Tag Archives: makeup

Astronomers delve into the three-dimensional makeup of the Milky Way galaxy

Posted on by
Reply

Using data from the APOGEE survey, astronomers from the Potsdam Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics, the University of Vienna, and the Paris Observatory reconstructed the properties of “hidden” stars within the Milky Way’s disk.

Several real star orbits are shown on the overall starlight of the Milky Way galaxy. Image credit: S. Khoperskov / AIP.

“With each dramatic increase in the number of stars, our understanding of the Milky Way has improved,” said Dr. Sergei Khopelskov of the Potsdam Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics and his colleagues.

“From the earliest observations to increasingly advanced space and ground-based telescopes, each milestone has revealed new layers of the galaxy’s complex structure and motion.”

“Although the amount of star research continues to expand, our view of the Milky Way remains very vague because most of the stars we can study are concentrated around the Sun.”

“This discrepancy is primarily due to fundamental limitations in our observations resulting from our position in the central plane of the Milky Way’s disk.”

“At our location, the amount of stars we might be able to observe is limited by their brightness, but also by the possibility of interstellar medium blocking or dimming, called annihilation. It is affected by dust and gas.”

The authors have developed an innovative method to fill gaps in our understanding of the Milky Way’s structure.

“Rather than relying solely on observations of individual stars, we can use the entire orbits of actual stars to represent the structure and dynamics of galaxies,” they explained.

“As stars move around the center of the galaxy, they serve as a tool for mapping areas of the galaxy that our telescopes cannot directly reach, including areas on the opposite side of the Milky Way.”

“Using a model of the Milky Way’s mass distribution and observed star positions and velocities, we not only calculated the stars’ orbits, but more importantly, how much mass is associated with each orbit. I measured what I should do.”

Using a new technique, we apply it to a large sample of stars using spectroscopic parameters from the star. APOGEE surveyThis is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, in which researchers mapped the kinematics of stars across the Milky Way.

They revealed the complex motion of stars within the bar region, unhindered by distance measurement uncertainties.

Astronomers quantified the galaxy’s mass-weighted chemical abundance and age structure by reconstructing the star’s orbit using real Milky Way stars with precisely determined parameters.

This approach avoids the challenges posed by dense interior regions and the disappearance of the interstellar medium, and provides a comprehensive view of the stellar population, including previously unobservable regions on the Milky Way’s far side.

“You can look at this approach from a different perspective,” Dr. Hopelskov said.

“Imagine that for every star we observe, there is a large sample of stars that follow the exact same orbits but were not captured by surveys for various reasons.”

“What we’re doing is reconstructing the positions, velocities and stellar parameters of these invisible stars and filling in the missing parts of the galaxy’s structure.”

“The new data strongly suggest that the Milky Way formed in two distinct stages, as evidenced by the different age and chemical abundance relationships.”

“The inner disk lies well inside the Sun’s radius and formed relatively quickly during the early stages of galactic evolution.”

“About 6 to 7 billion years ago, the outer disk began to assemble, rapidly expanding the radial extent of the Milky Way and forming its current structure.”

Source: www.sci.news

Could Makeup Contain Harmful Microplastics? A Scientist’s Perspective

Posted on by
Reply

The cosmetics industry is a thriving sector. The European market is projected to reach 96 billion euros in 2023, with the UK being the fourth largest consumer at 11 billion euros after Italy, France, and Germany.

Both men and women are increasingly using cosmetics on a daily basis, and this trend looks set to continue. However, there are concerns about the safety of the ingredients used in these products.

In the European Union and other regions, ingredients in cosmetics are subject to strict regulations. Only approved ingredients are allowed, and this list is regularly updated based on new scientific findings.

The process of banning certain ingredients from cosmetics in Europe is overseen by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA). The agency first notifies about its intention to restrict certain chemicals, followed by a call for evidence where stakeholders provide data on the safety of the chemicals in question.

After thorough evaluation by scientific committees, recommendations are made, and a final decision is reached by the European Commission, a process that can take several years.

Companies are informed about upcoming regulatory changes so they can voluntarily replace substances that will be restricted in the future. An example is the ban on plastic microbeads, which were promptly removed from products ahead of the ban.

However, plastic remains a common ingredient in cosmetics, especially in leave-in products. Although not included in the microbead ban, these products will be phased out over the next seven years as part of the EU’s restrictions on the use of microplastics.

Microplastics are a concern due to their potential harm to humans, mainly because of their small size and persistence in the environment. There are also worries about the presence of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cosmetics, which have raised health concerns.

The use of PFAS in cosmetics is limited, but there are potential ways for them to enter products unintentionally. Regulations are in place to phase out PFAS in cosmetics, and efforts are being made to ensure consumer safety.

