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Joslin Diabetes Center scientists describe a series of studies designed to investigate the link between insulin, fats, and the vascular system in a paper published in Circulation Research. The group, led by Dr. George King, chief scientific officer and director of research at Joslin, discovered a brand-new method by which the body’s metabolism is controlled by endothelial cells, which line blood vessels. The results challenge scientific dogma by suggesting that, contrary to what was previously believed, vascular dysfunction may really be the root cause of the undesirable metabolic changes that can result in diabetes....

It’s no secret what makes it possible: Cephalopods, including octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, have the most complex brains of any invertebrates. However, the process of how they develop these large brains has remained a mystery. A Harvard University lab studying the visual system of these creatures, which is where the majority of their central processing tissue is focused, believes they have made significant progress in understanding the process. The process, they say, looks surprisingly familiar....

Gibbons have mastered some of the vocal techniques that are akin to what human sopranos rely on whilst delivering their operas. Japanese scientists have been researching them and testing their vocalizations in helium rich atmospheres. The researchers published their findings in the journal American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Takeshi Nishimura, a primatologist at Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute, in Inuyama, Japan and his colleagues had the unlikely idea to investigate the vocalizations of Hylobates lar, the white-handed gibbon, inside large boxes containing 50% helium gas....

Once again, the gamma ray observatory H.E.S.S. has demonstrated its detecting capabilities: in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the High Energy Stereoscopic System discovered most luminous high-energy gamma-ray sources. These are three objects of different type: a powerful pulsar wind nebula, a supernova remnant, and a shell of 270 light years in diameter blown by multiple stars, and supernovae – a so-called superbubble. This is the first time that astronomers were able to observe several stellar-type gamma-ray sources in an external galaxy, at highest gamma-ray energies....

Quantum chromodynamics is the theory that describes the strong nuclear force, how it binds quarks and gluons into protons and neutrons, and how these form nuclei. Simulating quantum chromodynamics on computers is a way to examine what kind of complexity arises from it. The premise is that simulating physics on such a fundamental level is akin to simulating the Universe itself. Physicists from the University of Bonn, Germany, published their findings in a pre-print on arXiv....

Unlike existing brain imaging methods like MRI, CT and PET scanning, the technology could be applied to imaging any patient, and could be suitable for the continuous monitoring of high-dependency patients. It could be delivered by a relatively small device, which would also potentially make it portable via ambulance and enable fast investigation in advance of arrival to hospital. The researchers are confident the technology will be safe as sound waves are already used for ultrasound scanning and this technology uses similar sound intensities....

Tufts University researchers find link between foods scored higher by new nutrient profiling system and better long-term health outcomes. That what we eat directly affects our health is an idea that is ancient. In fact, Hippocrates recognized this as far back as 400 B.C. However, identifying healthier foods in the supermarket aisle and on restaurant menus is increasingly difficult. Now, a holistic food profiling system, Food Compass, has been shown by to identify foods that are better for overall health and lower risk for mortality....

This effect works when the gravitational influence of a massive object, such as the galaxy cluster in the center of this image, is so colossal that it warps the surrounding space, causing nearby light to travel along distorted paths. The massive object is effectively turned into a giant magnifying glass, bending and amplifying the light traveling from more distant galaxies lying behind it. In this particular case, astronomers used the foreground galaxy cluster (named SDSS J0915+3826) to study star formation in galaxies lying so far away that their light has taken up to 11....

Two spectacular tails of X-ray emission have been seen trailing behind a galaxy using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. A composite image of the galaxy cluster Abell 3627 shows X-rays from Chandra in blue, optical emission in yellow and emission from hydrogen light — known to astronomers as ‘H-alpha’ — in red. The optical and H-alpha data were obtained with the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope in Chile. At the front of the tail is the galaxy ESO 137-001....

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have discovered that a protein called Jagged-1 stimulates human stem cells to differentiate into bone-producing cells. This protein could help both human and animal patients heal from bone fractures faster and may form the basis of treatments for a rare metabolic condition called Alagille syndrome. The study, published in the journal Stem Cells, was authored by three members of Penn Vet’s departments of Clinical Studies-New Bolton Center and Animal Biology: postdoctoral researchers Fengchang Zhu and Mariya T....

