European Association for Astronomy Education

Source: ESO Science Release eso1228

Dark galaxies spotted for the first time.
Image credits: ESO, Digitized Sky Survey 2 and S. Cantalupo (UCSC)

For the first time, dark galaxies — an early phase of galaxy formation, predicted by theory but unobserved until now — may have been spotted. These objects are essentially gas-rich galaxies without stars. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, an international team thinks they have detected these elusive objects by observing them glowing as they are illuminated by a quasar.(read more)

Source: ESA

Caenorhabditis elegans, a transparent nematode worm.
Image credits: Creative Commons ShareAlike license–B. Goldstein.

Astronauts return to Earth weakened and unsteady after weightlessness and radiation in space take their toll on the human body. New research now shows that the humble nematode worm adapts much better to spaceflight.(read  more)