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This is the first definitive proof that the Moon inherited indigenous noble gases from the Earth’s mantle.

The Moon has long been a source of fascination for humans. The discovery is an essential piece of the puzzle in understanding how the Moon was formed. ‘Tom Dooley’ is the only instrument in the world capable of detecting such low helium and neon concentrations. A new study has found that Moon inherited the indigenous noble gases of helium and neon from Earth’s mantle.

Researchers from Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, discovered the first definitive proof that the Moon inherited indigenous noble gases from the Earth’s mantle, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday.

“Finding solar gases, for the first time, in basaltic materials from the Moon that are unrelated to any exposure on the lunar surface was such an exciting result,” said Cosmochemist Patrizia Will, study lead researcher at the Washington University, St. Louis.

The Moon has long been a source of fascination for humans. However, it was not until Galileo’s time that scientists began to investigate it seriously.

Continue reading “Scientists find ‘exciting’ links of Moon’s origin to Earth’s mantle” | >

Specific proteins in prokaryotes detect viruses in unexpectedly direct ways.

Bacteria use a variety of defense strategies to fight off viral infection. STAND ATPases in humans are known to respond to bacterial infections by inducing programmed cell death in infected cells. Scientists predict that many more antiviral weapons will be discovered in the microbial world in the future. Scientists have discovered a new unexplored microbial defense system in bacteria.

Researchers uncovered specific proteins in prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) that detect viruses in unexpectedly direct ways, recognizing critical parts of the viruses and causing the single-celled organisms to commit suicide to stop the infection within a microbial community, according to a press release published in the official website of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Thursday.

The discovery was made by a team of scientists led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT.

“This work demonstrates a remarkable unity in how pattern recognition occurs across very different organisms,” said Feng Zhang, senior author and James, and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at MIT.

Continue reading “MIT researchers discover bacteria’s new antiviral defense system” | >

Scientists have discovered the remains of a small armored dinosaur.

Paleontologists announced the discovery of a previously unknown small armored dinosaur in southern Argentina, according to a report by The Guardian.

Jakapil Kaniukura, the Cretaceous period dinosaur, would have been well-protected with rows of bony disc-shaped armor along its neck, back, and tail.

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For the first time ever, electricity is delivered through heated supercritical carbon dioxide.

The method has so far succeeded in adding 10 kilowatts to the grid.

Researchers were inspired by elevators to create the system.

They are now trying to get it to function at higher temperatures.

For the first time ever, Sandia National Laboratories have used heated supercritical carbon dioxide instead of steam to generate electricity, according to a press release by the organization. The breakthrough happened at the Sandia-Kirtland Air Force Base electrical grid.

Continue reading “A groundbreaking power-generating system delivers electricity to an Air Force Base electrical grid” | >

Monocytes, a type of white blood cell, are alone capable of facilitating faster wound healing, says study.

Scientists from the University of Calgary, Canada, have discovered a promising new approach to treating bacterial skin infections. The research showed that monocytes alone are capable of facilitating faster wound healing. The researchers’ next step is to better understand how immune cells like neutrophils function during infection. Researchers have discovered a promising new approach to treating bacterial skin infections.

A team of scientists from the University of Calgary, Canada, revealed new insights which could lead to advancements in the treatment of bacterial infections and wounds, according to a study published in Nature science journal on Friday.

“It is exciting that we have made a fundamental discovery that could improve infections and tissue repair in humans, especially hard-to-treat cases,” said the study’s first author Dr. Rachel Kratofi in the press release. “Translating our research from bench to bedside will require many more experiments and involve a model more closely related to human disease.”

The research showed that monocytes alone are capable of facilitating faster wound healing. Monocytes contribute to wound healing by regulating leptin levels and blood vessel growth. They also produce ghrelin, a hormone that aids in wound healing. Historically, researchers believed that neutrophils and monocytes (white blood cells) were both recruited to clear bacteria from an infected site on the skin. When these cells work together, they serve as our bodies first line of defense against the immune system. The connection between metabolic hormones and tissue repair Ghrelin is produced by the stomach when you are hungry, whereas leptin is produced by fat cells after you eat a meal and feel full. This ghrelin-leptin balance has long been recognized as important for metabolism and diet. Still, its relationship to immune mechanisms and tissue repair has been unknown until now. Kratofil was able to visualize the immune response to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria in an animal model using intravital microscopy, which allows observation of live cells and is a specialization of the university’s Kubes Lab.

