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A lens that is a thousand times thinner than a human hair has been developed in Brazil by researchers at the University of São Paulo’s São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC-USP). It can serve as a camera lens in smartphones or be used in other devices that depend on sensors. “In the present technological context, its applications are almost unlimited,” Emiliano Rezende Martins, a professor in EESC-USP’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computing and last author of a published paper on the invention, told Agência FAPESP....

The most widely used model to describe the epidemic evolution of a disease over time is called SIR, short for susceptible (S), infected (I), and removed (R). A susceptible person can be infected, and the infected person will eventually be removed owing to either immunization or death. The number of people in each class varies, whereas the total population, given by the sum of individuals in all three classes, is considered constant in the time scale of epidemic contamination....

In the process, however, the researchers discovered a fundamental property of halide perovskites that may prove a barrier to their widespread use as solar cells and transistors. Alternatively, this unique property may open up a whole new world for perovskites far beyond that of today’s standard semiconductors. In a paper appearing today (January 24, 2020) in the journal Science Advances, UC Berkeley chemist Peidong Yang and his colleagues show that the crystal structure of the halide perovskites changes with temperature, humidity and the chemical environment, disrupting their optical and electronic properties....

Ever since Earth was a newly formed, sterile planet, meteorites have been hurtling through the atmosphere at high speeds toward its surface. If the initial space debris had included carbonaceous chondrites — a class of meteorite whose members contain significant amounts of water and small molecules, such as amino acids — then it could have contributed to the evolution of life on Earth. However, the source of amino acids in meteorites has been hard to pinpoint....

Other animals take the process even further. Planarian worms, jellyfish, and sea anemones can actually regenerate their bodies after being cut in half. Led by Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Mansi Srivastava, a team of researchers is shedding new light on how animals pull off the feat, along the way uncovering a number of DNA switches that appear to control genes for whole-body regeneration. The study is described in a March 15 paper in Science....

In recent years, nanophotonics at infrared and terahertz frequencies has become important for highly sensitive, ultracompact and low-loss technologies for bio-molecular and chemical diagnosis, sensors, communications and other applications. Nanomaterial platforms that can facilitate enhanced light-matter interactions at these frequencies have become essential for these technologies. Recent work has been using low-dimensional van der Waals materials, such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride and alpha-phase molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3, Nature 2018), because of their highly exotic response to confined light at the nanoscale....

As COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket across the U.S. and the world, few options are available for treating patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2. But new research from the University of Georgia offers hope for a viable therapeutic to combat the disease that has claimed more than 4 million lives worldwide. Published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, the study found that probenecid has broad antiviral properties, making it a prime candidate to combat not only SARS-CoV-2 infection but also other common and deadly respiratory viruses like RSV and flu....

Hospitalization for COVID-19 linked to greater risk of later readmission or death. Large study in England suggests need for increased monitoring of COVID-19 patients after discharge. A large study conducted in England found that, compared to the general population, people who had been hospitalized for COVID-19—and survived for at least one week after discharge—were more than twice as likely to die or be readmitted to the hospital in the next several months....

Imbalances in type and volume of bacteria may also be implicated in “long COVID.” The variety and volume of bacteria in the gut, known as the microbiome, may influence the severity of COVID-19 as well as the magnitude of the immune system response to the infection, suggests research published online in the journal Gut. Imbalances in the make-up of the microbiome may also be implicated in persisting inflammatory symptoms, dubbed “long COVID,” the findings suggest....

The planet, called G 9-40b, is about twice the size of the Earth, but likely closer in size to Neptune, and orbits its low mass host star, an M dwarf star, only 100 light-years from Earth. Kepler detected the planet by observing a dip in the host star’s light as the planet crossed in front of—or transited—the star during its orbit, a trip completed every six Earth days. This signal was then validated using precision spectroscopic observations from the HPF, ruling out the possibility of a close stellar or substellar binary companion....

