Why does skin get ’leathery’ after too much sun? Bioengineers examine cellular breakdown

A study from Binghamton University, State University of New York researchers explores how ultraviolet radiation can alter the microstructure of human skin. Particularly affected is collagen, the fibrous protein that binds together tissue, tendon, cartilage and bone throughout our bodies.

It’s Hot Outside, Stay Hydrated

This week, Carol Nwelue, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. With temperatures increasing in the summer, what are some symptoms of dehydration? (SOT@ :14, TRT :19) What should…

Harnessing Plant Molecules to Harvest Solar Energy

ROCKVILLE, MD – Our current solar panels aren’t very efficient; they are only able to convert up to about 20 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. As a result, to generate a lot of electricity, the panels require a lot of space—sometimes leading forests to be cut down or farms to be replaced by solar.

A bigger nursery for the solar system’s first formed solids

The earliest solids formed in the solar system give clues to what radioactive species were made by the young sun, and which ones were inherited. By studying isotopic variations of the elements vanadium (V) and strontium (Sr), an international team of researchers including scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that those variations are not caused by irradiation from the sun but are produced by condensation and evaporation reactions in the early solar system.

Critical solar observations from NSF’s GONG network now maintained by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center

Recently, NSF’s NSO successfully transitioned the processing of these important observations of the Sun’s magnetic field and lower atmosphere to the operational control of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), a move that will ensure reliable delivery of the data to the NOAA’s space weather forecasters who are the nation’s official civilian source for space weather watches, warnings, alerts, and forecasts.

Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Supernova Discovery

New Brunswick, N.J. (April 21, 2021) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick astrophysicist John P. (Jack) Hughes is available for interviews on a supernova (exploding star) discovery published today in the journal Nature. The discovery, made with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, features…

NSF’s Inouye Solar Telescope Releases First Image of a Sunspot

The U.S. NSF’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope just released its first image of a sunspot. The telescope’s four-meter primary mirror will give the best views of the Sun from Earth throughout the next solar cycle. This image is an indication of the telescope’s advanced optics. The image is released along with the first of a series of Inouye-related articles featured in the Solar Physics Journal.

Best Region For Life on Mars Was Far Below Surface

The most habitable region for life on Mars would have been up to several miles below its surface, likely due to subsurface melting of thick ice sheets fueled by geothermal heat, a Rutgers-led study concludes. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, may help resolve what’s known as the faint young sun paradox – a lingering key question in Mars science.

Meteorites lend clues to origins of earliest history of solar system

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and a collaborator from the University of Münster reviewed recent work that shows how meteorites exhibit a fundamental isotopic dichotomy between non-carbonaceous (NC) and carbonaceous (CC – rocks or sediments containing carbon or its compounds) groups, which most likely represent material from the inner and outer solar system.

Mercury Transit Observed at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

About 13 times per century, fleeting Mercury can be seen passing directly in front of the Sun in what is called a transit. The most recent Mercury transit occurred on 11 November 11, 2019. While the path of Mercury across the Sun in fact traced a straight line, in this image the path appears to loop backwards due to an effect called field rotation as the telescope and camera track across the sky.