EverythingScience

Scientists propose new plan to 'catch' comet 3I/ATLAS — but we have to act fast The arrival of 3I/ATLAS in our solar system spawned multiple proposals for a rendezvous mission to study it up close. As the third interstellar object (ISO) ever detected, the wealth of information direct studies could provide would be groundbreaking in many respects. However, the mission architecture for intercepting an interstellar comet poses numerous significant challenges for mission designers and planners. Chief among them is the technological readiness level (TRL) of the proposed propulsion systems, ranging from conventional rockets to directed-energy propulsion (DEP). So far, mission proposals have focused on chemical rockets launched from Earth, like NASA's Janus mission and the ESA's Comet Interceptor, or on existing missions like the Juno probe adjusting their trajectories to rendezvous with it. In a recent paper, researchers from theInitiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) propose foregoing a direct transfer mission that would launch from Earth today. Instead, they demonstrate how a mission launching in 2035 could intercept 3I/ATLAS using an indirect Solar Oberth maneuver. The main challenges for a direct mission to rendezvous with 3I/ATLAS stem from the target object's celestial mechanics, its high heliocentric speed, and the late initial detection. The first issue effectively rules out a rendezvous mission that relies on an onboard propulsion system to match the comet's velocity, thereby enabling a prolonged close-up study of the body. As a result, a flyby mission is the preferred option. However, the second and third considerations rule out a direct mission because the optimal launch date had already passed before it was detected. As Hibberd summarized these for Universe Today via email: "For the direct mission, the object 3I/ATLAS was detected too late, when it had already travelled inside the orbit of Jupiter, and with a velocity in excess of 60 km/s. It turns out, this was after the optimal launch date for a direct mission to intercept it. One paper found that there would even have been difficulties for a ‘Comet Interceptor’ spacecraft had it been already loitering at the sun/Earth L2 point when 3I/ATLAS was discovered." Source:Live Science @EverythingScience

40,000-year-old Stone Age symbols may have paved the way for writing, long before Mesopotamia Over 40,000 years ago, our early ancestors were already carving signs into tools and sculptures. According to a new analysis by linguist Christian Bentz at Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz at the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Museum of Prehistory and Early History) in Berlin, these sign sequences have the same level of complexity and information density as the earliest proto-cuneiform script that emerged tens of thousands of years later, around 3,000 B.C.E. Using a computational approach, the team examined over 3,000 signs found on 260 objects to reveal insights into the origins of writing. Their findings, which have been published in the journal PNAS, were clear—and surprised even the researchers. Paleolithic objects dating back between 34,000 and 45,000 years bear mysterious sign sequences—often repeated lines, notches, dots and crosses. Many of these artifacts were discovered in caves in the Swabian Jura, such as a small mammoth found in the Vogelherd Cave in Lone Valley in southwestern Germany. A Stone Age human carved the mammoth figurine out of a mammoth tusk and carefully engraved it with rows of crosses and dots. Other artifacts found in the Swabian Jura are also etched with signs. One of these objects is the "Adorant," a mammoth ivory plate uncovered in the Geißenklösterle cave in the Ach Valley that depicts a hybrid lion-human creature. The object is likewise adorned with rows of dots and notches. Upon close inspection, another mythical depiction of a human-lion hybrid, the Lion Human from the Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave in the Lone Valley, reveals notches placed at regular intervals along the arm. New findings show that these marks are there for a reason—Stone Age humans used them to convey information and to record their thoughts. "Our research is helping us uncover the unique statistical properties—or statistical fingerprint—of these sign systems, which are an early predecessor to writing," explains Professor Christian Bentz of Saarland University. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Scientists Redesign Fentanyl To Preserve Pain Relief While Reducing Deadly Side Effects Fentanyl ranks among the most powerful medications available for treating intense pain. However, its benefits come with serious hazards, including a high potential for addiction and respiratory depression, a dangerous slowing of breathing that can be fatal. Because of these risks, doctors must carefully restrict its use even though it is highly effective. At the same time, fentanyl is inexpensive and relatively simple to manufacture, which has led to widespread illegal production and distribution. That surge has contributed to a devastating overdose crisis that claimed more than 70,000 lives in the United States in 2023. Researchers at Scripps Research have now redesigned fentanyl at the molecular level, creating a new version that maintains its strong pain-relieving effects while reducing its tendency to suppress breathing. The study, published in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, indicates that further refinements could lead to safer opioid medications with lower risks of addiction, overdose, and death. “For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has been constrained by the assumption that major structural changes to opioids would eliminate their analgesic properties,” says senior author Kim D. Janda, the Ely R. Callaway Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Research. “Our research has identified a different possibility—that fundamental structural redesign can preserve pain relief while improving safety.” Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

Does the motion of DNA influence its activity? Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

How much of 'us' is really 'us?' Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

