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Two new studies introduce AI systems that use either video or photos to create simulations that can train robots to function in the real world. This could significantly lower the costs of training robots to function in complex settings. Two new studies introduce AI systems that use either video or photos to create simulations that can train robots to function in the real world. This could significantly lower the costs of training robots to function in complex settings.

What does the inside of a cell really look like? In the past, standard microscopes were limited in how well they could answer this question. Now, researchers have succeeded in developing a microscope with resolutions better than five nanometers (five billionths of a meter). This is roughly equivalent to the width of a hair split into 10,000 strands.

What does the inside of a cell really look like? In the past, standard microscopes were limited in how well they could answer this question. Now, researchers have succeeded in developing a microscope with resolutions better than five nanometers (five billionths of a meter). This is roughly equivalent to the width of a hair split into 10,000 strands.

Lab-grown organs are a long-time 'holy grail' of organ engineering that has yet to be achieved, but new research has brought that goal a big step closer to reality using a new 3D-printing method called co-SWIFT. co-SWIFT prints branching networks of double-layered vessels that are infused with smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells into living human cardiac tissue, and can even replicate patient-specific vascular structures,indicating that it could one day be used for personalized medicine.

An archaeological strategy adapted for space used daily photos to reveal how astronauts actually use areas aboard the International Space Station -- and how this differs from intended uses.

Researchers have developed an inexpensive bandage that uses an electric field to promote healing in chronic wounds. In animal testing, wounds that were treated with these electric bandages healed 30% faster than wounds treated with conventional bandages.

Researchers developed a way to fingerprint organofluorine compounds -- sometimes called 'forever chemicals' --which could help authorities trace them to their source when they end up in aquifers, waterways or soil.

The new device uses sound waves to gather blood pressure data from blood vessels, monitoring the response with ultrasound. The new technique, called resonance sonomanometry, holds the promise to enable better vital-sign monitoring at home, in hospitals, and possibly even in remote locations.

Scientists overturned long-held assumptions in that finds water can be a help for adhesion. The implications of this research are particularly in biomedical applications such as bandages, health monitoring sensors for moist skin, and advanced adhesives that could replace sutures. The insights gained into leveraging surface roughness and material properties could revolutionize industries worth billions of dollars globally.

The first-ever archeological survey in space has provided new insights into how astronauts use and adapt their living space on the International Space Station, which could influence the design of new space stations after the ISS is decommissioned.

Ever since we learned that the surface of planet Mars is cold and dead, people have wondered if there is a way to make it friendlier to life. The newly proposed method is over 5,000 times more efficient than previous schemes to globally warm Mars, representing a significant leap forward in our ability to modify the Martian environment.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft had so many problems during its first crewed launch to the International Space Station that NASA officials aren’t sure whether it will be able to bring its crew back home as planned

Venus is sometimes called Earth’s sister planet because of their shared physical, geological, and atmospheric features. Scientists have discovered something new about Venus’ geology that’s reminding us of the similarities between the two planets. We have to look deep inside both planets to see what the researchers found.

There are a few reasons why the pair of planets are sometimes called twins. They have several characteristics in common:

• They’re inner Solar System neighbours.
• They’re both rocky.
• They’re roughly the same size and mass.
• They both have few craters, implying young surfaces.
• They both have atmospheres and dense clouds.
• They both have geological similarities and surface features like volcanoes, mountains, plateaus, and plains.

New research published in Nature Geoscience focuses on the last item in that list. Its title is “Ishtar Terra highlands on Venus raised by craton-like formation mechanisms.” The lead author is Fabio Capitanio, an Associate Professor from the Monash University School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment.

Ishtar Terra is one of three large highland regions on Venus. Its topography includes mountains, plains, and plateaus. The Maxwell Montes mountain chain is in Ishtar Terra, and it’s about 11 km (6.8 mi) high, compared to Mt. Everest, which is 8.8 kilometres (5.5 mi).

Ishtar Terra has highly complex terrain and appears to be heavily deformed. These are indications that Venus underwent powerful geological activity in its past.

This view of Venus is centred on its north pole. Ishtar Terra is the red region just below the image’s centre. The white region is Maxwell Montes, and the left-most red lobe is Lakshmi Planum. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS – http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00007, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18235544

Ishtar Terra also contains Lakshmi Planum, a two million square kilometre plateau about four km high and surrounded by extremely deformed terrain. It’s made of smooth lava flows and features two large shield volcanoes. Colette Patera is about 130 km in diameter, and Sacajawea Patera is about 200 km across and 1-2 km deep. Though Venus is tectonically inactive now, scientists think that ancient tectonic activity is responsible for the region’s wild topography.

