The latest data release from the ESA satellite Planck consortium – just published in Astronomy and Astrophysics – reveals a surprise: star formation in the Universe may be more recent than previously indicated by the analysis of Planck’s predecessor, the NASA WMAP satellite. The observation was made possible by the new maps of Planck’s low-frequency instrument (LFI), produced by the Trieste Data Processing Centre run by INAF-OATS in collaboration with the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) and the LFI Consortium. 

Human beings are born with a visual system already predisposed to see (and mentally representing) objects as discrete perceptual units. Movement is an important visual feature, but how early in a child’s development is it represented independently from the object itself? And what function does this skill serve in the development of cognitive abilities? Research conducted with the collaboration of SISSA, and published in Cognition, shows that this skill develops very early in infancy. Not only: its presence in mice suggests a genetic basis for it.

It had never been verified before: unlike other biopolymers, RNA, the long strand that is “cousin” to DNA, tends not to form knots. The observation has been published in the journal PNAS by a research team of the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Trieste and the CEA of Saclay (Francia). 

DOWNLOAD > Press release

Circa cinquecento ragazzi delle scuole superiori del Friuli Venezia Giulia (e dal Veneto) si ritroveranno alla Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) di Trieste l’11 febbraio 2015, per una mattinata di seminari, conferenze, laboratori interattivi, incontri con i ricercatori e molto altro ancora. L’evento, che vedrà coinvolta tutta la SISSA, nasce per offrire  un’immagine più autentica e seducente della Scuola e della ricerca scientifica ai ragazzi che presto dovranno decidere il futuro dei loro studi. L’evento diventerà un appuntamento fisso negli anni a venire.  

In March last year the BICEP2 team (the Antarctic observatory) claimed to have observed, for the first time, the effects of gravitational waves in cosmic background radiation. In September Planck demonstrated that the signal observed might be the result of “contaminants” due to the polarised radiation produced by our Galaxy. The Planck and BICEP2 teams therefore joined forces to better investigate the problem, and will publish a paper in Physical Review Letters (announced by an ESA press release).

Stuart Firestein

28 January, 3.00 pm

SISSA, “P. Budinich” Main Lecture Hall

Via Bonomea 265, Trieste

It wasn’t the successes that allowed science to progress. To the contrary, it was the failures that made it so important and influential in human society. This is the view held by Stuart Firestein, biologist at Columbia University, who will be discussing this topic at the next appointment with the SISSA Colloquia. The meeting, open to the public and held in English, is scheduled for 28 January 2015, at 3.00 pm in the “P. Budinich” Main Lecture Hall of SISSA.

Giuseppe O. Longo

29 gennaio, ore 18.00

Caffè San Marco

Via Cesare Battisti 18, Trieste

Giuseppe O. Longo parlerà del rapporto di Carlo Emilio Gadda con la scienza in un incontro pubblico, nell’ambito del ciclo “Scienza, letteratura e impegno civile” organizzato dal Laboratorio Interdisciplinare della SISSA di Trieste. L’evento si terrà al Caffè San Marco giovedì 29 gennaio alle 18 e sarà moderato da Giuseppe Mussardo, direttore del Laboratorio Interdisciplinare della SISSA.