Yoshizaki explains, “Knowing the composition and interior structure of rocky planets tells us about formation conditions, how and when the core separated from the mantle, and the timing and amount of crust extracted from the mantle.” Early astronomers used the separation distances and orbital periods of planets and their moons to determine the size, mass, and density of these bodies. Today’s orbiting spacecraft provide greater details about a planet’s shape and density, but the distribution of density in its interior has remained unknown....

At first glance, mica appears to be quite ordinary: it is a prevalent mineral found in materials like granite and has undergone extensive examination from geological, chemical, and technical standpoints. At first, it may seem that there’s nothing groundbreaking that can be uncovered about such a commonplace material. However, a team from the Vienna University of Technology has recently published a study in Nature Communications, in which it was possible to explain the distribution of potassium ions on the mica surface....

According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warming over land areas occurs significantly faster than over oceans, with 1.6 degrees Celsius and 0.9 degrees Celsius on average, respectively. It means that the global greenhouse gas emissions budget to stay under a 1.5-degree Celsius warming on land has already been used up. Now, a new study by researchers at Stockholm University shows that the emissions budget to avoid a 2-degree Celsius warming over large parts of Europe during the summer half-year (April-September) has also been used up....

A new system for measuring solar performance over the long term in scalable photovoltaic systems, developed by Arizona State University researchers, represents a breakthrough in the cost and longevity of interconnected power delivery. When solar cells are developed, they are “current-voltage” tested in the lab before they are deployed in panels and systems outdoors. Once installed outdoors, they aren’t usually tested again unless the system undergoes major issues. The new test system, Suns-Voc, measures the system’s voltage as a function of light intensity in the outdoor setting, enabling real-time measurements of performance and detailed diagnostics....

An international team of scientists used genomic analysis to compare the main cellular receptor for the virus in humans — angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE2 — in 410 different species of vertebrates, including birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. ACE2 is normally found on many different types of cells and tissues, including epithelial cells in the nose, mouth, and lungs. In humans, 25 amino acids of the ACE2 protein are important for the virus to bind and gain entry into cells....

In spite of its location, this atmospheric feature is not linked to volcanic activity but is rather a water ice cloud driven by the influence of the volcano’s leeward slope on the air flow – something that scientists call an orographic or lee cloud – and a regular phenomenon in this region. The cloud can be seen in this view taken on 10 October by the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) on Mars Express – which has imaged it hundreds of times over the past few weeks – as the white, elongated feature extending 1500 km (900 m) westward of Arsia Mons....

Protective coloration is one of the simplest but most effective tools that prey species use to evade predators. Typically, different color patterns are useful at different stages of a predation event. Some color patterns are cryptic, obscuring the prey from being detected — think chameleons. Other patterns are aposematic, which blatantly advertise a warning to predators — think wasps. Finally, some patterns can produce optical illusions to startle or confuse predators and give the prey an escape opportunity — think zebras....

An international team of researchers who just got back from Antarctica can attest to the continent’s meteorite-hunter-friendliness: they returned with five new meteorites, including one that weighs 16.7 pounds (7.6 kg). Maria Valdes, a research scientist at the Field Museum and the University of Chicago, estimates that of the roughly 45,000 meteorites retrieved from Antarctica over the past century, only about a hundred or so are this size or larger....

MIT postdoc Emile Bruneau has long been drawn to conflict — not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military. Those chance experiences got Bruneau, who taught high school science for several years, interested in the psychology of human conflict....

Moisture farming is not just for the deserts of Tatooine — advances in fog harvesting technology may provide an additional fresh water source in foggy coastal areas with little precipitation. Fog harvesting is a potential practical source of fresh water in foggy coastal deserts, and current solutions rely on meter-scale nets/meshes. The mesh geometry, however, presents a physiologically inappropriate shape for millimeter-scale bulk bodies, like insects. Fan Kiat Chan, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, offers biomimetic fog-gathering technologies based on Namib desert beetles as a potential solution....