Click on the image to explore an interactive 3D map of Ishtar Terra at Sketchfab by user v7x. Image Credit: Sketchfab/v7x

The new research in Nature Geoscience zeroes in on a specific part of geology called cratons. Cratons are the ancient geological cores of Earth’s continents. They’re stable parts of Earth’s lithosphere that are usually found in the center of the planet’s continental plates. Cratons have survived Earth’s extensive history of continental rifting and merging. They’re typically composed of extremely durable basement rock and have deep roots that can extend several hundred kilometres into the planet’s mantle.

Some cratons date from the Precambrian era, more than 2.5 billion years ago. Others may be even older and could date back to the Earth’s early days during the Hadean and Archaean Eons.

In this new work, Capitanio and his co-researchers used data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft and high-performance computer simulations to investigate the formation of Ishtar Terra more deeply. They found that Ishtar Terra may have formed the same way that Earth’s cratons may have formed.

“The structures emerging in this model provide topography, gravity and crustal thicknesses remarkably comparable to the plateaus of Venus.”

From “Ishtar Terra highlands on Venus raised by craton-like formation mechanisms.”

On Earth, plateaus and belts of mountains like Ishtar Terra would clearly result from colliding continental plates. Ishtar Terra is similar to the Tibetan Plateau, and continental collision is the primary driver behind its formation. Something else must be behind Ishtar Terra and Venus’s other terrae because the planet lacks plate tectonics. But Ishtar Terra shares something particular with Earth. It has a thick crustal floor similar to Earth’s cratons.

This suggests that the planets have or had processes in common. Ishtar Terra and Venus’ other terrae may have risen from the planet’s hot interior. While there are several competing explanations for the formation of Earth’s cratons, one is the molten plume model. It states that rising plumes of molten rock came from deep within Earth’s mantle and built up thick layers with the cratons on top.

“The study challenges our understanding of how planets evolve,” lead author Capitanio said. “We did not expect Venus, with its scorching 460°C surface temperature and lack of plate tectonics, to possess such complex geological features.”

While Venus doesn’t have plate tectonics, it does have a hot lithosphere. The planet’s surface temperature is about 460°C (860°F). The heat extends into the lithosphere, which is hotter than Earth’s due to Venus’s runaway greenhouse effect. The surface simply can’t shed heat the way Earth does. The high heat means that Venus’s lithosphere is probably thinner than Earth’s. While Earth’s lithosphere can be as thick as 200 km, maybe even thicker, Venus’s is only about 50-100 km thick. Since it’s so much thinner, it’s also weaker.

“Venus’s hot lithosphere might make it a good analogue of early Earth and might enable the same types of continent-forming processes that occurred on Earth,” the researchers write in a briefing from Nature. “Our focus was on Ishtar Terra, the broadest of the plateaus, for which we found that the topography, crustal thicknesses and gravity signals are consistent with our simulations when the modelled lithosphere is about 10–50 times weaker than Earth’s.”

This figure from the research compares observations (a, c, e) with modelled results (b, d, f). The columns are topography, crust thickness, and gravity anomaly at 194 million years. “The structures emerging in this model provide topography, gravity and crustal thicknesses remarkably comparable to the plateaus of
Venus,” the researchers explain. Image Credit: Capitiano et al. 2024.

The thin lithosphere favours “the emplacement of a thick magmatic crust on top of a deep residual
depleted mantle,” the authors write in their research.

“This finding provides a fascinating new perspective on Venus and its potential links to early Earth,” Capitanio said. “The features we found on Venus are strikingly similar to Earth’s early continents, suggesting that the dynamics of Venus’ past may have been more similar to Earth’s than previously thought.”

The research shows that despite their differences, divergent rocky planets can share underlying mechanisms. Spotting these cratons or craton-associated mechanisms on another planet can help scientists understand Earth. “By studying similar features on Venus, we hope to unlock the secrets of Earth’s early history,” Associate Professor Capitanio said.

Venus is like the Solar System’s plan B. If life couldn’t make it work on Earth, maybe it could’ve worked on Venus. There’s evidence that Venus may have once had liquid water and used to be in the habitable zone, though that’s not certain. In any case, while Earth is resplendent with life, Venus is far too hot.

Earth’s ancient cratons are a part of Earth’s story. On our planet, geology, life, and the planet’s atmosphere are all intricately connected. By recognizing what Earth and Venus have in common and how they are also so different, researchers can learn more about Earth’s trajectory toward a living planet.

Future missions to Venus are in the works, and they should provide even more explanations for the sister planets’ divergent outcomes.

“Our research has paved the way for future missions to Venus, such as DAVINCI, VERITAS, and EnVision,” Capitanio said. “These missions will provide further insights into Venus’ geological history and its connection to Earth.”

The post Scientists Discover New Geological Link Between Earth and Venus appeared first on Universe Today.

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