Rick Pantaleo

Gravitational data gathered by NASA’s Juno spacecraft has puzzled scientists. The data indicated that the giant planet’s core wasn’t as dense and is more extended than thought. A new US/Chinese study suggests that a reason for this may be due to a massive collision between a young Jupiter and a still forming planet, early in the solar system’s history.

A UCLA astronomer and his colleagues were observing Sagittarius A Star, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, when they noticed that it became 75 times brighter over a several hour period. It’s hoped that further observations will unlock the mystery behind what is causing the brightness to take place.

The Keto Diet restricts carbohydrate intake to no more than 50 calories a day, which reduces the amount of glucose or sugar in the bloodstream. Researchers in Texas who experimented with mice with lung cancer fed them a Keto diet, along with a diabetes drug. They found that while this combination didn’t shrink the tumors in the mice, it did keep them from progressing

New research suggests the “giant planet migration” was responsible for the massive bombardment of Earth and its moon 4.48 billion years ago. That’s when the four biggest planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune moved from their original position near the Sun to its present location in the outer solar system. As the planets traveled during their migration they stirred up debris, including comets, asteroids and planetary fragments, which was sent hurtling into the Earth and moon.

A new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association suggests a link of diets with higher plant based foods and less animal based foods to better heart health and a lower risk of death from cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack or stroke.

To many who suffer from migraines, they are more than just a bad headache. Migraines can be accompanied by other symptoms such as vision difficulty, nausea and sensitivity to sound, light, touch and smell. Three Boston, Massachusetts area medical institutions have released a new study that suggest drinking 3 or more caffeinated beverages a day can be linked to migraine attacks. However, the researchers also found that drinking one or two caffeinated beverages a day did not set off a migraine.

Paleontologists in Australia and New Zealand were looking through some 19-million-year-old fossils, when they discovered, what they say is, the world’s largest parrot. Named Heracles inexpectatus, the scientist’s research suggests that this parrot stood about one full meter tall and weighed seven kilograms.

Volcanoes can go from periods of dormancy to becoming restless before actually exploding in an eruption. This period of restlessness normally last from weeks to years. A new study suggests that some volcanoes can be “persistently restless” for even decades before erupting. The study also points to three states of volcanic restlessness, from the release of gas and seismic activity to large explosions that can blow out rock fragments.

A team of researchers say they have found a star with a very low iron content. They say the low metallic level suggests that it is an ancient star, formed within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. They theorize that the star may be among the 2nd generation of stars that had ever been created and that it got its low level of metal as the result of the explosion or supernova of the very first stars in the universe.

Astronomers at the Astronomical Observatory, of the University of Warsaw, have created a new three-dimensional map of the Milky Way. The new 3D map shows that our home galaxy isn’t as flat as had been thought, but is noticeably warped at its edges. The astronomers say their new map provides a better understanding of the structure and history of the Milky Way.