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Artemis II crew reaches lunar halfway point, streams new Earth images
NASA’s Orion spacecraft on the Artemis II mission passed the halfway mark to the Moon, about 192,000 km from Earth, on Friday. The four astronauts transmitted high‑resolution photographs of Earth’s cloud‑covered surface, underscoring the mission’s scientific and public‑relations goals.
NASA launched Artemis II on April 1, a crewed test flight that will circle the Moon rather than land. The mission’s primary goal is to validate Orion’s life‑support, navigation and deep‑space systems ahead of future surface missions. While some observers question the value of a flyby, NASA frames the flight as a critical step toward sustainable lunar exploration and eventual Mars missions. The program’s multi‑billion‑dollar budget and growing commercial partnerships underscore its strategic importance.
Researchers at Penn State used the Texas Advanced Computing Center's Stampede3 supercomputer, funded by NSF ACCESS, to run high‑resolution simulations of red blood cell deformation in mechanical circulatory support devices. By adapting a droplet deformation equation within OpenFOAM, the team...
A preprint from Bing Wen Brunton's team demonstrates that a neural network built on the nematode *C. elegans* connectome can control a simulated fruit‑fly body, a system they dub the “digital sphinx.” The model learns to walk via deep reinforcement...
allulose isnt just a low calorie sweetener - it also: 1) binds to GLUT2 receptors which lowers blood glucose levels 2) stimulates GLP-1 improving glycemic control and increasing satiety
Archaeologists uncovered three Neolithic Vietnamese children with dental and skeletal lesions consistent with congenital treponematosis, a disease related to syphilis. The findings, published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, date to 4,100‑3,300 years ago and span two sites, Man Bac and An Son....
Broad Institute’s Primer on Medical and Population Genetics released a new session exploring structural variation in genomic studies. The free weekly video series provides in‑depth introductions to complex trait genetics, covering topics from DNA sequencing to statistical analysis. Targeted at...
Chemists at the University of Edinburgh have demonstrated a hybrid bio‑catalytic process that turns bread crumbs into hydrogen for hydrogenation reactions. By pairing E. coli that ferment waste‑derived glucose with a palladium catalyst, the team achieved a 94% yield of the...
This is a great example of how internal climate variability (e.g. weather) on top of a long term warming trend leads to new records being set. If the US weren't warming over time the records here would be 3 ->...
An international team analyzed DNA from 216 ancient canine remains across Europe, uncovering a dog skeleton from Switzerland dated to 14,200 years ago—the continent's oldest known dog. The genetic data show that dogs were already domesticated during hunter‑gatherer times, predating the...
My first answer is no. It’s different weightless at Lagrange point and orbit - but you would never feel the difference. In orbit, different parts of ISS have different orbits technically and thus different acceleration. Same is tru near L1,...
A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters finds that Earth’s energy imbalance has more than doubled over the past two decades, reaching about 1.8 watts per square meter in 2023—roughly twice what leading climate models predict. Satellite data reveal a...
Astronomers using the Gemini South telescope have measured the magnesium‑to‑silicon ratio in the atmosphere of ultra‑hot Jupiter WASP‑189b and found it identical to that of its A‑type host star. The result, published in Nature Communications, provides the first direct observational...
Yale University researchers discovered that nearly half of older Americans improve cognitively or physically over a 12‑year span, and those gains are strongly tied to a positive mindset about aging. The findings challenge entrenched beliefs about inevitable decline and suggest...
OceanX announced that its research vessel OceanXplorer will carry 10 American and 10 Chinese early‑career ocean scientists, students and instructors on a ten‑day joint expedition from Hong Kong to Shanghai. The voyage, dubbed “A Shared Voyage: OceanX China 2026,” aims...
Scientists analyzing six years of Cassini data have found that Saturn’s magnetic field is not symmetric like Earth’s but lopsided, with the magnetic cusp displaced toward the 1:00‑3:00 position on a clock‑face. The distortion is attributed to Saturn’s rapid 10.7‑hour...
A team at the Technical University of Munich used two‑photon microscopy and optogenetic silencing to record activity at individual thalamocortical synapses in live mice. Their data show that thalamic inputs to primary visual cortex are broadly tuned and lack orientation...
A team from the Weizmann Institute of Science has genetically modified a tobacco plant to produce five distinct psychedelic compounds in a single host. The breakthrough could streamline drug research and reduce ecological pressure on natural sources, while raising biosecurity...
USC researchers have built a memristor‑based memory chip that continues to function at 700 °C—hotter than molten lava—by stacking tungsten, hafnium oxide and a single‑atom graphene layer. The device stored data for over 50 hours without refresh, survived more than a billion...
Cocrystal Pharma (COCP) saw its shares climb 50.98% to $1.54 after the FDA granted Fast Track designation to its oral antiviral candidate CDI-988 for norovirus. The designation could accelerate development and bring the first oral therapy for the virus closer...
Lifelong restriction of dietary valine has sex-specific benefits for health and lifespan in mice "Our results demonstrate for the first time that Val-R improves multiple aspects of healthspan in mice of both sexes and extends lifespan in males, and suggests that...