What Does the Future Hold for Cosmetics?

Considering the small percentage of products containing PFAS and the ongoing efforts to phase them out, restrictions on the use of PFAS in cosmetics are not expected to greatly impact the industry.

Regulatory bodies are actively working to phase out harmful chemicals from cosmetics and ensure product safety. Consumers can stay informed by checking ingredient labels, utilizing databases like cosmile, and using apps to identify potential health risks in cosmetics.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Electronic tongue accurately identifies chemical makeup of alcoholic beverages

Posted on by
Reply

Molecular tests can be used to assess the quality of drinks

Evgeny Parilov/Alamy

Beverage manufacturers and consumers may soon have access to small, portable kits not unlike coronavirus tests to check the quality and safety of alcoholic beverages.

The device is called an “artificial tongue” because it can detect additives, toxins, and sweetness in drinks with just a few drops.

Shuo Fan Researchers at China’s Nanjing University say this first-generation new technology cannot yet test for date rape drugs or detect methanol contamination in spiked drinks. A recent incident occurred in Laos in which six backpackers were killed.In future versions,

Current methods for analyzing alcoholic beverages, such as liquid chromatography, require expensive and cumbersome laboratory equipment and require specialized technicians to manipulate and analyze the samples.

The artificial tongue relies on biological nanopore technology. It uses modified organisms, such as bacteria, that have tiny holes, or pores, in their cell membranes that are just a few nanometers in diameter. By charging the membrane with an electrical charge, small molecules of the substance being tested can be drawn into the pores and passed through them.

When these molecules pass through the nanopore, they generate unique electrical signatures that can be analyzed to identify the chemicals present in the sample. Nanopores have already revolutionized DNA sequencing, allowing genetic material to be tested almost instantly using easily portable equipment.

Huang and colleagues used nanopores made in bacteria, called micropores, that have already been introduced for DNA sequencing. Smegmatis bacterium.

The device uses artificial intelligence to identify molecules that pass through the nanopores, such as fragrance compounds and additives, Huang said. “The sensor tells you right away what type of alcoholic beverage it is,” he says. “It can provide a quantitative standard of the product and also easily identify counterfeit alcoholic beverage products.”

Nanopore detectors require only a power source to operate, he says. “This nanopore sensing assay can be performed at home, in the office, or on the street as easily as a COVID-19 test,” Huang said. “You just add a drop of alcoholic beverage to the sensor and wait for the results. The machine learning algorithm does the rest of the work.”

topic:

  • biotechnology /
  • Eating and drinking

Source: www.newscientist.com

Research Shows Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s Water Resembles Earth’s Water in Molecular Makeup

Posted on by
Reply

Despite conflicting with the results of some recent studies, this new discovery reinforces the claim that Jupiter-based comets like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko may have contributed to providing water to Earth. This finding has been confirmed.

This pseudocolor four-image mosaic consists of images taken on February 3, 2015, from a distance of 28.7 km from the center of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The size of the mosaic is 4.2 x 4.6 km. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / CC BY-SA IGO 3.0.

Water is crucial for the formation and sustenance of life on Earth, and continues to be central to life on Earth today.

It is believed that some water was present in the gas and dust that formed our planet around 4.6 billion years ago, but due to Earth forming close to the sun’s intense heat, a considerable amount of water is thought to have evaporated.

The process by which Earth became abundant in liquid water is still a subject of debate among scientists.

Studies have indicated that a portion of Earth’s water originates from steam released by volcanoes, which then condensed and fell into the oceans.

Furthermore, evidence suggests that a significant percentage of our oceans resulted from the impact of ice and minerals from asteroids and potentially comets hitting Earth.

A series of comets and asteroids colliding with inner solar system planets 4 billion years ago could have facilitated this occurrence.

While there is a strong theory linking asteroid water to Earth’s water, the role of comets has perplexed scientists.

Multiple measurements of Jupiter-based comets have indicated a strong correlation between their water and that of Earth.

This connection is based on a fundamental molecular signature utilized by scientists to track the origins of water across the solar system.

The deuterium (D) to ordinary hydrogen (H) ratio in an object’s water serves as this signature, providing insights into the object’s formation location.

By comparing this hydrogen ratio in comets and asteroids to that of Earth’s water, scientists can discern a potential connection.

Deuterium-rich water is more likely to form in cold environments, resulting in objects formed farther from the Sun, such as comets, exhibiting higher concentrations of this isotope compared to objects formed nearer to the Sun, like asteroids.

Measurements conducted over the past few decades on the deuterium in the water vapor of various other Jupiter-based comets have revealed levels akin to Earth’s water.

