
Optical resonator enhanced coupling of photons and spin-correlated excitations in a van der Waals magnetic crystal. Image created by Rezlind Bushati.

From The City College of New York’s Center for Discovery and Innovation and the Physics Department comes news of a new type of magnetic quasiparticle created by coupling light to a stack of ultrathin 2D magnets. This achievement sprouting from a collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin lays the foundation for an emergent strategy to artificially design materials by ensuring their strong interaction with light.

“Implementing our approach with magnetic materials is a promising path towards efficient magneto-optical effects,” said CCNY physicist Vinod M. Menon, whose group led the study...

Read More

Center of the Coma Cluster Explored with AstroSat

Center of the Coma cluster explored with AstroSat
A Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Spitzer Space Telescope mosaic of the Coma Cluster in long-wavelength infrared (red), short-wavelength infrared (green), and visible light. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Jenkins (GSFC).

Using India’s AstroSat spacecraft, astronomers have investigated a central field of a cluster of galaxies known as the Coma cluster. Results of the study, presented in a paper published September 13 on arXiv.org, deliver important insights into the properties and nature of this galaxy cluster.

Galaxy clusters contain up to thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity. They are the largest known gravitationally bound structures in the universe, and could serve as excellent laboratories for studying galaxy evolution and cosmology.

At a distance of about 321 million light ...

Read More