2/27/25 | 720 CT Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Lunar Lander Successfully Commissioned and En Route to the Moon:
After liftoff on February 26, Athena established a stable attitude, solar charging, and radio communications contact with our mission operations center in Houston. The lander is in excellent health, sending selfies and preparing for a series of main engine firings to refine her trajectory ahead of lunar orbit insertion, planned on March 3. Intuitive Machines is targeting a lunar landing opportunity on March 6.
Preclinical trial reveals how beta-glucan, a compound found in all fungi, can ‘reprogram’ immune cells to combat lung inflammation.
A recent study suggests that a common fungal component may help protect against flu-related lung damage.
Led by Professor Maziar Divangahi from McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, the research team found that beta-glucan, when given to mice before influenza exposure, reduced lung damage, improved lung function, and lowered the risk of severe illness and death.
Raw milk has made headlines recently for widespread samples containing the virus that causes H5N1, or bird flu, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture launching a program in December to track the virus through milk testing. But bird flu is far from the only disease-causing pathogen lurking in raw milk: Unpasteurized milk can contain bacteria such as E. coli and Listeria, for instance.
New Stanford Medicine research has found that another virus affecting both animals and people — Rift Valley fever virus — can remain active in raw milk samples for roughly as long as someone might want to drink it. Rift Valley fever is an acute viral illness spread to people through mosquitoes or the bodily fluids of infected animals. These findings mirror recent Stanford research showing that flu virus can be infectious in refrigerated raw milk for up to five days.
While Rift Valley fever virus mostly impacts sub-Saharan Africa, these findings have important implications for understanding human disease risk from drinking raw milk, said Brian Dawes, MD, PhD. He is an infectious disease fellow and postdoctoral researcher in Stanford Medicine’s LaBeaud Lab and led the research. Desiree LaBeaud, MD, associate dean of global health, was the senior author. Alina De La Mota-Peynado of the USDA was co-lead author.
Dr. Sylvester has led CSL Seqirus Medical Affairs since 2016, overseeing the global team that scientifically differentiates company’s vaccines by generating Real World Evidence and presenting CSL Seqirus research to national vaccine recommending organizations.
Dr. Sylvester has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, government and patient care.
Prior to joining CSL Seqirus, Dr. Sylvester led Medical Affairs teams at Pfizer and Merck involved in the worldwide launches of vaccines including Gardasil (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine), Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine) and Trumenba (Meningococcal Group B Vaccine).
A new algorithm, Evo 2, trained on roughly 128,000 genomes—9.3 trillion DNA letter pairs—spanning all of life’s domains, is now the largest generative AI model for biology to date. Built by scientists at the Arc Institute, Stanford University, and Nvidia, Evo 2 can write whole chromosomes and small genomes from scratch.
It also learned how DNA mutations affect proteins, RNA, and overall health, shining light on “non-coding” regions, in particular. These mysterious sections of DNA don’t make proteins but often control gene activity and are linked to diseases.
The team has released Evo 2’s software code and model parameters to the scientific community for further exploration. Researchers can also access the tool through a user-friendly web interface. With Evo 2 as a foundation, scientists may develop more specific AI models. These could predict how mutations affect a protein’s function, how genes operate differently across cell types, or even help researchers design new genomes for synthetic biology.
All 10 NASA payloads remain healthy as Blue Ghost approaches it’s final destination and continues to support science operations along the way! The LuGRE payload for example — developed in partnership by. NASA Goddard and ASI_spazio — acquired and tracked Global Navigation Satellite System signals for the first time in lunar orbit – a new record! #BGM1
After a successful Trans Lunar Injection burn on Saturday, Feb. 8, Firefly’s spacecraft carrying NASA science and tech to the Moon has departed Earth’s orbit and begun its four-day transit to the Moon’s orbit. Blue Ghost will then spend approximately 16 days in lunar orbit before beginning its descent operations. Since launching more than three weeks ago, Blue Ghost has performed dozens of health tests generating 13 gigabytes of data. All 10 NASA payloads onboard are currently healthy and ready for surface operations on the Moon.
