EverythingScience

🌙 Argonaut's lunar lander family grows. 🚀 Starting in 2030, esa's Argonaut will deliver vital cargo to the Moon's surface. 🤝 Meet the partners getting us there 🔗esa.int/Science_Explor… 🇮🇹🇫🇷🇬🇧🇩🇪Thales Alenia S, OHB SE, Nammo Source: @esaspaceflight @EverythingScience

Scientists Stunned as Moss Survives 9 Months in Open Space Despite intense UV radiation and temperature swings, most spores remained viable when returned to Earth. Their protective casing acts as a natural shield, enabling resilience even scientists didn’t expect. The results open doors to using hardy plants for future off-world agriculture. Moss Resilience From Earth to Space Mosses are known for their ability to flourish in some of the harshest locations on the planet, from high mountain ranges like the Himalayas to the scorching terrain of Death Valley, as well as the frozen Antarctic tundra and even the cooling surfaces of active volcanoes. Their remarkable toughness inspired researchers to send moss sporophytes, which are reproductive structures that contain spores, into what may be the most inhospitable environment of all: outer space. The study, published in iScience today (November 20), reported that more than 80% of the spores endured 9 months outside the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth still able to reproduce. This marks the first documented instance of an early land plant surviving long-term direct exposure to space. “Most living organisms, including humans, cannot survive even briefly in the vacuum of space,” says lead author Tomomichi Fujita of Hokkaido University. “However, the moss spores retained their vitality after nine months of direct exposure. This provides striking evidence that the life that has evolved on Earth possesses, at the cellular level, intrinsic mechanisms to endure the conditions of space.” Fujita first began considering the idea of testing moss in space while examining plant evolution and development. Mosses seemed exceptionally capable of settling in places that challenge most forms of life. “I began to wonder: could this small yet remarkably robust plant also survive in space?” Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

Astronomers spot 'first stars' billions of years after they were supposed to die Over the course of billions of years, the universe has steadily been evolving. Thanks to the expansion of the universe, we are able to "see" back in time to watch that evolution, almost from the beginning. But every once in a while we see something that doesn't fit into our current understanding of how the universe should operate. That's the case for a galaxy described in a new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters by Ph.D. student Sijia Cai of Tsinghua University's Department of Astronomy and their colleagues. They found a galaxy formed around 11 billion years ago that appears to be "metal-free," indicating that it might contain a set of elusive first generation (Pop III) stars. Before we get into the discovery itself, some context is necessary. Population III (Pop III) stars are considered to be the first generation of stars that formed early in the universe's history. Importantly, they have essentially no "metal," which in cosmological terms means any element other than helium and hydrogen. Since those heavier elements can only be formed in stars themselves (or in the supernovae they create), by definition the first generation of stars can't contain them. Cosmologists have been searching for examples of these Pop III stars for decades, but so far have been unable to find them. Typically, they search a time of the universe's history known as the Epoch of Reionization, which took place up to 1 billion years after the Big Bang, when the universe was very young and we believe the first stars themselves were starting to form. So imagine the author's surprise when they found a galaxy that appeared about 2 billion years later than the Epoch of Reionization. By that point, plenty of stars should have lived and died, with their remnants "infecting" any nearby gas and dust clouds, or other stars themselves, with the metal they created. That was the theory at least. But, using data gathered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and the Subaru Telescope, the authors identified a galaxy they called MPG-CR3 (or CR3 for short). The spectral signature of this galaxy was unique among all other galaxies of that era. It had very clean hydrogen and helium lines, and, notably, almost a complete lack of "metals" like oxygen in its spectral signature. In fact, the upper limit of the metallicity of the stars in the galaxy puts them at .7% of the metallicity of our sun. Even more interestingly, the galaxy itself only appears to be about 2 million years old—making it relatively young by galactic standards. We are able to see it at such a young age, despite it being formed billions of years ago, because of the expansion of space-time. CR3 also appears to be relatively "dust-free," and have relatively small stars, especially for such an ancient galaxy. Most galaxies during Cosmic Noon have supermassive stars compared to our own. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

This New Sensor Shows DNA Repair in Real Time [Video] Built from a natural protein domain, it binds gently and reversibly, highlighting damage without interfering with repair. The tool works in organisms as well, enabling studies of when and where DNA breaks form. Its accuracy and ease of use could boost medical research and cancer therapy development. Relentless DNA Damage and Its Consequences DNA inside each cell faces constant harm from sources such as sunlight, chemicals, radiation, and even the normal activities that keep our bodies functioning. Most of the time, cells repair this damage almost immediately. When those repairs do not work as they should, the resulting problems can contribute to aging, cancer, and a range of other illnesses. Until recently, researchers struggled to watch these repair events unfold in real time. Many techniques required destroying and preserving cells at different stages, which only provided isolated snapshots rather than a full view of the process. 🌐Video of eGFP in Action This footage shows the fluorescent sensors in action inside a living cell. They appear as bright green spots the moment they bind to sites of DNA damage. Credit: Richard Cardoso Da Silva A New Live-Cell DNA Damage Sensor Emerges Scientists at Utrecht University have now created a tool that changes this limitation. Their new DNA damage sensor makes it possible to track damage as it appears and fades inside living cells and even within living organisms. The work, published today (November 20) in Nature Communications, opens the door to research that could not be done before. Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

☄️ 40 000 near-Earth asteroids discovered! Thankfully, none of them are cause for concern for the foreseeable future, but ESA's planetary defence teams are keeping a watchful eye on the skies. esa.int/Space_Safety/P… Source: RT@esaoperations @EverythingScience