“It seems increasingly likely that these comets play a significant role in delivering water to Earth,” commented Dr. Kathleen Mandt, a planetary scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

However, ESA’s Rosetta mission to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 challenged the notion that Jupiter-based comets aid in replenishing Earth’s water reservoirs.

Upon analyzing Rosetta’s water measurements, scientists discovered that it has the highest deuterium concentration among all comets, with approximately 100% more deuterium than Earth’s oceans (about 1 deuterium atom for every 6,420 hydrogen atoms), surpassing it by threefold.

“This was a significant revelation that compelled us to reassess everything,” remarked Dr. Mandt.

An advanced statistical computing approach was employed by the researchers to automate the laborious task of segregating deuterium-rich water from over 16,000 Rosetta measurements.

These measurements were taken within the gas and dust coma encircling 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by Rosetta.

For the first time, Dr. Mandt and collaborators analyzed all water measurements from the European mission.

The researchers aimed to comprehend the physical processes influencing the fluctuations in hydrogen isotope ratios detected in comets.

Studies on comet dust in laboratory settings and observations indicated that comet dust could impact the hydrogen proportion detected in comet vapors, potentially altering how the comet’s water compares to Earth’s water.

“So, I was curious to see if I could find evidence of this phenomenon occurring in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko,” added Dr. Mandt.

“This is one of those rare instances where a hypothesis is proposed and genuinely validated.”

In fact, scientists identified a distinct correlation between the deuterium measurements of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko within its coma and the amount of surrounding dust near the Rosetta spacecraft, indicating that measurements taken in certain regions of the coma near 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko may not accurately represent the comet’s celestial composition.

As the comet traverses an orbit closer to the Sun, its surface warms, releasing gases from the surface, including dust particles with attached water ice fragments.

Research suggests that water containing deuterium has a higher tendency to adhere to dust particles compared to regular water.

When this ice on dust particles is expelled into a coma, it can create an illusion of the comet containing more deuterium than it actually does.

The researchers noted that by the time the dust reaches the outer regions of the coma, at least 120 miles away from the comet’s core, the coma depletes of water.

Once the deuterium-rich water dissipates, the spacecraft can precisely measure the amount of deuterium emanating from the comet’s core.

“This discovery holds profound implications not only for elucidating the role of comets in supplying water to Earth but also for comprehending comet observations that offer insights into the early solar system’s formation,” the researchers noted.

“This discovery provides a unique opportunity to revisit previous observations and prepare for future observations to better factor in the effects of dust.”

of study Published in a magazine scientific progress.

_____

Kathleen E. Mandt others. 2024. D/H of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko almost on Earth. scientific progress 10(46);doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adp2191

Source: www.sci.news

Webb studies the intricate makeup of Jupiter’s ionosphere

Posted on by
Reply

Jupiter’s upper atmosphere consists of a neutral thermosphere and an electrically charged ionosphere. Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered unexpected small-scale intensity features, including arcs, bands, and spots, in the low-latitude ionosphere in the region above Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.

This illustration shows the region observed by Webb, first with its location on the NIRCam image of the entire planet (left), and then the region itself as imaged by Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) (right). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Jupiter ERS Team / J. Schmidt / H. Melin / M. Zamani, ESA and Webb.

Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky and can be easily seen on a clear night.

Apart from the bright Northern and Southern Lights at Jupiter’s poles, the glow from Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is weak, making details in this region difficult to discern with ground-based telescopes.

But Webb’s infrared sensitivity has allowed scientists to study the upper atmosphere of the infamous Great Red Spot in unprecedented detail.

The upper atmosphere of this gas giant is the interface between the planet’s magnetic field and the atmosphere below it.

Here you can see the bright and vibrant aurora borealis and southern lights, created by volcanic material erupting from Jupiter’s moon Io.

However, as one approaches the equator, the structure of the planet’s upper atmosphere is influenced by incoming sunlight.

Because Jupiter receives only 4% of the sunlight that Earth does, astronomers predicted that this region would be essentially homogeneous.

Astronomer Henrik Melin of the University of Leicester and his colleagues observed the Great Red Spot in July 2022 using an Integral Field Unit. Webb’s near-infrared spectrometer (NIR Spec).

Their early public science observations aimed to investigate whether this region was in fact dull, and the region above the iconic Great Red Spot was the subject of Webb’s observations.

They were surprised to find that the upper atmosphere contains a variety of complex structures, including dark arcs and bright spots across the entire field of view.

“We probably naively thought this area would be really boring. It’s actually just as interesting, if not more so, than the Northern Lights. Jupiter never fails to surprise us,” Dr Melin said.