NASA’s Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC), developed by Montana State University, successfully operated while passing through the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts, providing insight on how to mitigate the effects of radiation on computers. This helps improve our understanding of the radiation environment that future astronauts may experience on Artemis missions.
During an on-orbit health check, NASA’s LMS, developed by the Southwest Research Institute, accurately detected a change in magnetic fields. This is a positive sign that LMS will be able to measure the Moon’s magnetic and electrical fields, shedding light on the Moon’s interior temperature and composition on the lunar surface.
Also during a health check, Firefly and NASA teams captured data and an interior image of the sample container a from NASA’s Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), indicating the payload is operational in advance of surface operations on the Moon. The LPV payload is a technology demonstration that is designed to efficiently collect and transfer lunar soil from the surface to other science instruments or sample return containers without reliance on gravity.
With a suite of NASA science and technology on board, Firefly Aerospace is targeting no earlier than 3:45 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2, to land the Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon. Blue Ghost is s-lated to touch down near Mare Crisium, a plain in the northeast quadrant on the near side of the Moon, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence.
This was first predicted by Omni magazine in 1981.
In the world of medicine, the ability to listen to the intricate symphony of sounds within the human body has long been a vital diagnostic tool. Physicians routinely employ stethoscopes to capture the subtle rhythms of air moving in and out of the lungs, the steady beat of the heart, and even the progress of digested food through the gastrointestinal tract.
These sounds hold valuable information about a person’s health, and any deviations from the norm can signal the presence of underlying medical issues. Now, a groundbreaking development from Northwestern University is set to transform the way we monitor these vital sounds.
Researchers at Northwestern University have introduced a revolutionary soft, miniaturized wearable device that transcends the episodic measurements typically obtained during periodic doctor examinations. These innovative devices adhere gently to the skin, enabling continuous, wireless monitoring of crucial body sounds across multiple regions of the body simultaneously. This groundbreaking research was published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine.
The Earth’s magnetic field, a constant presence in our environment, has a subtle yet profound impact on human health. It operates at extremely low frequencies (around 7.83 Hz, known as the Schumann resonance) and low intensities (30−60 microTesla). Generated by electric currents in the conductive iron alloys in Earth’s core, this magnetic field protects us from a blast of solar particles (solar wind) that could literally obliterate life on Earth if allowed to enter our atmosphere (Figure 1). It also plays a crucial role in regulating our circadian rhythms and supporting overall cellular function. Our cells are used to living bathed in this interactive field of magnetism and electricity, and therapeutically, we can turn this into our advantage.
Figure 1. How Earth’s magnetic field interacts with the solar wind.
In a breakthrough that could transform bioelectronic sensing, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Rice University has developed a new method to dramatically enhance the sensitivity of enzymatic and microbial fuel cells using organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). The research was recently published in the journal Device.
The innovative approach amplifies electrical signals by three orders of magnitude and improves signal-to-noise ratios, potentially enabling the next generation of highly sensitive, low-power biosensors for health and environmental monitoring.
“We have demonstrated a simple yet powerful technique to amplify weak bioelectronic signals using OECTs, overcoming previous challenges in integrating fuel cells with electrochemical sensors,” said corresponding author Rafael Verduzco, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and materials science and nanoengineering. “This method opens the door to more versatile and efficient biosensors that could be applied in medicine, environmental monitoring and even wearable technology.”
Epigenetic inhibitors: A promising new strategy for antimalarial treatment? A recent study discovers a gene regulation inhibitor that selectively eliminates the malaria parasite.
A multinational research team, led by Professor Markus Meißner from LMU Munich and Professor Gernot Längst from the University of Regensburg, has made significant discoveries about gene regulation in Plasmodium falciparum, the primary cause of malaria. Their findings, published in Nature, provide new avenues for developing advanced therapeutic strategies.
Malaria remains a major global health challenge. In 2022 alone, an estimated 247 million people were infected, with over 600,000 deaths, the majority occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. These statistics highlight the urgent need for innovative research to drive progress in malaria prevention and treatment.
