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A new analysis of marsquakes measured by NASA’s InSight lander indicates Mars has a solid inner core – but other researchers say the evidence is thin

Scientists have succeeded in controlling the structure and function of biological membranes with the help of 'DNA origami'. The system they developed may facilitate the transportation of large therapeutic loads into cells. This opens up a new way for the targeted administration of medication and other therapeutic interventions. Thus, a very valuable instrument can be added to the toolbox of synthetic biology.

In a significant step toward creating a sustainable and circular economy, researchers have demonstrated that carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers can be fully recycled without any loss in their structure or properties. This discovery positions CNT fibers as a sustainable alternative to traditional materials like metals, polymers and the much larger carbon fibers, which are notoriously difficult to recycle.

A thorough analysis of market, technological, and supply chain outcomes for sodium-ion batteries finds that significant advances are needed before commercialization.

Scientists have come a step closer to understanding how collisionless shock waves -- found throughout the universe -- are able to accelerate particles to extreme speeds.

Scientists have taken a major step forwards in tackling one of the greatest abiding challenges in chemistry, by learning how to program the self-assembly of molecules in such a way that the end result is predictable and desirable. Their 'Malteser-like' molecules could one day have a suite of applications -- from highly sensitive and specific sensors, to next-gen, targeted drug delivery agents.

In order to recover valuable substances from CO2, it must be reduced in many individual steps. If electrocatalysis is used for this, many potentially different potential molecules are formed, which cannot necessarily be used. Biocatalysts, on the other hand, are selective and only produce one product -- but they are also very sensitive. An international research team has developed a hybrid catalysis cascade that makes use of the advantages of both processes.

Giving people better data about their energy use, plus some coaching, can help them substantially reduce their consumption and costs, according to a new study.

The process of updating deep learning/AI models when they face new tasks or must accommodate changes in data can have significant costs in terms of computational resources and energy consumption. Researchers have developed a novel method that predicts those costs, allowing users to make informed decisions about when to update AI models to improve AI sustainability.

The process of updating deep learning/AI models when they face new tasks or must accommodate changes in data can have significant costs in terms of computational resources and energy consumption. Researchers have developed a novel method that predicts those costs, allowing users to make informed decisions about when to update AI models to improve AI sustainability.

It's long been known that different positions on the football field fit different body types. A study led by the University of Kansas has gone beyond knowing that linemen are bigger with more body mass than receivers and tested a team of college football starters, finding differences in strength, power, jumping ability and more. The findings could help improve strength training designed to optimize performance for different types of players, researchers argue.

Astronomers observed flashes of X-rays coming from a supermassive black hole at a steadily increasing clip. The source could be the core of a dead star that's teetering at the black hole's edge.

A new study overcomes a key obstacle to switching commercial aircraft from their near-total reliance on fossil fuels to more sustainable aviation fuels. The study details a cost-effective method for producing ethylbenzene -- an additive that improves the functional characteristics of sustainable aviation fuels -- from polystyrene, a hard plastic used in many consumer goods.

A new study overcomes a key obstacle to switching commercial aircraft from their near-total reliance on fossil fuels to more sustainable aviation fuels. The study details a cost-effective method for producing ethylbenzene -- an additive that improves the functional characteristics of sustainable aviation fuels -- from polystyrene, a hard plastic used in many consumer goods.

The use of plastic has skyrocketed over the past decade. Recent statistics reveal that in 2021, each person in the European Union (EU) generated an average of 36 kg of plastic packaging waste.

Wood has been a mainstay of human machines and construction for millennia. Its physical properties offer capabilities that are unmatched by almost any synthetic replacements. However, it has only very rarely been used in space. That might change based on the results of a new test run by Japan’s Space Agency (JAXA). LignoSat, one of the world’s first wooden satellites, was deployed from the ISS in December. 

We previously reported on the satellites’ history and launch. Matt’s article here provides an in-depth look at LignoSat’s path to eventual deployment.

Now that LignoSat has officially been deployed, what is it trying to measure? Stress and strain are two big ones that go hand in hand with temperature. Wood can warp with temperature changes, and there is probably still some water left in the honoki magnolia wood panels used for LignoSat’s construction. Understanding those effects on the satellite’s structure is one of the metrics of LignoSat’s makers at the University of Kyoto.

LignoSat is one of three Cubesats being deployed in this photo.
Credit – NASA

The effect of radiation is another. Wood, though an organic substance, is typically housed under the protective umbrella of the ozone layer, protecting it from most of the Sun’s radiation. Several samples of different kinds of wood were exposed to the space environment outside the ISS to test for these effects. However, testing them in full force without shielding the ISS is another of LignoSat’s challenges.

Finally, it will test for geomagnetic interference. Typical satellites are large metal boxes. In electrical engineering terms, we would call that a “Faraday cage,” named after Michael Faraday, the father of modern electrical engineering. Faraday cages are essential to keeping signals either inside or outside the cage and now allowing signals to pass either in or out. That’s why old-style radios used to have antennas that extended outside of their metal housings.

However, a wooden box doesn’t create a Faraday cage, so any electronics inside would be subjected to various geomagnetic interferences. LignoSat’s other job is to determine how severe those interferences are.

Example of the wood joinery technique used to construct the LignoSat, known as a Blind Miter Dovetail Joint.
Credit – Kyoto University

To be fair, the satellite isn’t entirely made of wood—it has aluminum frames and internal steel shafts holding the wood panels in place. However, it is still intended to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere upon reentry in around six months, steel struts and all.

