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Artist’s impression of GRB 211211A. Scientists have linked this unusual gamma-ray burst from a nearby galaxy to a neutron star merger. Credit: Soheb Mandhai @TheAstroPhoenix An unusually powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB 211211A), detected from a nearby galaxy, has been linked to a neutron star merger by an international team of scientists. This burst, notable for its excess of infrared light, was shown to originate from a kilonova, an event thought to occur when neutron stars collide. Scientists have linked a highly unusual blast of high-energy light from a nearby galaxy to a neutron star merger. The event, detected in December...

See Youtube video at link. Links and references: Cardiopulmonary and hematological effects of infrared LED photobiomodulation in the treatment of SARS-COV2 (Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology) | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1011134422002342 Severe Glutathione Deficiency, Oxidative Stress and Oxidant Damage in Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19: Implications for GlyNAC (Antioxidants) | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35052554/ Relationship between ABO blood group and von Willebrand factor levels: from biology to clinical implications (Thrombosis Journal) | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2042969/ Severe COVID-19 infection associated with endothelial activation (Thrombosis Research) | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7156948/ Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body (Melatonin Research) | https://www.melatonin-research.net/index.php/MR/article/view/19 Autumn COVID‐19 surge dates in Europe correlated to latitudes, not to...

Physicists in the US have discovered yet another useful property of the wonder material graphene – it can function much like a laser when excited with very short femtosecond light pulses. The team has shown that the material has two technologically important properties – population inversion of electrons and optical gain. The findings suggest that graphene could be used to make a variety of optoelectronics devices, including broadband optical amplifiers, high-speed modulators, and absorbers for telecommunications and ultrafast lasers. Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like lattice just one atom thick. Since its discovery in 2004,...

Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Dining Services Earth Hour Event: On Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 p.m. Shafer Court Dining Center and Jonah’s will take part in Earth Hour — the world’s largest climate change event. By simply turning out all nonessential lighting for one hour, Dining Services will join tens of millions of concerned citizens through...out the world in calling for action to save the planet. The locations will remain open, but with limited lighting during this hour. For more information about the VCU event, contact tmhighsmith@vcu.edu.

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 August 14 Giant Emission Nebula NGC 3603 in Infrared Credit: 2MASS Project, UMass, IPAC/Caltech, NSF, NASA Explanation: NGC 3603 is the largest region of glowing gas in our Milky Way galaxy. Spanning over 20 light years across, the giant emission nebula (HII region) is home to a massive star cluster, thick dust pillars, and a star about to explode. NGC 3603 was captured above in infrared light...