Astronomers have used ESO’s HARPS planet hunter in Chile, along with other telescopes around the world, to discover three planets orbiting stars in the cluster Messier 67. Although more than one thousand planets outside the Solar System are now confirmed, only a handful have been found in star clusters. Remarkably one of these new exoplanets is orbiting a star that is a rare solar twin — a star that is almost identical to the Sun in all respects....

Mineral samples obtained from the Ryugu asteroid by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft of Japan are aiding the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) space scientists and their colleagues in gaining a deeper insight into the chemical composition of the early solar system, over 4.5 billion years ago. Their research, published in Nature Astronomy, has revealed that the carbonate minerals found on an asteroid were formed from reactions with water that was originally present as ice in the early solar system....

This composite Hubble image shows IRAS 20324+4057, a protostar in a very early evolutionary stage. This light-year-long knot of interstellar gas and dust resembles a caterpillar on its way to a feast. But the meat of the story is not only what this cosmic caterpillar eats for lunch, but also what’s eating it. Harsh winds from extremely bright stars are blasting ultraviolet radiation at this “wanna-be” star and sculpting the gas and dust into its long shape....

The image shows NGC 7793’s spiral arms and small central bulge. Unlike some other spirals, NGC 7793 doesn’t have a very pronounced spiral structure, and its shape is further muddled by the mottled pattern of dark dust that stretches across the frame. The occasional burst of bright pink can be seen in the galaxy, highlighting stellar nurseries containing newly-forming baby stars. Although it may look serene and beautiful from our perspective, this galaxy is actually a very dramatic and violent place....

This sparkling picture taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the center of globular cluster M4. The power of Hubble has resolved the cluster into a multitude of glowing orbs, each a colossal nuclear furnace. M4 is relatively close to us, lying 7,200 light-years distant, making it a prime object for study. It contains several tens of thousands of stars and is noteworthy in being home to many white dwarfs — the cores of ancient, dying stars whose outer layers have drifted away into space....

The material is constructed of a structural system with tunable beams that allows it to change its shape and behaviors in response to dynamic circumstances. The study’s findings, which have implications in the building of buildings, the development of aircraft, and imaging technologies among others, were recently published in the journal Science Robotics. “This research introduces and demonstrates an artificial intelligent material that can learn to exhibit the desired behaviors and properties upon increased exposure to ambient conditions,” said mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Jonathan Hopkins of the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering who led the research....

The findings should help us design more effective vaccines to prevent infections such as MRSA, and may also assist help us develop of new therapies for autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis. The research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland and led by Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology, and Dr. Sarah Edwards and Dr. Caroline Sutton, Postdoctoral Fellows in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute....

The average person will take more than 600 million breaths over the course of their life. Every breath stretches the lungs’ tissues with each inhale and relaxes them with each exhale. The mere motions of breathing are known to influence vital functions of the lungs, including their development in babies, the production of air-exchange-enhancing fluid on their inner surfaces, and maintenance of healthy tissue structure. Now, new research from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University has revealed that this constant pattern of stretching and relaxing does even more — it generates immune responses against invading viruses....

Thousands of scientists, engineers, and technicians from 14 countries, 29 U.S. states, and Washington, D.C. contributed to build, test, and integrate Webb. In total, 258 distinct companies, agencies, and universities participated – 142 from the United States, 104 from 12 European nations, and 12 from Canada. “The Webb international partnerships are the perfect example of what can be accomplished when we, as a human race, work together to attain a common goal,” said Bill Ochs, the Webb project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland....

Fullerenes are very potent antioxidants and are used in antiviral medications. In particular, fullerenes with anti-HIV properties have also been discovered. Apart from that, they are also used as semiconductors and even high-temperature superconductors (if decorated with alkali metal atoms). Their sphere of use is constantly growing, and research is ongoing to find ways of mass production. So far, they are produced in near-gram quantities. One of the more popular methods is the graphite electrode arc process....