Dec 18, 2020
Astrobiology’s Biggest Stories of 2020
Posted by Dirk Schulze-Makuch in category: alien life
The three biggest news items in astrobiology in 2020:
A lot has been achieved, even in an awful year.
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Dec 18, 2020
NASA Suggests Sending Boston Dynamics Robodog to Mars
Posted by Dan Lovy in categories: robotics/AI, space travel
Dec 18, 2020
Cellular Connections Found Between Nervous and Immune Systems
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
Summary: Researchers have identified a direct cellular interaction between the nervous system and the immune system. Pain sensing neurons around the lymph nodes can modulate lymph node activity.
Source: Broad Institute.
The nervous and immune systems have long been thought to be separate entities in the body, but new research has uncovered a direct cellular interaction between the two. Scientists from Harvard Medical School, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, MIT, and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard have found that pain-sensing neurons surround lymph nodes in mice, and can modulate the activity of these small organs, which are key parts of the immune system.
Dec 18, 2020
Microsoft confirms it was also breached in recent SolarWinds supply chain hack
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cybercrime/malcode
Microsoft denies that hackers pivoted to production systems and abused its software to attack customers.
Dec 18, 2020
C1-23152: An ancient galaxy that built itself
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: space
A popular theory of galaxy formation suggests that small galaxies merged to form larger ones. But galaxy C1-23152 — 12 billion light-years from Earth — apparently formed itself from gas in the early universe, via exceedingly rapid star formation.
Dec 18, 2020
China is opening the world’s largest radio telescope up to international scientists
Posted by Alberto Lao in category: space
Following the collapse of the historic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, China has opened the biggest radio telescope in the world up to international scientists. In Pingtang, Guizhou province stands the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the largest radio telescope in the world, surpassing the Arecibo Observatory, which stood as the largest in the world for 53 years before the construction of FAST was completed in 2016. Following two cable failures earlier this year, Arecibo’s radio telescope collapsed in November, shutting down the observatory for good. Now, FAST is opening its doors to astronomers from around the world.
Dec 18, 2020
China Moon Samples: Headed for the Lab (Updated)
Posted by Alberto Lao in category: space
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The Chang’e-5 returner capsule carrying lunar samples is headed for a Beijing laboratory for opening, with an eagerly awaiting research team set to study the fresh Moon specimens.
Continue reading “China Moon Samples: Headed for the Lab (Updated)” »
Dec 18, 2020
The Heat: Chang’e-5 returns to Earth
Posted by Alberto Lao in categories: computing, space
Mission accomplished! A Chinese capsule carrying soil and rock samples collected from the moon returns to earth. The Heat talks to a panel of experts.
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Looks like wheels and legs work well together for robots! 😃
Wheels may be better than feet for robots with legs.
Dec 18, 2020
Microsoft says it found malicious software in its systems
Posted by Omuterema Akhahenda in categories: cybercrime/malcode, government
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)-Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it found malicious software in its systems related to a massive hacking campaign disclosed by U.S. officials this week, adding a top technology target to a growing list of attacked government agencies.
The Redmond, Washington company is a user of Orion, the widely deployed networking management software from SolarWinds Corp which was used in the suspected Russian attacks on vital U.S. agencies and others.
Microsoft also had its own products leveraged to attack victims, said people familiar with the matter. The U.S. National Security Agency issued a rare “cybersecurity advisory” Thursday detailing how certain Microsoft Azure cloud services may have been compromised by hackers and directing users to lock down their systems.