The light emitted from this region is driven by sunlight, but the team suggests there must be another mechanism that changes the shape and structure of the upper atmosphere.

“One way this structure can be altered is by gravity waves, similar to how waves crashing on the shore create ripples in the sand,” Dr Melin said.

“These waves originate deep within the turbulent lower atmosphere around the Great Red Spot and can rise in altitude to alter the structure and emissions of the upper atmosphere.”

“These atmospheric waves are occasionally observed on Earth, but they are much weaker than those Webb observed on Jupiter.”

“In the future, we hope to carry out follow-up webbed observations of these complex wave patterns and investigate how they move within the planet’s upper atmosphere to improve our understanding of the energy budget of this region and how its features change over time.”

of Investigation result Published in a journal Natural Astronomy.

_____

H. Melin othersIrregularities in Jupiter’s ionosphere observed by JWST. Nat AstronPublished online June 21, 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02305-9

Source: www.sci.news

The distinctive chemical makeup of adolescent perspiration includes hints of musk and urine aromas

Posted on by
Reply

Body odor usually worsens around puberty

Carlos Barquero/Alamy

Teens appear to produce chemicals in their sweat that cause body odor, such as urine, musk, and sandalwood. Awareness of these chemicals may lead to more effective odor control measures, such as more effective deodorants.

Because the chemical compounds in sweat are volatile, they easily turn into gases that are perceived as odor. Hormonal changes that occur during puberty are associated with increased body odor.

helen ruth Researchers at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander University studied how body odor changes from childhood to adolescence.

The team recruited 18 children up to the age of three and 18 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18. They all washed themselves with unscented gel before bed and had cotton pads sewn to the sides of their clothes.

The researchers then extracted the compounds absorbed by the pads and identified them using a technique called mass spectrometry. They then used a process called gas chromatography and trained evaluators to detect the odorous chemicals. “The human nose is used as a detector,” Roos says.

Overall, the body odor-causing chemicals in the two groups were similar, but the chemicals collected from the teens contained higher levels of some carboxylic acids, and the judges described it as “cheap”, “musty” and “earthy”.

The researchers also identified two steroids unique to the teens’ samples, which smelled of “urine and musk” and “sandalwood and musk,” respectively. Chemical differences between teen body odor and toddler body odor may be why toddlers are generally considered to have more pleasant smells, the researchers write.

Ruth says further research into the scents we produce at different ages could help scientists develop more effective odor control measures.

but andreas natsch Swiss fragrance maker Givaudan notes that the study only assessed overnight body odor. “In adults, more pungent odors occur when they are under mental or physical stress,” he says.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

The potential damage to skin health from wearing makeup during exercise

Posted on by
Reply

Exercising while wearing foundation changes the properties of your skin.

One inch punch/Shutterstock

Wearing foundation while exercising can affect your skin health by changing the size of your pores and subsequently altering the release of sebum, which is responsible for keeping you healthy.

Lee Seok Ho The researchers at Texas A&M University in San Antonio recruited 43 college students, 20 men and 23 women. Participants first washed their faces with facial cleanser. The researchers then measured skin variables in different areas of the face, including pore size and sebum production.

A single layer of foundation was then applied to all participants’ faces, either on the forehead or cheeks, depending on the participant’s preference.

They then did a 20-minute moderate workout by running on a treadmill at 3 miles per hour (mph) for 5 minutes, 4 miles per hour for 10 minutes, and 5 miles per hour for 5 minutes.

After the training, the researchers repeated various skin measurements and found that areas with foundation had less sebum production than areas without makeup.

“This is a shining example of the negative effects of makeup during exercise,” the researchers wrote in their paper. “In this study, makeup use clogged pores and resulted in negative sebum scores.” The optimal amount of sebum is unknown, and too much can cause acne, while too little can cause skin irritation. To do.

Participants’ pore size also increased significantly in areas without foundation, but did not change significantly in areas with makeup. This suggests that this foundation may be inhibiting the natural enlargement of pores during exercise, preventing the release of sebum and sweat, which moisturize and cool the skin. The researchers did not assess whether these changes were related to skin problems.

Wearing foundation during exercise may not have a significant effect on most people who train for relatively short periods of time, but “we don’t know the effect on endurance-type athletes,” Lee said. say. The research team now wants to investigate the effects during longer exercise routines.

Shari Lipner Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York say the study’s split-face design is a good approach, but complicates comparisons because our skin characteristics vary across different parts of the face. Additionally, she says, the skin around the nose, mouth and eyes has a different thickness compared to the skin on the forehead and cheeks, so ideally these areas should have been studied as well.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com