Gemini observatory shows off new instrument with some staggering astro-imaging

After years of planning and hard work, the Gemini Observatory team recently unveiled some of the work they performed using one of their newly installed instruments. Called the FLAMINGOS-2, the instrument provides astronomers with a powerful mix of capabilities, including high-resolution wide-field imaging (infrared) as well as spectroscopy. The newly mounted piece is already on high demand at the observatory, since it’s capable of observations spanning from the exploration of our Solar System, to the most distant and energetic explosions in our universe. “The Gemini team has done a remarkable job in optimizing this instrument for Gemini and it will soon be everything, and more, that we had envisioned years ago when the project began,” says Steve Eikenberry, who led the team who built FLAMINGOS-2 at the University of Florida. “Like a lot of scientists, I’m anxious to use FLAMINGOS-2 to collect data – specifically, I want to look toward the center of our Galaxy and study binary black holes as well as the mass evolution of the super-massive black hole that lurks at the heart of our Galaxy.”

Full Story

Breakthroughs against malaria: highly effective vaccine developed

Some 300 million cases of malaria are reported each year in Africa, the continent where the disease is still running rampant. For decades, scientists have been investing immense amounts of energy battling the disease, trying to come up with effective treatments. The recent step forward in the war against malaria comes from Maryland-based biotech Sanaria, which reportedly has developed an anti-malaria vaccine with promising results to boast from a phase 1 clinical trial.

To make the vaccine, the researchers first irradiated parasite-infected mosquitoes, harvesting weakened parasites from the mosquitoes’ salivary glands, and then cryopreserving them. The idea that irradiated mosquitoes might be used for anti-malaria infection purposes isn’t new. Since the 1970′s it was shown that bites from irradiated, malaria-infected mosquitoes appeared to protect people from the disease, however at the time it was difficult to isolate large quantities of whole, irradiated parasites.

Full Story