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In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is commonly cited as being a critical step towards a sustainable human presence in space, especially on the Moon. Just how crucial it is, and how much its by-products will affect other uses of the Moon, is still up for debate. A new paper from Evangelia Gkaravela and Hao Chen of the Stevens Institute of Technology dives into those questions and comes up with a promising answer - ISRU is absolutely worth it, if we can control the waste products.

As the world shifts toward sustainable energy sources, 'green hydrogen' - hydrogen produced without emitting carbon - has emerged as a leading candidate for clean power. Scientists have now developed a new iron-based catalyst that more than doubles the conversion efficiency of thermochemical green hydrogen production.

The process of necrosis, a form of cell death, may represent one of the most promising ways to change the course of human aging, disease and even space travel, according to a new study.

SAVANA uses a machine learning algorithm to identify cancer-specific structural variations and copy number aberrations in long-read DNA sequencing data. The complex structure of cancer genomes means that standard analysis tools give false-positive results, leading to erroneous clinical interpretations of tumour biology. SAVANA significantly reduces such errors. SAVANA offers rapid and reliable genomic analysis to better analyse clinical samples, thereby informing cancer diagnosis and therapeutic interventions.

Lightweight, powerful lithium-ion batteries are crucial for the transition to electric vehicles, and global demand for lithium is set to grow rapidly over the next 25 years. A new analysis looks at how new mining operations and battery recycling could meet that demand. Recycling could play a big role in easing supply constraints, the researchers found.

In a major advancement for sustainable construction, scientists have created a cement-free soil solidifier from industrial waste. By combining Siding Cut Powder and activated by Earth Silica, an alkaline stimulant from recycled glass, scientists produced a high-performance material that meets compressive strength standards exceeding the 160 kN/m construction-grade threshold and eliminates arsenic leaching through calcium hydroxide stabilization. The technology reduces landfill volumes and carbon emissions, offering a circular solution for infrastructure development worldwide.

Current regulations for nanomedicines overlook the effects of the different forms of the same element, such as ions, nanoparticles, and aggregates. In a recent study, researchers developed a new analytical method combining an asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation system and mass spectrometry to separately quantify these forms. This technique allows for better quality control and safety evaluation of metal-based nanomedicines, promoting their development and clinical use, with applications also extending to food, cosmetics, and the environment.

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique that uses lasers to create ceramics that can withstand ultra-high temperatures, with applications ranging from nuclear power technologies to spacecraft and jet exhaust systems. The technique can be used to create ceramic coatings, tiles or complex three-dimensional structures, which allows for increased versatility when engineering new devices and technologies.

Lead contamination in municipal water sources is a consistent threat to public health. Ingesting even tiny amounts of lead can harm the human brain and nervous system -- especially in young children. To empower people to detect lead contamination in their own homes, a team of researchers developed an accessible, handheld water-testing system called the E-Tongue. This device was tested through a citizen science project across four Massachusetts towns.

Many policy discussions on AI safety regulation have focused on the need to establish regulatory 'guardrails' to protect the public from the risks of AI technology. Experts now argue that, instead of imposing guardrails, policymakers should demand 'leashes.'

Researchers gave participants face tattoos that can track when their brain is working too hard. The study introduces a non-permanent wireless forehead e-tattoo that decodes brainwaves to measure mental strain without bulky headgear. This technology may help track the mental workload of workers like air traffic controllers and truck drivers, whose lapses in focus can have serious consequences.

Researchers gave participants face tattoos that can track when their brain is working too hard. The study introduces a non-permanent wireless forehead e-tattoo that decodes brainwaves to measure mental strain without bulky headgear. This technology may help track the mental workload of workers like air traffic controllers and truck drivers, whose lapses in focus can have serious consequences.

Researchers compared their long-standing diagnostic decision support systems AI tool, DXplain, with modern large language models like ChatGPT and Gemini, finding DXplain performed slightly better. They say their findings suggest that combining DXplain with LLMs could enhance clinical diagnosis and improve both technologies.