What’s Causing Antarctica’s Strange “Gravity Hole”? Scientists Finally Solve the Mystery Gravity feels dependable and unchanging, something we rarely question. Yet the planet behaves in strange ways defies intuition. In reality, gravity is not uniform across Earth’s surface. Its strength shifts from place to place, and once the effects of Earth’s rotation are taken into account, it reaches its lowest point beneath Antarctica. New research shows that this so called Antarctic gravity hole developed because of extremely slow movements of rock deep within the planet over tens of millions of years. The study also found that changes in this gravity low occurred during the same broad window of time as major shifts in Antarctica’s climate. Scientists say future investigations may determine whether evolving gravity patterns played a role in the expansion of the massive ice sheets that define the continent today. “If we can better understand how Earth’s interior shapes gravity and sea levels, we gain insight into factors that may matter for the growth and stability of large ice sheets,” said Alessandro Forte, Ph.D., a professor of geophysics at the University of Florida and co-author of the new study recreating the Antarctic gravity hole’s past. Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

NASA Delays Launch of Artemis II Lunar Mission Once Again NASA has once again postponed the launch of Artemis II, the crewed lunar flyby mission, setting a new launch window for April. Although March 6 had been tentatively planned as the launch date, the US space agency revealed that a problem with the rocket has caused further delay. Source:Wired @EverythingScience

Oh yeah, it's all coming together! Roman is completely assembled at NASAGoddard and is undergoing final tests before being shipped to NASAKennedy, where it will be prepped for launch! Check out this video highlighting the different telescope components. Learn more about how the observatory came to be! go.nasa.gov/3OpqLQo Source: @NASARoman @EverythingScience

A super stable laser on the moon could guide future lunar missions and improve our timekeeping The moon has many permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), which are craters that never see sunlight and are located at the lunar poles. They are ideal spots for high-precision instruments because they are extremely cold and remarkably quiet. Our planet experiences many environmental disturbances that can affect laser stability, such as ground shaking and changes in air pressure. Lunar laser plan To solve this, an international team, including researchers from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has developed a conceptual plan for a lunar-based master clock. This would involve transporting the materials to the moon and building the laser system inside a dark, freezing crater. The proposal is for a cryogenic silicon cavity laser, which is a specialized device that uses a block of pure silicon to keep light waves perfectly in sync. For this system to reach its full potential, it has to be kept at a steady -430°F [-257°C]. The crater is cold, but not always that cold. The temperatures there are roughly -350°F [-212°C], so to bridge the gap, the scientists plan to use passive cooling panels. The system works by bouncing laser light back and forth between two mirrors inside a small hole in the silicon block. Because the block is kept at an optimum temperature, it doesn't shrink or grow. This keeps the distance the light travels exactly the same every time it bounces, creating extraordinary precision. On Earth, the distance would constantly change because of noise and heat. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Genetic discovery offers hope for global banana farming Scientists have pinpointed crucial genetic resistance to a fungal disease that threatens the global banana supply in a wild subspecies of the fruit. In a valuable step forward for banana breeding programs, Dr. Andrew Chen and Professor Elizabeth Aitken from the University of Queensland have identified the genomic region that controls resistance to Fusarium wilt Subtropical Race 4 (STR4). The study is published in the journal Horticulture Research. "Fusarium wilt—also known as Panama disease—is a destructive soil-borne disease which impacts farmed Cavendish bananas worldwide through its virulent Race 4 strains," Dr. Chen said. "Identifying and deploying natural resistance from wild bananas is a long-term and sustainable solution to this pathogen that wilts and kills the host plant leaving residue in the soil to infect future crops. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Scientists Discover How Psychedelics Turn Memory Into Hallucinations Psychedelic compounds act on the brain by binding to serotonin receptors. Scientists have identified at least 14 different receptors that respond to the neurotransmitter serotonin. Among them, psychedelics most strongly target the 2A receptor. This receptor plays several roles, including reducing activity in visual regions of the brain and influencing learning. “We have observed in earlier studies that visual processes in the brain are suppressed by this receptor,” says Callum White, first author of the study. “This means that visual information about things happening in the outside world becomes less accessible to our consciousness. To fill this gap in the puzzle, our brain inserts fragments from memory – it hallucinates.” When outside visual input becomes weaker, the brain compensates. Instead of relying fully on incoming signals, it pulls pieces from stored experiences. Those memory fragments blend into perception, producing hallucinations. Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

The Space Station rarely makes big changes to its orientation, but we were lucky to experience such maneuvers (flipping around to fly butt-first, then flipping back again) before and after each spacex CRS-33 reboost. This 60x speed timelapse was one of my favorites since it captures a little of everything - sunset, lightning storms, air glow, moon glint, stars, and sunrise - as we did one (actually very slow) orbital cartwheel from Atlantic to Pacific. Source: @zenanaut @EverythingScience