Lifeboat Foundation

Can the ancient past of Mars be unlocked from knowing the orientation of rocks? This is what a study published today in Earth and Space Science hopes to address as an international team of researchers led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) investigated bedrock samples that were drilled by NASA’s Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater on Mars to ascertain the original orientation of the rocks prior to the drilling, with the orientation potentially providing clues about Mars’ magnetic field history and the conditions that existed on ancient Mars.

What makes this study unique is it marks the first time such a method is being conducted on another planet. Additionally, while orienting 3D objects is common on Earth, Perseverance is not equipped to perform such tasks. Therefore, this method had to be conducted using angles of the rover’s arm and using identifiers from the ground, as well. The team notes how this method could be applied to future in-situ studies, as well.

“The orientation of rocks can tell you something about any magnetic field that may have existed on the planet,” said Dr. Benjamin Weiss, who is a professor of planetary sciences at MIT and lead author of the study. “You can also study how water and lava flowed on the planet, the direction of the ancient wind, and tectonic processes, like what was uplifted and what sunk. So, it’s a dream to be able to orient bedrock on another planet, because it’s going to open up so many scientific investigations.”

“I do think science fiction is responsive to discoveries in science. I think it’s sort of reflective of what was going on in science at the time that it was written,” said Dr. Emma Johanna Puranen.

What can science fiction influence science facts, specifically pertaining to exoplanets? This is what a recent study published in the Journal of Science Communication hopes to address as an international team of researchers led by the St Andrews Centre for Exoplanet Science investigated how new scientific findings influence science fiction. This study holds the potential to help researchers and the public better understand the intricate connection between science fiction and science facts, specifically pertaining to exoplanets, and how this link can influence science communication going forward.

For the study, the team conducted a quantitative analysis using a Bayesian network, which is a common statistical model on 142 science fiction projects, including Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune, and Solaris, just to name a few, to ascertain how exoplanets are depicted in these projects. After running the Bayesian model, the researchers concluded that their findings indicated a trend towards scientific discoveries influencing science fiction. Additionally, these findings could influence science communication in terms of how exoplanets are depicted in science fiction going forward.

Continue reading “Exoplanets in Sci-Fi: Bridging the Gap Between Imagination and Reality” »

“If you look at the brain chemically, it’s like a soup with a bunch of ingredients,” said Dr. Fan Lam.

Can we map the brain to show its behavior patterns when a patient is healthy and sick? This is what a recent study published in Nature Methods hopes to address as a team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used a $3 million grant obtained from the National Institute of Aging to develop a novel approach to mapping brain behavior when a patient is both healthy and sick. This study holds the potential to help researchers, medical professionals, and patients better understand how to treat diseases.

“If you look at the brain chemically, it’s like a soup with a bunch of ingredients,” said Dr. Fan Lam, who is an assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a co-author on the study. “Understanding the biochemistry of the brain, how it organizes spatiotemporally, and how those chemical reactions support computing is critical to having a better idea of how the brain functions in health as well as during disease.”

Continue reading “3D Molecular Maps of the Brain: Unveiling Complexity with Spatial Omics” »

“The first few hundred million years of the universe was a very active phase, with lots of gas clouds collapsing to form new stars,” said Dr. Tobias Looser.

When do galaxies stop forming new stars? This is what a study published today in Nature hopes to address as a team of researchers led by the Kavli Institute for Cosmology used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to discover a 13-billion-year-old “dead” galaxy that stopped producing stars shortly after its own formation, approximately 700 million years after the Big Bang. This study holds the potential to help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of galaxies in the early universe and the processes behind why some of these galaxies cease to form new stars.

For the study, the researchers used JWST’s powerful Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) to observe the earliest galaxies that existed approximately 700 million years after the Big Bang, or approximately 13 billion years old. Through this, the team observed what they referred to as a “dead” galaxy, meaning a galaxy that ceased producing new stars, which is a profound discovery considering the young age of the universe at the time. But the question is how did this happen?

Continue reading “Webb Telescope Discovers Ancient ‘Dead’ Galaxy: A Look Back 13 Billion Years” »

Is there a connection between vaping cigarettes or cannabis, irregular mealtimes, and frequent headaches in individuals under 18 years of age? This is what a recent study published in the journal Neurology hopes to address as a team of researchers from the University of Calgary investigated how lifestyle choices combined with vaping could result in frequent headaches among youth. This study holds the potential to help researchers, medical professionals, and the public better understand the short-and long-term health risks associated with vaping cigarettes or cannabis.

For the study, the researchers enlisted 4,978,370 participants aged between 5 and 17 years for a health survey with the goal of ascertaining a connection between lifestyle choices—vaping, irregular mealtimes, and extended periods of screen time—and the frequency of headaches they reported as part of the survey. In the end, the researchers found that 6.1 percent of the participants experienced frequent headaches who also exhibited the aforementioned lifestyle choices, specifically including e-cigarettes and smoking in the house.

“These results are important because there is surprisingly little research looking at lifestyle and headaches in kids and teens,” said Dr. Serena Orr, MD, who is an assistant professor of pediatrics, community health sciences, and clinical neurosciences at the University of Calgary and a co-author on the study. “As a headache neurologist, I think that it’s critical to understand the role that lifestyle factors play, because prescribing medication alone is not the ideal way of treating headaches at any age.”

Anthropic, the AI startup funded backed by Google, Amazon and others, has released its latest flagship GenAI models, Claude 3.

This new treatment uses silver diamine fluoride (SDF), which is an inexpensive liquid that prevents cavities.

Dental cavities are a distressing sensation that, if left untreated, can result in terrifying pain, swelling, and restless nights.

Researchers create an electrolyte enabling lithium-ion batteries to work efficiently even in ultra-low temperatures.

Uncover the secrets of tying knots in lasers. Find out how cutting-edge research is revolutionizing the possibilities of laser applications.