Press Releases
August 2010
25 August 2010 - EMBL
Freeze or run? Not that simple
Scientists at EMBL Monterotondo and GlaxoSmithKline in Verona, Italy, have identified the specific type of neurons that determine how mice react to a frightening stimulus, showing that deciding whether or not to freeze in fear is a more complex task for our brains than we realised.
24 August 2010 - ESO
Richest Planetary System Discovered
Astronomers using ESO’s world-leading HARPS instrument have discovered a planetary system containing at least five planets, orbiting the Sun-like star HD 10180. The researchers also have tantalising evidence that two other planets may be present, one of which would have the lowest mass ever found. This would make the system similar to our Solar System in terms of the number of planets (seven as compared to the Solar System’s eight planets). Furthermore, the team also found evidence that the distances of the planets from their star follow a regular pattern, as also seen in our Solar System.
18 August 2010 - CERN
AMS experiment takes off for Kennedy Space Center
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), an experiment that will search for antimatter and dark matter in space, leaves CERN next Tuesday on the next leg of its journey to the International Space Station.
18 August 2010 - ESO
How Much Mass Makes a Black Hole?
Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, European astronomers have for the first time demonstrated that a magnetar - an unusual type of neutron star - was formed from a star with at least 40 times as much mass as the Sun. The result presents great challenges to current theories of how stars evolve, as a star as massive as this was expected to become a black hole, not a magnetar. This now raises a fundamental question: just how massive does a star really have to be to become a black hole?
11 August 2010 - ESO
Ambitious Survey Spots Stellar Nurseries
Astronomers scanning the skies as part of ESO’s VISTA Magellanic Cloud survey have now obtained a spectacular picture of the Tarantula Nebula in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. This panoramic near-infrared view captures the nebula itself in great detail as well as the rich surrounding area of sky. The image was obtained at the start of a very ambitious survey of our neighbouring galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, and their environment.
5 August 2010 - EMBL
Constant overlap
Scientists at EMBL Heidelberg have uncovered the molecular mechanism that determines the size of anti-parallel microtubule overlaps in the spindle. In a study published today in Cell, they were able to reconstruct such overlaps in vitro, and identify two proteins which are sufficient to control the formation and size of this important spindle feature.
4 August 2010 - ESO
Seeing a Stellar Explosion in 3D
Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have for the first time obtained a three-dimensional view of the distribution of the innermost material expelled by a recently exploded star. The original blast was not only powerful, according to the new results. It was also more concentrated in one particular direction. This is a strong indication that the supernova must have been very turbulent, supporting the most recent computer models.
3 August 2010 - EMBL
Supply and demand
In a study published today in Cell Metabolism, scientists at EMBL Heidelberg have discovered that a group of proteins called IRPs ensure that iron balance is kept and as such are essential for cell survival. More specifically, they found that IRPs are required for the functioning of mitochondria, the cell’s energy factories.