Solar physicists say they have found a key source of intense gamma rays unleashed when Earth’s nearest star produces its most violent eruptions.

In findings published in Nature Astronomy, scientists at NJIT’s Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (NJIT-CSTR) have pinpointed a previously unknown class of high-energy particles in the Sun’s upper atmosphere responsible for generating the long-puzzling radiation signals observed during major solar flare events for decades.

– January 7, 2026 (London time) – One of the biggest recent surprises in astronomy is the discovery that most stars like the Sun harbor a planet between the size of Earth and Neptune within the orbit of Mercury — sizes and orbits absent from our solar system. These ‘super-Earths and sub-Neptunes’ are the galaxy's most common planets, but their formation has been shrouded in mystery. Now, an international team of astronomers has found a crucial missing link. By weighing four newborn planets in the V1298 Tau system, they've captured a rare snapshot of worlds in the process of transforming into the galaxy's most common planetary types.

Ventilatory ratio (VR) is a simple bedside index reflecting pulmonary dead space and is associated with outcomes in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This study developed and validated separate 30-day mortality prediction models for high and low VR subgroups using multicenter critical care databases. Subgroup-specific models demonstrated superior predictive performance compared with cross-applied models, highlighting the importance of VR-based stratification for improving prognostic accuracy and supporting more individualized ARDS management strategies.