“Space-based research has a long history of contributing to advancements on Earth,” said Dr. Lisa Carnell.

The International Space Station (ISS) has been a beacon of scientific and medical research ever since the station’s first module was launched in 1999, as astronauts continue to push the boundaries regarding microgravity research that has contributed to advancing science and medical knowledge back on Earth. To continue this, NASA and the ISS National Laboratory recently announced a partnership through the ISS National Lab Research Announcement (NLRA) 2024-09: Igniting Innovation: Science in Space to Cure Disease on Earth that will provide up to $4 million with the goal of helping to advance disease diagnosis and treatment back on Earth.

Through collaboration between government agencies, industry, and academia, the NLRA hopes to accomplish several objectives pertaining to developing medical technologies on Earth, including disease mechanism models, population and disease diversity, drug discovery & development, drug delivery, and drug resistance. This announcement comes after the ISS National Laboratory announced in July 2024 that five projects were selected for the Cancer Research in Space for Life on Earth with the goal of providing $7 million in grants to advance cancer research in microgravity onboard the ISS.

Dr. Caroline Dorn: “The larger the planet and the greater its mass, the more the water tends to go with the iron droplets and become integrated in the core.”

Do certain exoplanets mirror Earth regarding their distribution of iron and water? This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated the evolution of exoplanets and how they form their iron core with water residing either beneath or above the surface, and whether as a liquid or gas. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of exoplanets, which will enable scientists to provide better targets for identifying Earth-like worlds throughout the cosmos.

For the study, the researchers use computer models to simulate the formation of planetary interiors on super-Earth and sub-Neptune exoplanets, specifically with a focus on the distribution of water within a planet’s interior in relation to the additional iron and metallic composition. In the end, the researchers found that longstanding hypotheses about the formation and evolution of water worlds are challenged given the model’s results that 95 percent or more of water on an exoplanet is stored within the planet’s interior, as opposed to the surface.

Dr. Scott England: “As the aurora intensifies, you see more lights, but along with that, there’s more energy entering the atmosphere, so it makes the atmosphere near the poles very hot, which starts to push air away from the poles and towards the equator.”

How do powerful geomagnetic storms from the Sun influence the Earth’s atmosphere? This is what two separate studies (Karan et al. (2024) and Evans et al. (2024)) published in Geophysical Research Letters hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how the geomagnetic storm that occurred between May 10–12, 2024—resulting in worldwide aurorae—impacted the Earth’s thermosphere, which is the Earth’s upper atmosphere extending approximately 70 miles to 130 miles above the Earth’s surface. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the short-and long-term effects of geomagnetic storms on the Earth’s atmosphere and how this could influence activities on the surface.

“The northern lights are caused by energetic, charged particles hitting our upper atmosphere, which are impacted by numerous factors in space, including the sun,” said Dr. Scott England, who is an associate professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech and a co-author on both studies. “During solar geomagnetic storms, there’s a lot more of these energetic charged particles in the space around Earth, so we see a brightening of the northern lights and the region over which you can see them spreads out to include places like the lower 48 states that usually don’t see this display.”

How can scientists protect biodiversity across the Earth while climate change continues to ravage the planet? This is what a recent study published in Conservation Biology hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated how conservation efforts within the Southern Ocean should be addressed due to human activities (i.e., tourism, climate change, and fishing). This study holds the potential to help scientists, conservationists, and the public better understand the negative effects of human activities on the Earth’s biodiversity, specifically since the Southern Ocean is home to an abundance of species.

“Despite the planet being in the midst of a mass extinction, the Southern Ocean in Antarctica is one of the few places in the world that hasn’t had any known species go extinct,” said Sarah Becker, who is a PhD student in the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) and lead author of the study.

For the study, the researchers used the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) standard—which used to identify sites of vital importance to preserving biodiversity—to examine species within the Southern Ocean. After analyzing tracking data for 13 Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds and seals, the researchers found a total of 30 KBAs existed within the Southern Ocean, specifically sites used for migration, breeding, and foraging. This study improves upon previous research that identified KBAs on a macroscale, whereas this recent study focused on sites at the microscale. The researchers hope this study will help raise awareness for mitigating fishing activities in these areas along with developing improved conservation strategies, as well.

“By measuring sound travel time differences both forward and backward, we can accurately measure wind in three dimensions,” said Dr. Robert White.

The planet Mars has several similarities with Earth, including extinct volcanoes, dry lake beds, and active dust storms, the last of which is governed by the Red Planet’s prevailing winds. However, given the average surface pressure of Mars is 0.6 percent of Earth’s due to Mars’ paper-thin atmosphere, which means the wind speeds are far smaller than on Earth. But can we accurately measure this wind speed and how will it contribute to future missions to the Red Planet?

This is what a recent study published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated using sound to measure wind speeds on Mars, which holds the potential to help scientists better understand the various processes that comprise the Red Planet and how these processes could influence future missions, as well.

For the study, the researchers used a novel sound device called a sonic anemometric system to measure wind speeds on Mars, which they note exhibits sound behavior equivalent to the Earth’s stratosphere at 30–42 kilometers (18.6–26 miles) in altitude. With their four transducers that comprise the system, the researchers attempted to measure how fast sound pulses travel through the thin Martian air while accounting for how the sound waves travel around obstacles (known as diffraction) and wind direction.

