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Accessed on 02 December 2020, 1301 UTC.

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ASTRONOMY

Super-Earth Proxima c Has Earth-Like Stellar Environment, Study Suggests

An artist’s impression of the Proxima Centauri system. Image credit: Lorenzo Santinelli.In a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers investigated the effects the activity of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri might have on the atmosphere of one of its planets, Proxima c. An artist’s impression of the Proxima Centauri system. Image credit: Lorenzo Santinelli. Proxima Centauri, the smallest member of the Alpha Centauri system, is an M5.5-type star located…

SPACE EXPLORATION

Researchers Develop Hydrogen and Oxygen Harvesting System for Use on Mars

This illustration shows Jezero Crater -- the landing site of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover -- as it may have looked billions of years ago on Mars, when it was a lake. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.The active Martian water cycle, i.e., the presence of shallow water and soluble perchlorate salts in the Martian soil, enables the production of hydrogen fuel and life-support oxygen on Mars through electrolysis of perchlorate brines. A team of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis has demonstrated an approach to produce ultrapure hydrogen and oxygen from liquid Martian brines at minus…

ARCHAEOLOGY

3,000-Year-Old Gold Bead Unearthed in Israel

The 3,000-year-old gold bead found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Temple Mount Sifting Project.A team of professional and amateur archaeologists from the Temple Mount Sifting Project has found a tiny gold bead from the First Temple period in Jerusalem, Israel. The 3,000-year-old gold bead found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Temple Mount Sifting Project. “Pieces of gold jewelry are rarely found among archaeological artifacts from the First Temple period,” said Dr. Amir Golani, an…

PALEONTOLOGY

Cretaceous Titanosaur Suffered from Blood Parasites and Severe Bone Inflammation

Life reconstruction of the titanosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Adamantina Formation in São Paulo backcountry, southeastern Brazil. The animal was reconstructed based on associated saltasaurid specimens in the area. Image credit: Hugo Cafasso.A giant sauropod dinosaur that lived 85.2 million years ago (Cretaceous period) in what is now Brazil had an aggressive case of osteomyelitis in its leg and soft-bodied parasitical microorganisms in its vascular canals. Life reconstruction of the titanosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Adamantina Formation in São Paulo backcountry, southeastern Brazil. The animal was reconstructed based on associated…

BIOLOGY

Leaf-Cutter Ants Have Biomineral Armor

Acromyrmex echinatior worker (left) aggressively interacts with Atta cephalotes soldier (right). Image credit: Li et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19566-3.A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Smithsonian Institution has discovered a dense layer of biogenic high-magnesium calcite in the exoskeletons of major workers of the leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex echinatior; they’ve also found that this armor accumulates rapidly as ant workers mature and that the biomineral layer is continuously distributed, covering nearly the…

PHYSICS

Astrophysicists Find Hints of Beyond-Standard-Model Physics in Universe’s Oldest Light

As the CMB light (left image) travels through the Universe until observed on Earth (right image), the direction in which the electromagnetic wave oscillates (orange line) is rotated by the angle β; the rotation could be caused by dark matter or dark energy interacting with the CMB light, which changes the patterns of polarization (black lines inside the images); the red and blue regions in the images show hot and cold regions of the CMB, respectively. Image credit: Y. Minami / KEK.Using the polarization data from ESA’s Planck satellite, a mission that have studied the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the oldest light in the Universe, a duo of astrophysicists has uncovered intriguing signs of new physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles and fields. As the CMB light (left image) travels through the Universe until observed on Earth (right image), the direction…

MEDICINE

Spaceflight Impairs Mitochondrial Function, New Research Shows

Spaceflight is known to impose changes on human physiology with unknown molecular etiologies. To reveal these causes, da Silveira et al. used a multi-omics, systems biology analytical approach using biomedical profiles from 59 astronauts and data from NASA’s GeneLab derived from hundreds of samples flown in space to determine transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and epigenetic responses to spaceflight. Image credit: da Silveira et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.11.002.Critical parts of a cell’s energy production machinery, the mitochondria, can be made dysfunctional due to changes in gravity, radiation exposure and other factors, according to new research. Spaceflight is known to impose changes on human physiology with unknown molecular etiologies. To reveal these causes, da Silveira et al. used a multi-omics, systems biology analytical approach using biomedical…

GENETICS

Scientists Identify Gene Responsible for Aging of Human Cells

When mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) age, the transcription factor GATA6 is increasingly produced in the cell to induce aging response; by transcription factor-based cellular reprogramming, aged MSCs are rejuvenated with a reduction in GATA6 effects on cellular aging. Image credit: AlphaMed Press.A gene called GATA6 (GATA binding protein 6) regulates aging of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) age, the transcription factor GATA6 is increasingly produced in the cell to induce aging response; by transcription factor-based cellular reprogramming, aged MSCs are rejuvenated…

GEOLOGY

New Mineral Discovered in Lunar Meteorite: Donwilhelmsite

This SEM image shows crystals of donwilhelmsite in Oued Awlitis 001. Image credit: Ansgar Greshake, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.A team of researchers in Europe has identified a new high-pressure mineral in a lunar meteorite called Oued Awlitis 001. Fragments of Oued Awlitis 001. Image credit: Ludovic Ferrière, NHM Vienna. Oued Awlitis 001 is a feldspatic lunar meteorite that was found in 2014 in Western Sahara, Africa. The main fragment of the space rock, originally 382 g, was found on January 15, 2014 by a group of eight…

OTHER SCIENCES

Researchers Develop Hydrogen and Oxygen Harvesting System for Use on Mars

This illustration shows Jezero Crater -- the landing site of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover -- as it may have looked billions of years ago on Mars, when it was a lake. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.The active Martian water cycle, i.e., the presence of shallow water and soluble perchlorate salts in the Martian soil, enables the production of hydrogen fuel and life-support oxygen on Mars through electrolysis of perchlorate brines. A team of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis has demonstrated an approach to produce ultrapure hydrogen and oxygen from liquid Martian brines at minus…

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