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A cell is not an island. Each one has a host of ways to detect its surroundings, and even physically reach out to neighbors or enemies using strange cellular appendages. These tentacle-like protrusions are called filopodia , and a new study has given us more insight into how they allow our cells to move about, by twisting the skeleton-like inner scaffolding. "These structures play a pivotal role in .. allowing cells to explore their environment, generate mechanical forces, perform chemical signaling, or convey signals via intercellular tunneling nano-bridges," the researchers write in their paper . "The dynamics of filopodia appear quite complex as they exhibit a rich behavior of buckling, pulling, length and shape changes. Here, we show that filopodia additionally explore their 3D extracellular space by combining growth and shrinking with axial twisting and buckling of their actin rich core." Said core is composed of proteins called actin and myosin. The team, led ...

A former Texas police officer who was canned for repeatedly punching a handcuffed pregnant woman is trying to get her job back, according to local reports . Body-worn camera video shows ex-San Antonio Police Officer Elizabeth Montoya punching a handcuffed Kimberly Esparza several times in the face during a July 2018 arrest, the San Antonio Police Department said. She was fired in January 2019 for inhumane treatment of a suspect during an arrest. Montoya is currently going through a third-party arbitration process in an attempt to get her job back, as well as receive backpay and benefits. As part of the arbitration hearing, police officers testified that on the night of the arrest, Montoya searched Esparza while investigating a home that had been burglarized, the San Antonio Express News reported Wednesday . Officer body-worn video shows Esparza telling Montoya she was six months pregnant. “Six months pregnant and you’re out here doing this,” Montoya tells Esparza, after finding what a...

The formation of our Milky Way Galaxy can be split up qualitatively into different assembly phases that resulted in its structurally different stellar populations: the halo and the disk components. Revealing a quantitative overall picture of Milky Way’s assembly requires a large sample of stars with very precise ages. In new research, astronomers at the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy have analyzed such a sample using subgiant stars . “To unravel the assembly history of the Milky Way Galaxy we need to learn how many stars were born when, from what material and on what orbits,” said Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy’s Dr. Maosheng Xiang and Dr. Hans-Walter Rix. “This requires precise age determinations for a large sample of stars that extend to the oldest possible ages (around 14  billion years).” “Subgiant stars, which are stars sustained by hydrogen shell fusion, can be unique tracers for such purposes, as they exist in the brief stellar evolutionary phase that permits the most pr...

There is a new kind of mystery object in space, and after capturing their best image yet, astronomers are one step closer to understanding these celestial oddballs. They are known as odd radio circles, or ORCs. While the thought of ORCs may bring the goblinlike humanoids from the "Lord of the Rings" books to mind, these fascinating objects have baffled scientists since they first discovered them in 2020. Astronomers found the odd radio circles using the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope, operated by Australia's national science agency CSIRO, or Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, two years ago. These space rings are so massive that they measure about a million light-years across -- 16 times bigger than our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers believe it takes the circles 1 billion years to reach their maximum size, and they are so large that the objects have expanded past other galaxies. Now, a new image captured by the South African Radio Astronomy O...

Xbox launches at 50% off, PS5 at 75% off, and GTA Online is free for three months on PlayStation. Rockstar has revealed the pricing for GTA 5 and GTA Online on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. We now know for sure that the games won't be offered as free upgrades to existing owners, but they will be at least 50% off on all new-gen platforms for the first three months of launch. Ahead of pre-loading starting today , the pricing for all the new versions of GTA 5 and GTA Online is now live on the PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store, and confirms that there will be no free upgrades available for those who bought the games on previous console generations. However, there are significant discounts on all platforms within the first three months of release. You can see the pricing for all the new versions of GTA 5 and GTA Online below: PS5 - GTA 5 and GTA Online Pricing and Discounts GTA 5 for PS5 will be 75% off for the first three months of launch, priced at $9.99 USD / £8.75 / $14.99 AUD. Afte...

A judge in Indiana sentenced a 29-year-old father to spend more than half a century behind bars for his role in the death of his 2-year-old son. Circuit Court Judge Angela G. Warner Sims on Friday sentenced Jacob Stephen Wootton to 52 years in prison for the slaying of toddler Ryder Wootton, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Wootton reached a deal with prosecutors and in December pleaded guilty to one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and one count of being a habitual offender. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss one count of murder initially charged against Wootton. The sentence breaks down as follows: the maximum 40 years on the neglect charge plus an additional 12 years on the habitual offender charge, to be served consecutively, The Herald Bulletin reported . “Today is sad day regardless of what side you’re on,” Judge Sims reportedly said during Friday’s proceeding in Madison County Circuit 1 Court. “Today is about justice. Unfortu...

A 49-year-old Montana man is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing his 12-year-old grandson. Montana District Court Judge John C. Brown on Friday sentenced James Sasser Jr. to 100 years in prison for felonies in connection with the 2020 death of James Alex Hurley, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported . Sasser Jr. previously pleaded guilty to one count of deliberate homicide, one count of tampering with a witness, and one count of criminal child endangerment. Judge Brown sentenced Sasser Jr. to 100 years on the homicide charge and 10 years each for the lesser charges, to be served concurrently. According to the Daily Chronicle, Sasser Jr. addressed the court during Friday’s proceeding, conceding that his failure to protect his grandson warranted punishment. “I should have been a protector. I wasn’t. I failed,” Sasser Jr. reportedly said. “I failed my kids, all of them. Their lives are destroyed, [Alex’s mother’s] life is destroyed. I deserve whatever you do.” Deputy...