Earthquakes create ripple effects in Earth's upper atmosphere that can disrupt satellite communications and navigation systems we rely on. Scientists have now used Japan's extensive network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers to create the first 3D images of atmospheric disturbances caused by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Their results show sound wave disturbance patterns in unique 3D detail and provide new insights into how earthquakes generate these waves.

Reducing travel speeds and using an intelligent queuing system at busy ports can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from oceangoing container vessels by 16-24%, according to researchers. Not only would those relatively simple interventions reduce emissions from a major, direct source of greenhouse gases, the technology to implement these measures already exists.

Just because we can find ozone in the atmosphere of other planets doesn't mean there's life. Ozone is a sign of life on Earth, but its detection on Venus shows that it can also be produced abiotically. This indicates that there are different pathways for its creation, not only on Venus but also on other Venus-like exoplanets.

What happens when you see something that just doesn’t make sense? Perhaps you rub your eyes and consider it an anomaly. But what if you see it in an experiment? Say, travelling electrons that make different patterns depending upon whether they were detected? Then, you might want to change your sense of reality. Now, if you can develop a theory for the observations, then maybe you can start a new field of science. It has happened. Quantum mechanics is the name given to this relatively new field and it’s the topic that Sean Carroll writes in his book, “The Biggest Ideas in the Universe – Quanta and Fields”. In his book, there’s much ado about particles, fields, groups and diagrams; all with the aim of enabling any reader to make sense of it.

Today we feature some lovely flower pictures from Thomas Webber. Thomas’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. (The images are stacked but, at the photographer’s request, I’ve omitted the info for each photo.)

The theme for today’s installment is Lawn Weeds. All the plants shown here are from roadsides, vacant lots, parks, yards, and the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, at the north end of the Florida peninsula. All are mowed from time to time, and as far as I can tell they weren’t planted where I found them. I think I’ve identified all of them correctly to genus, and most to species, but I’ve added the qualifier “cf.” to the species epithets I’m less sure of. I invite corrections.

White clover, Trifolium repens. Individual flowers 8 mm long. Native to Europe and Central Asia:

Oakleaf fleabane, Erigeron quercifolius. 1 cm diameter at full size. Native:

Lyre-leaf sage, Salvia lyrata. 1.5 cm long. Native:

Marsh pennywort, Hydrocotyle cf. umbellata. Individual flowers 2 mm. Native:

Pennywort leaves (2-5 cm) make an arresting pattern when they grow together in a thick mass. This is part of a patch that covered about 25 square meters of a University of Florida lawn:

Wood sorrel, Oxalis cf. corniculata. 6 mm. Native:

Blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium angustifolium. 1 cm. Native:

Hawksbeard, Youngia japonica. 1.5 cm. Native to east Asia, now world-wide. The informative article linked here is devoted largely to means of exterminating this plant:

Vetch, Vicia cf. sativa. 8 mm across. Native to Europe and the Middle East, now cultivated and naturalized around the world:

Perennial peanut, Arachis glabrata. 1.5 cm across. Native to South America, cultivated and escaped in the southeastern United States:

False pimpernel, Lindernia dubia. 1 cm across lower petals. Native. These two were among over a thousand that carpeted the bottom of a small seldom-flooded retention basin:

Sunshine mimosa, Mimosa strigillosa. Flower head 3 cm tall. Native:

Peppergrass, Lepidium virginicum. Individual flowers 2 mm. Native:

The failure of SpaceX’s ninth Starship launch has raised fresh concerns about the future of the rocket, but is there any alternative to Elon Musk’s approach to space?

Now that they have power, Drs. Marty Makary, Vinay Prasad, and Jay Bhattacharya have different standards than they set for their predecessors.

The post Our Medical Establishment In Power Versus Our Medical Establishment Out of Power first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.