filaments

The Hubble Space Telescope has found the answer to a long-standing puzzle by resolving giant but delicate filaments shaped by a strong magnetic field around the active galaxy NGC 1275.

It is the most striking example of the influence of these immense tentacles of extragalactic magnetic fields, say researchers.

Scientists have discovered that tiny filaments on bacteria can bundle together and pull with forces far stronger than experts had previously thought possible.

Retraction forces from a bundle allow the bacterium to move objects 100,000 times its body weight.

Astronomers have measured the distribution of mass inside a dark filament in a molecular cloud with an amazing level of detail and to great depth.

The measurement is based on a new method that looks at the scattered near-infrared light or 'cloudshine' and was made with ESO's New Technology Telescope.

Associated with the forthcoming VISTA telescope, this new technique will allow astronomers to better understand the cradles of newborn stars.