MASHABLE - Astronomers previously thought it took billions of years for galaxies to become stable enough to develop so-called "bars," ribbons of stars and gas that cut across the core of a galaxy. The Milky Way is an example of a barred spiral galaxy. But a new James Webb Space Telescope discovery means scientists might...
STUDY FINDS - Could Earth have a twin in a distant galaxy that looks just like ours? Scientists have made an astronomical discovery that disputes previous theories of galaxy formation. An international team of astronomers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to identify the most distant barred spiral galaxy similar to our Milky Way ever...
PHYSICS WORLD - Taking inspiration from the flow of air around aeroplane wings, researchers in the US have imaged photoexcited electrons flowing around sharp bends for the first time. Because such bends are often found in integrated optoelectronic circuits, observing the electrons’ “streamlines” could lead to improvements in circuit design. More than 80 years ago...
SPACE.COM - Like huge playground bullies, planets like Jupiter can be "agents of chaos" around other stars, a pair of new studies suggest. Gas giant planets that are the size of Jupiter or larger create havoc in young planetary systems, often shoving smaller, Earth-sized planets way out of their original, circular orbits, according to the...
NEWSWEEK - While Jupiter may be our planetary guardian angel, protecting us from harm, gas giants in other solar systems might actually wreak havoc on other exoplanets nearby. In our solar system, Jupiter's huge gravitational field deflects comets and asteroids away from our delicate, rocky home planet. According to a new study in The Astronomical...
FORBES - Massive planets like Jupiter—now at its brightest and best in the night sky—can prevent Earth-sized planets from becoming Earth-like by upsetting their orbits and destroying climates. In other star systems, gas giants can play a much more destructive role. As an example, the authors studied HD 141399, a star system also with four...
THE DEBRIEF - New stellar models predict that gas giant planets can act as ‘agents of chaos’ in their solar systems by wreaking havoc on the habitable zone orbits of Earthlike planets that may harbor alien lifeforms. Our solar system’s gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, help protect the inner rocky planets, including Earth, from potentially...
ENTOMOLOGY TODAY - Subterranean termites in the genus Reticulitermes are common pests in North America, responsible for significant damage to wooden structures. The scientific literature maintains that the western United States is home to two native species of termites: Reticulitermes hesperus in more coastal regions from British Columbia to Southern California, and Reticulitermes tibialis in...
EARTH.COM - In the cosmic game of planetary billiards, giant gas planets can act as colossal wrecking balls, effectively pushing their Earth-like counterparts out of the stable zones that might harbor life. Two recent papers dive into this concept further, investigating the roles of giant gas planets in two distinct star systems. What they reveal...
FARM PROGRESS - If ever there were not enough reasons for tree nut farmers to be diligent about winter sanitation, they now have one more with the discovery of a new invasive beetle that overwinters in mummy nuts. This new beetle – Carpophilus truncatus (Nitidulidae) – is a known pest of almonds in Australia, where...
KRLD NEWS RADIO - As she pulled a wiggling, 3-inch worm from her patient’s brain, Australian neurosurgeon Hari Priya Bandi could hardly believe the sight before her. “It’s like something out of a sci-fi movie,” said Dr. Adler R. Dillman – a professor of Parasitology and chair of the Department of Nematology at University of...
By Lauren Barry, Chris Blake, and Mike Rogers | KRLD News Radio 1080AM |
WIRED - Thanks to some genetic tricks, plants can now speak in color. A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside hacked the natural stress response system in Arabidopsis thaliana, a small white-flowered plant from the mustard family that serves as a common model organism in plant biology labs. When exposed to the...
TIME MAGAZINE - The Luna UCR is one very special avocado. The result of a decades-long breeding program at the University of California, Riverside, it has a flavor similar to that of its popular relative, the Hass, but a bit more “floral,” says program horticulturist Mary Lu Arpaia. The Luna UCR is ripe as soon...
EARTH.COM - A recent study from UC Riverside has revealed that the effects of drought can linger in streams and rivers for up to 3.5 years, regardless of intervening storms. Contrary to common belief, the research highlights that a lack of rainfall is not the sole indicator of drought. The study, published in the Journal...
LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE - Mushrooms are weird. They’re not a plant nor, technically, a vegetable. They are a fungus that is as close as we get to eating the Earth itself. While the grocery aisle makes us most accustomed to cooking white buttons or brown portobellos, the colors, shapes, tastes and textures across the kingdom...
FARM PROGRESS - Grazing sheep and other livestock can help convert cover crops to fertilizer for orchard crops. To develop best management practices, the University of California and The Organic Center are collaborating on research to help organic orchard growers safely incorporate livestock grazing into their farming practices. The project is funded by a $2...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - In time for the Halloween festivities, residents in the Bay Area and Central California reported seeing clumps of web-like substances hanging from trees or drifting in the wind last week. The most likely sources of the spooky-looking webbing are baby spiders who use updraft winds to disperse themselves after hatching, according...
AXIOS - A run of alien-related news last week didn't present proof that extraterrestrial life exists. But it did reveal how distorted, misrepresented and hyped the search for life beyond Earth can become. Why it matters: Unscientific claims of alien life and far-from-confirmed findings illustrate alien illiteracy that risks undermining the possible moment when life...
AXIOS - The atmospheres of planets beyond this solar system are coming into focus and helping scientists decide what constitutes evidence of life and where to look for it. Why it matters: As increasingly sensitive telescopes and other tools study more exoplanets in search of signs of life, scientists are trying to hammer out a...
NEW ATLAS - Researchers have identified how the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 takes advantage of our cellular machinery to replicate and spread in the body, and, importantly, a way to stop it. The finding could lead to the development of a new class of antiviral therapies to treat not only SARS-CoV-2, but other viruses...