Results using data from the Gaia-ESO project has provided some evidence backing up theoretical divisions in the chemical composition of the stars that make up the Milky Way's disc – the vast collection of giant gas clouds and billions of stars that give our Galaxy its 'flying saucer' shape -  and suggesting that stars in the inner regions of the Galactic disc were the first to form.

Measuring a 27-dimensional quantum state is a time-consuming, multistage process using a technique called quantum tomography, which is similar to creating a 3D image from many 2D ones.

Researchers have instead been able to apply direct measurement to do this in a single experiment with no post-processing. In a new paper they demonstrate direct measurements of the quantum state associated with the orbital-angular momentum.

Want a more accurate estimate of waiting time to get through security at airports? 

Obviously monitoring Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is one way to go, but often people shut those off in the airport to conserve energy. Monitoring cell phones and tablets doesn't work if only 30% of people have them on. 

As many of us know, queues at airports are arranged in mazes using retractable ribbon barriers. Security personnel adjust the barriers according to the size of the queue, and analysis also 'learns' how the flow of people moves over time. This is then used to give an estimate of how long it takes for the queue to pass through security.

Researchers recently got 54 volunteers to try on free shoes. But this wasn't for fun, it was for a biomechanical study of the shoes manufactured by the Majorcan Camper brand.

The six designs of men's and women's footwear were then analyzed using optical motion capture systems, force plates, in-shoe pressure measurement devices and electromyography (EMG) sensors. The aim was to determine the parameters that affect how comfortable the shoes are.

It is estimated that one in 50 people in England have some form of learning disability such as Down’s syndrome, but when they become hospitalized they basically become 'invisible', according to a new paper. 

Hospital patients with learning disabilities face longer waits and mismanaged treatment due to a failure to understand them by nursing staff. In one case, a patient who had problems making herself understood was accused of being drunk by hard pressed hospital staff.

A young star named HD 142527 in the constellation Lupus (the Wolf) has revealed that cosmic dust, which is component material of planets, is circling around the star in a form of asymmetric ring. 

By measuring the density of dust in the densest part of the ring, astronomers imaging it with  the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) found that it is highly possible that planets are now being formed in that region.

Scholars say they are closing in on how ecstasy, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), produces feelings of euphoria in users and in a new paper say that it might be useful in the treatment of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.  A small study using MDMA as an adjunct to psychotherapy reported positive preliminary results.

The limitation of the new paper; these were brain images and done for a television show a year and a half before it was in a journal.

Tetraquarks are hypothetical particles made up by four quarks (two quarks and two antiquarks). Unlike mesons (quark-antiquark pairs) and baryons (three-quark or three-antiquark systems), the quarks in a tetraquark are quite loosely bound within their confinement volume by strong interactions, as can be calculated with the help of quantum chromodynamics. Their tendence to separate into two quark-antiquark systems should yield a very short lifetime, making their observation quite difficult. However, some tentative evidence for their existence exists.

Everyone's heard of microwave ovens by now. 

These mass-market kitchen devices were a by-product of a much more narrow application - radar. During World War II, the magnetron, a tube that produces microwaves, was invented to spot German bombers on their way to the British Isles. Later, Percy LeBaron Spencer of the Raytheon Company discovered that these radar waves melted a candy bar in his pocket and so the microwave oven - originally known as the Radar Range - was born.

Microwave ovens can do wonderful things but the quality of the cooking is not uniform. So you might be a little skeptical about milk.

Are you obsessed with checking email?

You could be damaging your mental health and that of their colleagues too, according to Kingston University occupational psychologist Dr. Emma Russell.

Russell says she has identified 7 deadly email sins that can lead to 'negative repercussions' if not handled correctly. Some of the worst habits include 'ping pong' messages back and forth and 'read receipts', which accompany every missive sent, the study, looking into which email practices stress employees out, found.