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Dietary intervention could benefit heart health in those with muscular dystrophy. That's according to new research published in Experimental Physiology. If these findings are confirmed in humans, it could mean that off the shelf supplements could improve health and life expectancy. Scientists from Iowa State University, Auburn University and the University of Montana in the United States found that supplementing the mice's food with quercetin (a flavonol found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, and grains) improved biomedical outcomes, providing an inflammatory and antioxidant effect. To the groups' surprise, they also found that the quercetin-fed mice were more active than the...

In the mov­ie This is Spi­nal Tap, a less-than-cerebral rock gui­tar­ist, up­on view­ing a rec­ord-al­bum cov­er de­signed as sol­id black, de­liv­ers an im­promp­tu speech. “It’s like, how much more black could this be? And the an­swer is none,” he pro­claims. “None more black.” His in­ar­tic­u­lateness is matched, sad­ly, by an ig­no­rance of phys­ics. You can get much black­er than black card­board, which re­flects a good deal of light where­as true black re­flects none. Find­ing an ab­so­lutely black ob­ject on Earth, though, is as likely as en­coun­ter­ing the rock group of that 1982 film. Both are only fic­tions. On the oth­er...

Does CO2 really drive global warming? I don’t believe that it does.To the contrary, if you apply the IFF test—if-and-only-if or necessary-and-sufficient—the outcome would appear to be exactly the reverse. Rather than the rising levels of carbon dioxide driving up the temperature, the logical conclusion is that it is the rising temperature that is driving up the CO2 level. Of course, this raises a raft of questions, but they are all answerable. What is particularly critical is distinguishing between the observed phenomenon, or the “what”, from the governing mechanism, or the “why”. Confusion between these two would appear to be...

 As the author of these columns describing cutting edge physics and astronomy, I get quite a few letters and E-mail from readers who are more interested in ?over-the-edge physics and astronomy?.  One recurring theme is various alternatives to the standard model of Big Bang cosmology.  Perhaps the universe is not expanding; it?s just that light ?gets tired? on its path from far away and loses some of its energy.  Perhaps quasars are closer than we think, particularly since some of them appear to be linked to closer galaxies.  Perhaps relativity is wrong, and it?s the speed of light that is...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 June 29 The Solar Spectrum Credit & Copyright: Nigel Sharp (NOAO), FTS, NSO, KPNO, AURA, NSF Explanation: It is still not known why the Sun's light is missing some colors. Shown above are all the visible colors of the Sun, produced by passing the Sun's light through a prism-like device. The above spectrum was created at the McMath-Pierce Solar Observatory and shows, first off, that although our...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 29 Orion's Horsehead Nebula Credit & Copyight: Loke Kun Tan (StarryScapes) Explanation: The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the red emission nebula seen above and to the right of center in the above photograph. The bright star on the left is located in the belt of the familiar constellation of Orion....

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 October 14 IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT Explanation: How did this nebula get created? The Cocoon Nebula, cataloged as IC 5146, is a strikingly beautiful nebula located about 4,000 light years away toward the constellation of Cygnus. Inside the Cocoon is a newly developing open cluster of stars. Like other stellar nurseries, the Cocoon Nebula is, at the...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 22 Open Cluster NGC 6520 from CFHT Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT Explanation: Did you ever have a day when it felt like a dark cloud was following you around? For the open cluster of stars NGC 6520, every day is like this. On the left of the above picture are many of NGC 6520's bright blue stars. They formed only millions...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 May 30 Orion Nebulosities Credit & Copyright: Emmanuel Mallart Explanation: Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of the night sky's most recognizable constellations, the glowing Orion Nebula and the dark Horsehead Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas. They both appear in this stunning composite color photograph along with other nebulosities as part of the giant Orion Molecular Cloud complex, itself hundreds of light-years across. The magnificent Orion Nebula (aka...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 May 26 The Pipe Dark Nebula Credit & Copyright: Jerry Lodriguss Explanation: The dark nebula predominant at the lower left of the above photograph is known as the Pipe Nebula. The dark clouds, suggestively shaped like smoke rising from a pipe, are caused by absorption of background starlight by dust. These dust clouds can be traced all the way to the Rho Ophiuchi nebular clouds on the...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 May 20 East of the Lagoon Nebula Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT Explanation: To the east of the Lagoon Nebula is a star field rich in diversity. On the lower left are clouds rich in dark dust that hide background stars and young star systems still forming. Dark clouds include LDN 227 on the left and IC 1275 on the right, with a...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 April 9 The Snake Nebula from CFHT Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT Explanation: What slithers overhead? The dark winding lanes visible in part of the constellation of Ophiuchus belong to the Snake Nebula. Also known as Barnard 72, the Snake Nebula is a series of dark absorption clouds made up of molecular gas and interstellar dust. Interstellar dust grains - composed predominantly of...