Pac-man seen on Saturn moon, Mimas

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The highest-resolution-yet temperature map and images of Saturn's icy moon Mimas obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal surprising patterns on the surface of the small moon, including unexpected hot regions that resemble "Pac-Man" eating a dot, and striking bands of light and dark in crater walls.

"Other moons usually grab the spotlight, but it turns out Mimas is more bizarre than we thought it was," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "It has certainly given us some new puzzles."

Winds blow off Omais' thunderstorm tops

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Tropical Storm Omais is fading fast in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and will dissipate over the weekend according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. When NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Omais late on March 25, it already showed signs of falling apart.

Sun protection program increases hat use among 4th graders

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Tampa, FL (March 24, 2010) -- A sun protection intervention program that encouraged fourth-graders to wear hats outdoors as a skin cancer prevention measure significantly increased hat use at school, a study by researchers at the University of South Florida College of Medicine found. The program, however, had no effect on self-reported hat use at home or on measures of skin pigmentation.

Sun protection program increases hat use among 4th-graders

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Tampa, FL (March 24, 2010) -- A sun protection intervention program that encouraged fourth-graders to wear hats outdoors as a skin cancer prevention measure significantly increased hat use at school, a study by researchers at the University of South Florida College of Medicine found. The program, however, had no effect on self-reported hat use at home or on measures of skin pigmentation.

After growth spurt, supermassive black holes spend half their lives veiled in dust

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New Haven, Conn.—Supermassive black holes found at the centers of distant galaxies undergo huge growth spurts as a result of galactic collisions, according to a new study by astronomers at Yale University and the University of Hawaii. Their findings appear in the March 25 edition of Science Express.

Tropical storm Omais weakens and doubles in size

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Tropical storm Omais has run into wind shear in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, but as it has weakened overnight it has also doubled in size. NASA's Aqua satellite has captured both infrared and visible images early this morning of the larger Omais.

Late yesterday, March 24, Omais strengthened to (63 mph) 55 knots and now that it has run into an environment with stronger wind shear, it has already weakened. The wind shear has increased because of the approach of a frontal system which is currently about 215 nautical miles northwest of the storm.

Hubble confirms cosmic acceleration with weak lensing

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A group of astronomers [1], led by Tim Schrabback of the Leiden Observatory, conducted an intensive study of over 446 000 galaxies within the COSMOS field, the result of the largest survey ever conducted with Hubble. In making the COSMOS survey, Hubble photographed 575 slightly overlapping views of the same part of the Universe using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) onboard Hubble. It took nearly 1000 hours of observations.

After the next sunset, please turn right

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Despite the fact that bats are active after sunset, they rely on the sun as their most trusted source of navigation. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology found that the greater mouse-eared bat orients itself with the help of the Earth's magnetic field at night and calibrates this compass to the sun's position at sunset.

Imani on the weakening on weekend

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This isn't a good weekend for keeping tropical cyclones alive, as Tropical Storm Omais is becoming extra-tropical in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and Tropical Storm Imani appears doomed over the weekend in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Astronomers confirm Einstein's theory of relativity and accelerating cosmic expansion

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University of British Columbia astronomer Ludovic Van Waerbeke with an international team has confirmed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating after looking at data from the largest-ever survey conducted by the Hubble Space Telescope.