Research by University of Arizona astronomy professor Rodger Thompson finds that a popular alternative to Albert Einstein’s theory for the acceleration of the expansion of the universe does not fit newly obtained data on a fundamental constant, [...]
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Testing Einstein’s E=mc2 in Outer Space
With the first explosions of atomic bombs, the world became witness to one of the most important and consequential principles in physics: Energy and mass, fundamentally speaking, are the same thing and can, in fact, [...]
First rain on world’s largest artificial watershed
Rain in Southern Arizona is scarce and precious to begin with, but the afternoon shower that soaked the soil 25 miles north of Tucson on Nov. 29 was unusual in several ways. Spouting from a [...]
Compassion meditation may boost neural basis of empathy
A compassion-based meditation program can significantly improve a person’s ability to read the facial expressions of others, finds a study published by Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. This boost in empathic accuracy was detected through [...]
Targeting inflammation to treat depression
Researchers at Emory University have found that a medication that inhibits inflammation may offer new hope for people with difficult-to-treat depression. The study was published Sept. 3 in the online version of Archives of General [...]
Children in foster care develop resilience through compassion
A new study shows that a therapeutic intervention called Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) appears to improve the mental and physical health of adolescents in foster care. CBCT is a tool that provides strategies for people [...]
Mindful multitasking: Meditation first can calm stress, aid concentration
Need to do some serious multitasking? Some training in meditation beforehand could make the work smoother and less stressful, new research from the University of Washington shows. Work by UW Information School professors David Levy [...]
Asteroid Nudged by Sunlight: Most Precise Measurement of Yarkovsky Effect
Scientists on NASA’s asteroid sample return mission, Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), have measured the orbit of their destination asteroid, 1999 RQ36, with such accuracy they were able to directly measure [...]
Mountaintop blasting to mine the sky with the Giant Magellan Telescope
Astronomers have begun to blast 3 million cubic feet of rock from a mountaintop in the Chilean Andes to make room for what will be the world’s largest telescope when completed near the end of [...]
Popular orbits lead to planetary pile ups, deserts
Computer simulations have revealed a plausible explanation for a phenomenon that has puzzled astronomers: Rather than occupying orbits at regular distances from a star, giant gas planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn appear to prefer [...]
With Climate Change, U.S. Could Face Risk From Chagas Disease
In the spring of 1835, Charles Darwin was bitten in Argentina by a “great wingless black bug,” he wrote in his diary. “It is most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long, [...]
Using galaxies as yardsticks
Astronomy Professor Daniel Eisenstein is using a new understanding of spacing between galaxies to build a 3-D map of the cosmos and confirm theories about its structure.
Dog skull dates back 33,000 years
If you think a Chihuahua doesn’t have much in common with a Rottweiler, you might be on to something. An ancient dog skull, preserved in a cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia for 33,000 [...]
Scientists find evidence of Roman period megadrought
Almost nine hundred years ago, in the mid-12th century, the southwestern U.S. was in the middle of a multi-decade megadrought. It was the most recent extended period of severe drought known for this region. But [...]
Freshmen face sleep problems
When Kathryn Orzech attended the College of William and Mary in Virginia, she participated in drama and choir. Rehearsals that would have ended at 10 p.m. in high school now went much later. Social opportunities [...]
Putting a new spin on computing
In a recent publication in Physical Review Letters, physicists at the University of Arizona propose a way to translate the elusive magnetic spin of electrons into easily measurable electric signals. The finding is a key [...]
Rendezvous with an asteroid
A newly announced NASA mission to collect a sample of an asteroid and return it to Earth will include an instrument built at Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). The ASU [...]
NASA’s Swift and Hubble Probe Asteroid Collision Debris
Late last year, astronomers noticed an asteroid named Scheila had unexpectedly brightened, and was sporting short-lived plumes. Data from NASA’s Swift satellite and Hubble Space Telescope showed these changes likely occurred after Scheila was struck [...]
Snooze control: Fatigue, air traffic and safety
It is safe to say that we are all guilty of these at some point in our day — stifling a yawn in the middle of the work day, eyelids growing heavy and having the strong urge for caffeine when 3pm rolls around. While most of us have experienced fati…
Stretchable balloon electronics get to the heart of cardiac medicine
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Cardiologists may soon be able to place sensitive electronics inside their patients’ hearts with minimal invasiveness, enabling more sophisticated and efficient diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias.
A team of materials sci…