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Chinese scientists discover rare-earth-rich new lunar minerals in Chang’e-5 mission samples
Chinese scientists have identified two previously unknown lunar minerals from the 1,731 grams of moon samples returned by Chang’e-5 mission, marking another major breakthrough in deep-space research. The findings were announced on Friday at the opening ceremony of the 11th China Space Day. The two newly discovered minerals have been officially approved and classified by the International Mineralogical Association. They are named magnesiochangesite-(Y) and changesite-(Ce).
Researchers use statistics and math to understand how the brain works
Nothing rivals the human brain’s complexity. Its 86 billion neurons and 85 billion other cells make an estimated 100 trillion connections. If the brain were a computer, it would perform an exaflop (a billion-billion) mathematical calculations every second and use the equivalent of only 20 watts of power. As impressive as the brain is, neurologists can’t fully explain how neurons work together.
To help find answers, researchers at the Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Society (INNS) at Georgia Tech are using math, data, and AI to unlock the secrets of thought. Together they are helping turn the brain’s raw electrical “noise” into real insights about how people think, move, and perceive the world.
Fair warning: Prepare your neurons for the complexity of this brain research ahead.
Large brain mapping dataset expands with new set of cognitive tasks
The Individual Brain Charting (IBC) project has released its fifth and largest update of high-resolution fMRI data, adding a new set of cognitive tasks to one of the most detailed brain-mapping datasets available today. The dataset, which is openly accessible through EBRAINS, is described in a new publication in Nature Scientific Data.
The new release expands the dataset with 18 tasks collected from 11 participants under tightly controlled, standardised conditions – bringing many of them close to 40 hours of scanned data each.
The IBC project launched in 2014 and was funded by the Human Brain Project. It aims to map how individual brains respond across a wide range of cognitive functions. By repeatedly scanning the same participants with diverse tasks – from mathematics and spatial navigation to emotion recognition, reward processing, and working memory – the team is building an exceptionally rich resource for studying individual variability in brain organization.
Scientists invent artificial neurons that ‘talk’ to real brain cells, paving way to better brain implants
Engineers have printed tiny, artificial neurons that can “talk” to mouse brain cells, and the development could pave the way to innovations in computing and medicine.
The work, published April 15 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, adds to a growing field that aims to build computers that mimic the inner workings of the brain.
NASA Welcomes Jordan as 63rd Artemis Accords Signatory
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan signed the Artemis Accords Thursday during a ceremony hosted by NASA at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, becoming the latest nation to commit to responsible space exploration to benefit humanity.
“It is my privilege to welcome Jordan as the newest signatory to the Artemis Accords,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “By signing the accords today, Jordan brings valuable perspective and capabilities that will help expand the Golden Age of exploration for all mankind. They join at a pivotal moment, as we take the accords principles and put them into practice with humanity’s return to the Moon. Through Artemis, we’re going back to the lunar surface, with contributions from our international partners, to build a Moon Base and to stay.”
Ambassador Dina Kawar of Jordan signed the accords on behalf of the country. U.S. Department of State Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Ruth Perry also participated in the ceremony.
Protostars ‘sneeze’ and produce rings of gas and magnetic flux as they grow
Researchers have uncovered new insights into the early development of baby stars. As published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a research team from Kyushu University and Kagawa University reports that during the early growth period of a baby star, the protostellar disk—the dense disk of gas and dust that surrounds the star—expels magnetic flux and forms a giant warm ring of gas about 1,000 au (astronomical units) in size. The research team explains that these “sneezes” of matter and magnetic energy help the baby star release excess energy, leading to proper star formation.
One of the many mysteries that the universe holds is how stars like our sun are born. Stars are born in areas of the cosmos called stellar nurseries, where gas and dust coalesce to form early stars called protostars. The best way to understand star formation is to observe these stellar nurseries. However, this can be difficult due to the aforementioned gas and dust obscuring the baby star.
“Thankfully, one of the most promising ways to get a clear view of protostars is to use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile,” explains Professor Masahiro N. Machida of Kyushu University’s Faculty of Science, who led the study. “This radio telescope lets us see the different materials that make up stellar nurseries.”