Welcome to A Week in Science, brought to you by R.I.O.S.
This week, three astronomical wonders, expanding sea ice and reading dreams.
This has been a great week for space science, with three big discoveries expanding our knowledge of the universe.
In Europe, astronomers have observed a black hole snacking on a small star or giant planet,
stripping its outer layers.
The celestial lunchtime occurred in a galaxy 47 million light years away.
They are now focused on a similar feeding event of a gas cloud about to be consumed by a black hole
at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy.
Meanwhile, astronomers in Australia and Hong Kong have been watching the death throes of a giant star in the large Magellanic cloud.
They've made the highest resolution images yet of this phenomenon.
A particle physics experiment on the International Space Station has found evidence for what may be dark matter.
Dark matter has never been observed, but is thought to make up around 20% of the universe.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer detects cosmic particles released by stars and galaxies within and beyond the Milky Way.
By studying these particles, scientists have detected antimatter positrons, which are thought to originate from dark matter.
Researchers have cautioned that further analysis is required to confirm whether this is indeed evidence for dark matter,
but the results are still an exciting development in our understanding of the universe.
Gel microfibers that contain living cells and proteins can be used to reconstruct functioning tissues.
Kids with early puberty experience behavioural and social issues that actually date back to preschool years and then continue into adolescence.
Macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in old age, could be prevented by a simple eyedrop that controls cholesterol buildup.
And your breath print, a unique chemical profile of your breath, could be used as a future health and diagnostic tool.
Climate warming has led to an expansion of Antarctic sea ice, a counter-intuitive result published this week in Nature Geoscience.
It appears that the underside of sea ice melts to create a cool layer of fresh water.
This insulates the ice from warmer ocean waters below and thus prevents further melting.
This negative feedback effect is expected to continue into the future.
It's important to note, however, that this melting pattern doesn't apply to land ice, which has a greater impact on sea level rises.
And finally, Japanese neuroscientists claim they can read your dreams.
When awake, people were shown a series of images while scientists monitored their brain activity.
The same patterns of activity were then also observed while the people were asleep.
When asked what they had dreamt about, the subjects said they had seen the same image that they were shown while awake.
Recognizing these brain activity patterns and interpreting them is the first step to developing a scientific dream reader.
Well, that's that idea out the window.
When you have a moment, why not have a look at the science blogs on the RIL's website?
My latest regular blog covers the discovery, preparation and interpretation of a 100-million-year-old bone.
Other bloggers discuss Florence Nightingale's vital statistics, the future of bendable phones,
and the advisability, or otherwise, of resurrecting extinct species.
There's lots more there. You're sure to find something appealing.
Just follow the links under news on our website.
That's been another very big week in science.
For more on these and other science news stories,
have a look at the RIL's website, rils.org.au,
where you can also sign up for notifications of future episodes.
You can follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag WeekInSci.
Hi, I'm Paul Willis, and on behalf of the RIL's team, I'll see you next week.