Continue reading “Researchers find new method to treat wounds and skin infections” | >

One of the most beautiful and spectacular parts of the night sky is the Orion constellation.

Herbig-Haro object HH 505 is around 1,000 light-years from the Earth. HH objects are bright patches of nebulosity associated with newborn stars. The photograph was created with 520 ACS images in five different colors to get the sharpest view ever. The Hubble telescope has taken a new magical image of the Orion Nebula.

One of the most beautiful and spectacular parts of the night sky is the Orion constellation. The Orion Nebula is one of the Milky Way’s most studied and photographed objects and a nest of material where young stars are being formed. Alnitak, Saif, and Rigel are floating in a large, dense cloud of interstellar dust and gas between the stars.

“This celestial cloudscape captured the colorful region surrounding the Herbig-Haro object HH 505,” read the European Space Agency’s (ESA) official website.

Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are bright patches of nebulosity associated with newborn stars.

Continue reading “Hubble Space Telescope captures stunning close-up of Orion Nebula” | >

Functioning in curved space, the robot heralds new space locomotive technology possibilities without the use of propellants.

A robot engineered at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) has done the unthinkable and flouted a steadfast law of motion, suggesting that new laws need to be defined. Such new principles may have applications in new forms of locomotion without propellants.

We’ve all seen the hilarious slapstick gag where the unwitting individual steps on a banana peel, landing comically on their rump. It may not seem like it, but the quip relies on the fact that human locomotion, like all locomotion, is based on Newton’s third law of motion.

Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, when a human takes a step, we push against the Earth and the Earth pushes back, propelling us forward. But this only works thanks to friction. Without friction (or with minimal friction, for example, when there is a slimy banana peel on the ground) there is no push – we just slide straight over the ground and can’t move forward, falling unceremoniously back to Earth.

Continue reading “Curved space robot defies known laws of physics” | >

Circa 2017

There are many theories about how life evolved on the planet Earth, from formation under a layer of ice, protected from the UV radiation above, to vents in the deep sea that provided hydrogen-rich molecules. But now one team of scientists has found quantitative results that support a theory that is literally out of this world. Organic molecules from meteorites that landed in small, warm pools of water may have delivered the ingredients necessary for life to form on Earth.

The team reached this conclusion through a mathematical model. They took data about planet formation, geology, biology and chemistry and inputted these factors into a grand quantitative model they had designed. Their results support the theory that RNA polymers formed in small, warm ponds of water. Meteorites contributed to this process by transferring enough organic molecules to these pools to ensure that RNA started self-replicating in at least one pool.

What’s more, the team discovered that, according to their calculations, life may have have begun on Earth rather early. The process may have started just a few hundred million years after the planet cooled sufficiently to support liquid surface water. The results were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Continue reading “Meteorites may have helped seed life on Earth” | >

Canada-based Tyromer is building a pilot factory in Arnhem to bring its circular rubber products to the European market. Specializing in the devulcanization of rubber from scrap tires, Tyromer will fine-tune and exhibit its recycling technology at its new Dutch facility in order to sell the process to third parties. The company is one of the first in the Netherlands to give this hard-to-process residual product a high-quality new life, making it a valuable addition to the Dutch circular economy.

Located at Kleefse Waard Industrial Park (IPKW) in Arnhem, the factory is currently being set up. “We expect to be able to start early in the summer [of 2021],” said Jos van Son, managing director of Tyromer Europe. Tyromer will employ approximately 12 people in Arnhem.

“Tyromer has a unique solution to a major problem: mountains of car tire rubber that cannot be reused. Companies such as Tyromer, which have solutions for societal challenges with smart technologies, are a welcome addition to the East Netherlands ecosystem. The fact that Tyromer is establishing itself at IPKW, where many companies are involved with energy and circularity issues, is good news for the activity in our region,” added René Brama, investment manager of Tech at Oost NL.

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