A Young, Sun-like Star may hold Warnings for Life on Earth

Artist’s depiction of the star EK Draconis ejecting a coronal mass ejection as two planets orbit. (Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

Astronomers spying on a stellar system located dozens of lightyears from Earth have, for the first time, observed a troubling fireworks show: A star, named EK Draconis, ejected a massive burst of energy and charged particles much more powerful than anything scientists have seen in our own solar system.

The researchers, including astrophysicist Yuta Notsu of the University of Colorado Boulder, will publish their results Dec. 9 in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The study explores a stellar phenomenon called a “coronal mass ejection,” sometimes known as a solar storm...

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New Findings about Cluster Headaches

An international survey found that 27.5% of participants experienced cluster headaches as children, but only 15.2% of participants with pediatric onset were diagnosed before the age of 18. (Photo by Getty Images)

Debilitating cluster headaches commonly begin in childhood, but patients are not typically diagnosed until they are adults, according to research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston).

A team of researchers led by Mark Burish, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, conducted the Cluster Headache Questionnaire, an international, internet-based survey of 1,604 participants with cluster headache...

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These Tiny Liquid Robots Never Run Out of Juice as Long as they have Food

Artist’s rendering of autonomous, continuous “liquid robots” in an animated GIF. (Credit: Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab)

By removing electricity from equation, discovery overcomes yearslong hurdle in robotics. Scientists at Berkeley Lab and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have demonstrated the first self-powered, aqueous robot that runs continuously without electricity. The technology has potential as an automated chemical synthesis or drug delivery system for pharmaceuticals.

When you think of a robot, images of R2-D2 or C-3PO might come to mind. But robots can serve up more than just entertainment on the big screen. In a lab, for example, robotic systems can improve safety and efficiency by performing repetitive tasks and handling harsh chemicals.

But before a robot can...

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Record-Breaking Simulations of Large-Scale Structure Formation in the Universe

Researchers led by the University of Tsukuba present computer simulations that capture the complex dynamics of elusive neutrinos left over from the Big Bang

Current simulations of cosmic structure formation do not accurately reproduce the properties of ghost-like particles called neutrinos that have been present in the Universe since its beginning. But now, a research team from Japan has devised an approach that solves this problem.

In a study published this month in SC ’21: Proceedings of the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis, researchers at the University of Tsukuba, Kyoto University, and the University of Tokyo report simulations that precisely follow the dynamics of such cosmic relic neutrinos...

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