Scientists expect that the sun will reach its peak activity this year, which may give them an opportunity to explain some of the secrets of our star.
The sun goes through a cycle approximately every 11 years, during which the number of sunspots and the intensity of solar activity reach a peak, in what is known as the maximum solar energy.
The sun's polar regions were the most active in emitting gamma rays, the most powerful type of electromagnetic rays ever, during the previous solar peak, much more than scientists expected, a defect that has not yet been explained.
In new study, scientists produced a compressed movie of 14 years of data from the Sun seen in gamma rays using an imager for NASA's Fermi Space Telescope.
Scientists had expected this imaging tool to show that high-energy photons (electromagnetic rays) were spread evenly across the sun, but instead it showed that the sun's disk was more active in its polar regions. This unexpected trend was most evident when the Sun was at the peak of its activity and coincided with the reversal of the solar magnetic field, as data released in June 2014 showed.
The solar maximum will return again soon, giving scientists hope that the observations that will be made this time can provide more information about the irregular distribution of gamma rays emitted from the poles of the Sun, as the South Pole emits photons of higher energy compared to the North Pole. In addition to the unexpected concentration of gamma rays at high latitudes.
“We have found results that challenge our current understanding of the Sun and its environment,” Elena Orlando, from the University of Trieste, the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and Stanford University, and co-author of this study, said in a statement. "As the solar magnetic field inverted, revealing a potential link between helioastronomy, particle physics, and plasma physics."
Scientists believe that solar gamma rays could be linked to a complex interaction between solar flares and coronal mass ejections, as well as changes in the Sun's magnetic composition. Pointing out that this may help improve physical models that predict solar activity and space weather. This is necessary to protect devices on satellites in space and telecommunications and other electronic infrastructure on Earth.
A study reveals important cells that may end the problem of erectile dysfunction
A study in mice provides new insights that could one day lead to new treatments for erectile dysfunction in humans.
Men's sexual health depends largely on the ability to achieve an erection, which can be impaired by aging and other health risk factors, including diabetes and atherosclerosis.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University in Sweden discovered that cells called fibroblasts play a very important role in regulating blood flow in the penis.
These cells constitute the largest number of cells in the human cavernous body (CC). Erections are controlled in part by the corpus cavernosum (CC), a spongy, vascularized tissue found in the penis that can fill with blood and swell when the vessels dilate during an erection.
“Fibroblasts are the most abundant cells in the penis in both mice and humans, but have been neglected in research,” says Eduardo Guimarães, a researcher in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet and first author of the paper. “Fibroblasts are the most abundant cells in the penis of both mice and humans, but have been neglected in research. Now we can show, using a very precise method "It's called optogenetics. It has a very important role in regulating blood flow in the penis, which is what makes the penis erect."
According to the results, fibroblasts (fibroblasts or young fibroblasts) help erection by absorbing chemicals that dilate blood vessels in the penis.
The effectiveness of this process depends on the number of fibroblasts. The study, published in the journal Science, found that the number of fibroblasts in the penis is affected by the frequency of erections, meaning that the more frequent the erection, the greater the number of fibroblasts, and vice versa.
"It's not really strange. If you put in a lot of effort, your body will adapt," explained Christian Goretz, senior researcher at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet. "If you run regularly, breathing will eventually become easier while running."
The researchers found that older mice had fewer fibroblasts in the penis, which was also reflected in decreased blood flow.
The researchers point out that the ability to have an erection also decreases with age in humans, which may be due in part to a decrease in the number of fibroblasts in the penis.
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