North Korean hackers exploit npm packages to deploy multi-stage malware, targeting job-seeking developers
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Scientists use gene editing to correct harmful mitochondrial mutations in human cells
In a step toward treating mitochondrial diseases, researchers in the Netherlands have successfully edited harmful mutations in mitochondrial DNA using a genetic tool known as a base editor. The results, published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, offer new hope for people with rare genetic conditions.
Mitochondria have their own small set of DNA. Mutations in this mitochondrial DNA can lead to a wide range of maternally inherited diseases, cancer, and aging-related conditions. While the development of CRISPR technology has given scientists new ways to correct mutations in nuclear DNA, this system cannot effectively cross the mitochondrial membrane and reach mitochondrial DNA.
In the new study, the researchers used a tool called a base editor—specifically, a DdCBE (double-stranded DNA deaminase toxin A-derived cytosine base editor). This tool allows scientists to change a single letter in the DNA code without cutting it, and it works on mitochondrial DNA.
Orbiter pair expands view of Martian ionosphere
Like Earth, Mars is surrounded by an ionosphere—the part of its upper atmosphere where radiation from the sun knocks electrons off of atoms and molecules, creating charged particles. The Martian ionosphere is complex and continuously changes over the course of the day, but its role in atmospheric dynamics and radio communication signals means understanding it is key for Mars exploration.
One way to study the Martian ionosphere is with radio occultation, in which a spacecraft orbiting Mars sends a radio signal to a receiver on Earth. When it skims across the Martian ionosphere, the signal bends slightly. Researchers can measure this refraction to learn about Martian ionospheric properties such as electron density and temperature. However, the relative positions of Mars, Earth, and the sun mean conventional radio occultation cannot measure the middle of the Martian day.
Now, in an article published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Jacob Parrot and colleagues deepen our understanding of the Martian ionosphere using an approach called mutual radio occultation, in which the radio signal is sent not from an orbiter to Earth but between two Mars orbiters. As one orbiter rises or sets behind Mars from the other’s perspective, the signal passes through the ionosphere and refracts according to the ionosphere’s properties.
Coupled electrons and phonons may flow like water in 2D semiconductors
A condition long considered to be unfavorable to electrical conduction in semiconductor materials may actually be beneficial in 2D semiconductors, according to new findings by UC Santa Barbara researchers published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Electron-phonon interactions—collisions between charge-carrying electrons and heat-carrying vibrations in the atomic lattice of the material—are considered the primary cause of electrons slowing down as they travel through semiconductor material. But according to UCSB mechanical engineers Bolin Liao and Yujie Quan, when electrons and phonons are considered as a single system, these interactions in atomically thin material prove to actually conserve total momentum and energy, and could have important implications for 2D semiconductor design.
“This is in sharp contrast to three-dimensional systems where you have a lot of momentum loss processes,” said Liao, who specializes in thermal and energy science.
The Exploration Company claims partial success of Mission Possible reentry spacecraft
WASHINGTON — The Exploration Company said it achieved “partial success” on a test flight of a reentry capsule but lost the spacecraft before it splashed down.
The company launched Mission Possible, a 1.6-ton reentry capsule, on SpaceX’s Transporter-14 rideshare mission. The Falcon 9 carrying Mission Possible and the other rideshare payloads lifted off at 5:25 p.m. Eastern June 23 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Mission Possible was the last payload scheduled to be deployed on Transporter-14, about two hours and 45 minutes after liftoff. The capsule would then perform a controlled reentry and splashdown in the north Pacific Ocean and then be recovered by a ship.
ANALEMMA TOWER — Clouds Architecture Office
Analemma inverts the traditional diagram of an earth-based foundation, instead depending on a space-based supporting foundation from which the tower is suspended. This system is referred to as the Universal Orbital Support System (UOSS)
Which is based on the principles of a conventional space elevator. By placing a large asteroid into orbit over earth, a high strength cable can be lowered towards the surface of earth from which a super tall tower can be suspended. Since this new tower typology is suspended in the air, it can be constructed anywhere in the world and transported to its final location. The proposal calls for Analemma to be constructed over Dubai, which has proven to be a specialist in tall building construction at one fifth the cost of New York City construction.
Chart plotting tallest buildings in the world and their year of completion.
Breakthrough theory links Einstein’s relativity and quantum mechanics
For over 100 years, two theories have shaped our understanding of the universe: quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general relativity. One explains the tiny world of particles; the other describes gravity and the fabric of space. But despite their individual success, bringing them together has remained one of science’s greatest unsolved problems.
Now, a team of researchers at University College London has introduced a bold new idea. Rather than tweaking Einstein’s theory to fit into quantum rules, they suggest flipping the script. Their model, called a “postquantum theory of classical gravity,” aims to rethink the deep link between gravity and the quantum world.
Quantum mechanics thrives on probabilities, uncertainty, and the strange behavior of subatomic particles. It’s helped explain the structure of atoms and power modern technology. Meanwhile, general relativity offers a grand view of the universe, where planets and stars bend spacetime and create what we feel as gravity.