Do's and don'ts of using AI to help with schoolwork The rapid rise of ChatGPT and other generative AI systems has disrupted education, transforming how students learn and study. Students everywhere have turned to chatbots to help with their homework, but artificial intelligence's capabilities have blurred the lines about what it should—and shouldn't—be used for. The technology's widespread adoption in many other parts of life also adds to the confusion about what constitutes academic dishonesty. Here are some do's and don'ts on using AI for schoolwork... Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

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A Crucial Genetic Mutation Behind Crohn's Disease Has Finally Been Revealed Mutations in a gene associated with Crohn's disease have been found to rob critical immune cells of their ability to switch modes, causing them to overreact and trigger inflammation. Variations in the NOD2 gene have been linked to Crohn's in previous studies, yet their exact role in the disease's pathology has long been a mystery. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego used machine learning techniques to identify patterns in gene activity of immune cells in the gut. Experiments on lab-grown cells and samples from both healthy guts and digestive tracts with a form of Crohn's called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) revealed that the mutations interfere with typical protective mechanisms that allow NOD2 proteins to guard against IBD. Tracking the behavior of immune cells called macrophages through the expression of their genes, the researchers discerned which cells helped the gut stay healthy and which became inflammatory and caused damage. "The gut is a battlefield, and macrophages are the peacekeepers," says UC San Diego Gajanan Katkar. "For the first time, AI has allowed us to clearly define and track the players on two opposing teams." Source:ScienceAlert @EverythingScience

Carl Sagan Left A Heartfelt Message For The First People To Set Foot On Mars The much-loved astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan once recorded a message for the future astronauts who will one day set foot on Mars. Sagan was a big advocate for the exploration of the Red Planet. Co-founder of The Planetary Society, he believed we should go to the planet to study it as an analog for our own planet, to search for potential signs of life, and simply because of the romance of exploring Mars. 🌐How Would We Communicate with Alien Life? - with Carl Sagan In 1996, shortly before he died of pneumonia on December 20, Sagan recorded a message for future astronauts who have made it to Mars. "I'm Carl Sagan. This is a place where I often work in Ithaca, New York, near Cornell University. Maybe you can hear, in the background, a 200-foot [60-meter] waterfall, right nearby, which is probably – I would guess – a rarity on Mars, even in times of high technology," Sagan says in the recording. 🌐Carl Sagan message to Mars "Science and science fiction have done a kind of dance over the last century, particularly with respect to Mars. The scientists make a finding, it inspires science fiction writers to write about it, and a host of young people read the science fiction and are excited and inspired to become scientists to find out more about Mars, which they do, which then feeds again into another generation of science fiction and science. And that sequence has played a major role in our present ability to get to Mars. It certainly was an important factor in the life of Robert Goddard, the American rocketry pioneer who, I think more than anyone else, paved the way for our actual ability to go to Mars. And it certainly played a role in my scientific development." "Or, maybe we're on Mars because we recognize that if there are human communities on many worlds, the chances of us being rendered extinct by some catastrophe on one world is much less. Or maybe we're on Mars because of the magnificent science that can be done there, the gates of the wonder world are opening in our time. Or maybe we're on Mars because we have to be, because there's a deep nomadic impulse built into us by the evolutionary process. We come after all, from hunter-gatherers, and for 99.9 percent of our tenure on Earth, we've been wanderers. And the next place to wander to is Mars. But whatever the reason you're on Mars is, I'm glad you're there. And I wish I was with you." The recording, thanks to The Planetary Society which he co-founded, was sent to Mars, arriving on May 25 2008 after hitching a ride onboard NASA's Phoenix lander. It remains there on the surface on an archival silica-glass mini-DVD, which the society hopes will last hundreds, or potentially thousands, of years. "I don't know why you're on Mars. Maybe you're there because we've recognized we have to carefully move small asteroids around to avert the possibility of one impacting the Earth with catastrophic consequences, and, while we're up in near-Earth space, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump to Mars." Source:IFLScience @EverythingScience

One of Our Biggest Hopes For Alzheimer's Treatment Doesn't Seem to Work For decades, scientists have targeted the sticky protein clumps that amass in Alzheimer's brains as a potential way of treating the disease, but they may have been off the mark. A new study shows that clearing away the amyloid-beta clumps doesn't appear to repair key brain functions. In particular, it doesn't restore the brain's mechanisms for clearing out waste, known as the glymphatic system. This system is known to be impaired in people with Alzheimer's, and would usually help with getting rid of excess amyloid-beta plaques, via waves of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The study comes from researchers at the Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan, who tested the new Alzheimer's drug lecanemab on 13 people with the disease. Magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) scans were used to look at the effects on the brain. "Even when amyloid-beta is reduced by lecanemab, impairment of the glymphatic system may not recover within the short-term," says medical researcher Tatsushi Oura, of Osaka Metropolitan University. Source:ScienceAlert @EverythingScience

The kind of view that makes you stop scrolling for a moment. ✨ Captured in a timelapse from the International Space Station, this sequence follows Earth as auroras ripple beneath the station and sunrise slowly edges over the planet’s curve. What begins as a quiet glow on the horizon becomes a full sweep of daylight in seconds, a transition you can only witness from orbit 250 miles above our world. Source: @NASA_Johnson @EverythingScience

You can track the comet yourself anytime using our "Eyes on the Solar System" online experience, which simulates the current, past, and future positions of planetary objects and spacecraft using real NASA data: eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-sys… Source: @NASASolarSystem @EverythingScience