Interestingly, LignoSat uses a traditional Japanese wood joinery technique that will allow the panels to flex during temperature changes, whereas metal fasteners would be much more restrictive and possibly damage the panels. If nothing else, it makes for a beautifully designed box, the outside of which looks more like home decoration than a satellite.

As LignoSat begins collecting data, researchers at the University of Kyoto are already working hard on LignoSat2. It’s scheduled to be launched in 2026, and it promises to add even more aesthetic appeal to the satellite industry while hopefully overcoming some of its technical challenges.

Learn More:
NASA – JAXA’s First Wooden Satellite Deploys from Space Station
UT – Japan Launches the First Wooden Satellite to Space
UT – Japan to Launch ‘Wooden Satellite’ in 2023
UT – Building a Satellite out of Wood? Use Magnolia

Lead Image:
Internal view of LignoSat’s structure shows the relationship among wooden panels, aluminum frames, and stainless-steel shafts.
Credit: Kyoto University

The post Astronauts Deploy the First Wooden Satellite into Orbit appeared first on Universe Today.

It’s easy to forget that, despite life having existed on Earth for billions of years and despite our relatively carefree existence from total destruction, throughout history there have been events that wiped out nearly everything! Fortunately for many life forms, they have the ability to go dormant and enter a state of reversible, reduced metabolic activity. In this state they are protected from decay and can survive long harsh periods where life would otherwise not survive. Is it just possible therefore that dormancy could also allow life to survive on other worlds like Mars or Venus? 

‘Life, don’t talk to me about life,’ were the utterances of Marvin the depressive robot on the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Unlike Marvin, it seems humanity loves talking about and exploring the possibilities that life may exist elsewhere in the universe. A discussion about life is always tricky though as life could, conceivably come in such a strange form that we might not even recognise it as life. Typically if we talk about searching for alien life of any level of existence, we tend to consider life like that which we find here on planet Earth. After all, we have to start somewhere. 

With thousands of exoplanets discovered so far, astronomers are learning how different planets can be. What if intelligent alien civilizations arise on extremely different habitable worlds? Some civilizations could develop space exploration technologies, but others would be trapped underwater, under ice, or in enormous gravity wells. How could they escape? Image Credit: DALL-E

Exploring the diversity of life on Earth gives us an insight into what critters might be out there in similar environments. One such state that is surprisingly common across Earthly organisms is the ability to enter the state known as dormancy. The process protects an inactive organism and minimises the chances of extinction by preserving the critical bodily functions and shutting down all others, but just temporarily. In a paper recently published in The Royal Society Journals, Kevin D. Webster and Jay T. Lennon explore dormancy theory in consideration of its enabling life to flourish elsewhere in the cosmos. 

The duo first analysed the key activities that led to the evolution of intelligent life; the supply of chemical building blocks at the necessary rate to exceeded their decay and that some sort of compartmentalisation was needed for early primative life to offer protection between their cellular components and the environment. The sustained evolution of life from these early stages was susceptible to chance events but also error in DNA replications that may have brought a species to an evolutionary dead end. 

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic material for all known life on Earth. DNA is a biopolymer consisting of a string of subunits. The subunits consist of nucleotide base pairs containing a purine (adenine A, or guanine G) and a pyrimidine (thymine T, or cytosine C). DNA can contain nucleotide base pairs in any order without its chemical properties changing. This property is rare in biopolymers, and makes it possible for DNA to encode genetic information in the sequence of its base pairs. This stability is due to the fact that each base pair contains phosphate groups (consisting of phosphorus and oxygen atoms) on the outside with a net negative charge. These repeated negative charges make DNA a polyelectrolyte. Computational genomics researcher Steven Benner has hypothesized that alien genetic material will also be a polyelectrolyte biopolymer, and that chemical tests could therefore be devised to detect alien genetic molecules. Credit: Zephyris

Despite the sequence of events that brought about evolution that shaped our history there were events that momentarily brought a pause to proceedings. There have been five extinction events since the formation of Earth and it is the ability to drive through these dark days that dormancy really comes into its own. 

Impactors strike during the reign of the dinosaurs (image credit: MasPix/devianart)

Dormancy is a state of reduced activity or metabolism that organisms enter to survive during periods of challenging environmental conditions, such as extreme temperatures or reduced levels of light. This survival mechanism is common in plants, seeds, and certain animals, enabling them to withstand harsh seasons or environments. For animals, dormancy may take the form of hibernation or estivation, where metabolic rates decrease to conserve energy until conditions improve.

Dormancy provides protection, allowing inactive organisms to survive during unfavourable conditions and resume activity once more better conditions return. It may not have just helped organisms to survive harsh seasons but may have protected life from extinction during catastrophic events. It seems that the ability for primitive organisms to evolve dormancy processes is quite simple. If this is the case then it is quite plausible that any organisms that evolved on other planets with less than favourable conditions could be in their dormant state and waiting for conditions to improve. 

Source : Dormancy in the origin, evolution and persistence of life on Earth

The post Dormancy Could Be One of the Keys to Life on Earth (and Beyond) appeared first on Universe Today.

Suzie Imber is a co-investigator for the BepiColombo mission, currently on its way to Mercury. She explains how it will cast new light on the planet's many oddities, including its awful space weather and the fact it appears to have shrunk

Suzie Imber is a co-investigator for the BepiColombo mission, currently on its way to Mercury. She explains how it will cast new light on the planet's many oddities, from its massive core to its epic solar storms

Regular pulses of X-ray radiation emanating from a supermassive black hole could be explained by a white dwarf star on the verge of falling in