Astronomers have long debated why so many icy objects in the outer solar system look like snowmen. Michigan State University researchers now have evidence of the surprisingly simple process that could be responsible for their creation. Jackson Barnes, an MSU graduate student, has created the first simulation that reproduces the two-lobed shape naturally with gravitational collapse. His work is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Made from human stem cells, neural organoids are sophisticated models of brain development and diseas. But scientists could only record activity from a small fraction of the organoid’s neurons. Soft, 3D device contains hundreds of miniaturized electrodes and envelopes 91% of the organoid. Device moves organoid research from localized probing to whole-network monitoring and control of neural activity.