Singing Stars May Be a Reality in the Universe

Scientists may have discovered the "sound" of stars by observing fluid in motion.

""A team of researchers observed the reaction of an ultra-intense laser with a plasma target, theUniversity of York reported. They noticed that a trillionth of a second after the laser strikes, plasma flowed from regions of high density to those of lower density. This event caused plasma to build up at the interface between high and low density areas, generating a sound wave.

The sound was of a frequency of more than a trillion hertz, which is six million times higher than what can be heard by any mammal.

"One of the few locations in nature where we believe this effect would occur is at the surface of stars. When they are accumulating new material stars could generate sound in a very similar manner to that which we observed in the laboratory - so the stars might be singing - but, since sound cannot propagate through the vacuum of space, no-one can hear them," said John Pasley, of the York Plasma Institute in the Department of Physics at York.

The technique used to observe this sound wave works similarly to a police speeding camera, allowing the researchers to analyze how the fluid moved when struck by the laser on a timescale of less than a trillionth of a second.

"It was initially hard to determine the origin of the acoustic signals, but our model produced results that compared [favorably] with the wavelength shifts observed in the experiment. This showed that we had discovered a new way of generating sound from fluid flows. Similar situations could occur in plasma flowing around stars," said Alex Robinson from the Plasma Physics Group at STFC's Central Laser Facility.""

http://www.hngn.com/articles/79515/20150323/stars-sing-a-song-but-its-too-high-for-even-bats-to-hear.htm

Ultrasonic Frequency Therapy Shown to Reduce Alzheimer's and Other Brain Cancer Diseases

High-energy ultrasound has previously been combined with injected microbubbles, which vibrate in response to sound waves, to pass drugs across the so-called blood brain barrier.

However, researchers who took part in the new study published in the journal 'Science Translational Medicine' have demonstrated for the first time that ultrasound alone could improve the debilitating condition.

“Our research was very exploratory and we really didn't expect to see such a massive effect,” Juergen Goetz of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, one of study authors, told Reuters. “I'm really excited by this.”

To make their findings researchers treated mice that had been genetically altered to produce amyloid plaques with ultrasound, and found the plaque was almost completely cleared in 75 percent of the animals.

Debate surrounds whether plaques are a cause or symptomatic of Alzheimer's, however the experiment found that treated mice had improved memory after completing three different tests in a maze.

The technique works by stimulating microglial cells, which form part of the brain's immune system, to engulf and absorb the plaques.

Goetz stressed that his research was at the very early stages and that human trials are still several years away, as further tests into long-term side effects are needed.

Continued Finding Here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/ultrasound-beams-could-help-combat-alzheimers-scientists-believe-10105236.html