Could food delivery robots with zero carbon emissions influence a customer’s decision to buy food using them instead of robot vehicles that emit carbon into the atmosphere? This is what a recent study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management hopes to address as a tea of researchers from Washington State University (WSU) investigated how a customer’s knowledge of an automatic delivery robot’s (ADR) environment impact influences their choice regarding which type of robot they want delivering their food. This study holds the potential to help scientists, environmental conservationists, and the public better understand the benefits of eco-friendly delivery robots for both the short and long term.

“Much of the marketing focus has been on the functionality and the convenience of these automatic delivery robots, which is really important, but it would enhance these efforts to promote their green aspects as well,” said Jennifer Han, who is a doctoral student in WSU’s Carson College of Business and lead author of the study.

For the study, the researchers used the Amazon crowdsourcing platform, MTurk, to conduct an online survey comprised of 418 adults who were instructed to watch videos about ADRs followed by a questionnaire regarding the environmental impact and the risk of using ADRs for their food delivery service. In the end, the team discovered a connection between participants who found ADRs were less risky and wanted an eco-friendly ADR compared to participants who thought ADRs were riskier but weren’t concerned about the environmental consequences.

“These are the oldest rocks that may have been deposited by water, that we’ve ever laid hands or rover arms on,” said Dr. Benjamin Weiss. “That’s exciting, because it means these are the most promising rocks that may have preserved fossils, and signatures of life.”

Did life once exist on Mars, and if so, where will we find it? This is what a recent study published in AGU Advances hopes to address as a team of several dozen international researchers led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) investigated rocks samples obtained by NASA’s Perseverance (Percy) rover obtained in Jezero Crater on Mars, and which allegedly contain minerals only found in water. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand the conditions for life to have emerged on the Red Planet long ago, along with identifying what evidence could be used to find life elsewhere in the solar system.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data obtained from seven rock samples collected by Percy along Jezero’s western slope, which scientists have hypothesized was an ancient lake long ago. After examining Percy’s images of the surrounding area and the chemical analyses from the rock samples, the team determined that the rocks contain evidence of water, meaning this location likely contained a lake long ago. However, the potential for this lake having life is still unknown since the team did not identify evidence of organic matter within the samples. Despite this, the team determined that the rocks were created more than 3.5 billion years ago, long before life emerged on the Earth.

“Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the solar nebula,” said Dr. Anicia Arredondo. “Hydration that is endogenous could suggest that Psyche is not the remnant core of a protoplanet.”

Could a metallic asteroid contain water and what can this teach us about the asteroid’s formation and evolution? This is what a recent study due for publication in the Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) investigated whether the metallic asteroid Psyche —which is one of the largest objects in the main asteroid belt—could contain evidence of water and hydration.

This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of asteroids and what this can teach us about the history of the solar system. This study also comes as NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is currently en route to the Psyche asteroid and is scheduled to arrive in August 2029.

For the study, the researchers used NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope to observe the 140-mile diameter asteroid, which detected evidence of what are known as hydroxyl molecules, or molecules containing bonded hydrogen and oxygen, and specifically identified traces of water, more commonly known as H₂O in its molecular form. Now, the question arises as to if the water got there from exogenous (external) or endogenous (internal) processes.

“Establishing that there is a big reservoir of liquid water provides some window into what the climate was like or could be like,” said Dr. Michael Manga.

While Mars is incapable of having liquid water on its surface, what about underground, and how much could there be? This is what a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how liquid water might be present beneath the Martian surface. This study holds the potential to help researchers not only better understand the current conditions on the Red Planet, but also if these same conditions could have led to life existing on the surface in the past.

For the study, the researchers analyzed seismic data obtained by NASA’s now-retired InSight lander, which landed on Mars in 2018 and sent back valuable data regarding the interior of Mars until the mission ended in 2022. This was after mission planners determined the amount of dust that had collected on the lander’s solar panels did not allow for sufficient solar energy to keep it functioning. However, despite being expired for two years, scientists continued to pour over vast amounts of data regarding the interior of Mars.

Now, after combining this seismic data with models used on Earth to map underground oil fields and aquifers, the researchers determined that igneous rocks (cooled magma) are drenched in liquid water between 11.5 and 20 kilometers (7.15 and 12.4 miles) beneath the Martian surface. Additionally, they ascertained the volume of this liquid water could cover the entire surface of Mars up to approximately one-mile deep. The presence of liquid water beneath the surface could help scientists better understand the water cycle on Mars, but accessing this water for future astronauts or colonists is out of the question given its depth.

How can older trees help combat climate change? This is what a recent study published in Nature Climate Change hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated changes in woody biomass in older trees that have been while exposed to free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) resulting from climate change. This study holds the potential to help researchers, climate scientists, and the public better understand the steps that can be taken to decrease CO₂ emissions and combat climate change worldwide.

For the study, the researchers, led by the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), conducted a FACE experiment through a combination of canopy laser scanning and tree-ring analysis to examine the 180-year-old Quercus robur L. woodland in central England between 2021and 2022. The goal was ascertaining the effectiveness of older trees compared to younger trees regarding their consumption of CO₂, also known as CO₂ storage. In the end, the researchers found increased levels of CO₂ compared to ambient conditions in 2021 and 2022, respectively, equivalent to 1.7 tons of dry matter per hectare per year.

“Our findings refute the notion that older, mature forests cannot respond to rising levels of atmospheric CO₂, but how they respond will likely depend on the supply of nutrients from the soil,” said Dr. Richard Norby from the University of Birmingham, who is lead author of the study. “Evidence from BIFoR FACE of a significant increase in woody biomass production supports the role of mature, long-established, forests as natural climate solutions in the coming decades while society strives to reduce its dependency on carbon.”