TRPM3 is a calcium‑permeable ion channel activated by heat and neurosteroids such as pregnenolone sulfate, playing a central role in pain perception, insulin secretion, and vascular regulation. Genetic variants in the TRPM3 gene have been associated with heightened susceptibility to...
The University of Adelaide is spearheading the Wheat Spatial Omics Consortium (WSOC), a partnership of more than 30 institutions in nine countries, to build a comprehensive spatial omics atlas of wheat. By mapping genes, proteins and metabolites at subcellular resolution,...
Researchers at Kyoto University have announced a new microporous aerogel that can be molded without chemical cross‑linking, thanks to reversible van der Waals interactions between metal‑organic polyhedra. The breakthrough, published in JACS, promises mechanically robust, shape‑able nanomaterials for insulation, filtration...
To boot, 11% of all energy worldwide is used just to mine, transport, process, and/or refine fossil fuels and uranium. https://t.co/c3RjxqKhcO Whereas wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro require 0 such energy because wind comes right to the turbine, etc. So for anyone to...
Biodexa Pharmaceuticals saw its Nasdaq‑listed shares climb 69% after revealing a partnership with Syngene International to manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredient and dosage form of its MTX240 candidate. The deal paves the way for an IND filing and a Phase...
Researchers led by Richard Bakiaj used resting‑state fMRI and unsupervised machine learning on 200 German adults to identify neural signatures of dark‑triad traits. Elevated baseline activity in the central executive network and reduced activity in a posterior default mode network...
Astronomers using ALMA have identified a warm, 1,000‑AU gas ring encircling a newborn protostar in the MC 27/L1521F core. The ring appears to be created by massive magnetic‑flux ejections—dubbed “sneezes”—that expel excess energy from the nascent star. This phenomenon expands earlier...
Researchers at Chiba University have demonstrated a compact method to generate nondiffracting optical bottle beams using a binary axicon and a flat multilevel diffractive lens (MDL). The system reshapes a Gaussian beam into a modified zero‑order Bessel beam, which the...
China’s experimental Hukeda‑2 satellite demonstrated a major in‑orbit refueling capability by using its octopus‑like robotic arm to dock with a target port on the same spacecraft. The test, conducted on 24 March, marks the first self‑docking refuel maneuver since the Shijian‑25...
A joint study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Queensland found that 73% of the world’s 16,491 marine protected areas (MPAs) are polluted by sewage and non‑point source waste. In coral‑dependent regions, contamination rises to 87‑92%, with...
Bayshore Park, a 19.4‑acre former golf‑course site in Miami Beach, opened last year as a climate‑resilient public space. Designed by Savino & Miller, the park captures runoff from an 85‑acre watershed, storing up to 65.62 acre‑feet of water—enough for a three‑day storm—while providing recreation, native...
Researchers at VIB and KU Leuven introduced CREsted, a new software package for modeling and designing gene regulatory enhancers. The framework unifies preprocessing, deep‑learning model training, interpretation, and synthetic enhancer generation into a single, reusable workflow. Demonstrated on mouse brain,...
Scientists have documented the shellear (Parakneria thysi), a ziti‑sized fish, scaling a 50‑foot waterfall in the Congo River Basin. The fish press fin‑covered microscopic hooks against the slick rock, using bursts of upward motion interspersed with long rests, completing the...
Biologists have documented that the tiny shellear fish Parakneria thysi climbs the 50‑foot cliffs of Luvilombo Falls in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spending up to ten hours on the ascent. The fish use hook‑like fin projections and lateral body...
Researchers have demonstrated that tiny oil droplets suspended in a soapy fluid can form a crystalline shell that changes shape with temperature. By heating or cooling the system, the droplets reversibly morph from a regular hexagon to a six‑pointed star...
Muscle loss doesn’t just gradually decline with age. A lot of it may happen in ‘catabolic crises’ - sharp drops after periods of disuse like injury, bed rest, hospitalization, or stopping training. The real harm is not just aging itself,...
Moog Inc. supplied the critical actuation and motion‑control systems that steered NASA’s Artemis II launch, including thrust‑vector control, launch‑abort actuators, fluid‑control hardware, and mobile launch‑pad mechanisms. The SLS rocket lifted four astronauts from Kennedy Space Center, marking a record‑setting step toward...
QuiX Quantum announced the first below‑threshold error mitigation on a photonic quantum computer, using a 20‑mode processor and a photon‑distillation gate. The technique achieved a 2.2× reduction in photon‑indistinguishability error and a net 1.2× overall system‑error decrease. Collaborators include NASA’s...
A new systematic review in Nutrients synthesizes evidence on folic acid supplementation to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) in women of child‑bearing age. It highlights a global NTD prevalence of 18.6 per 10,000 live births and a 75% mortality rate...
University of California‑Riverside researchers have created a robotic system that maps soil moisture at the individual tree level in citrus orchards. By measuring electrical conductivity and integrating data from existing moisture sensors, the robot generates detailed moisture maps that guide...
A multi‑institution team led by Michigan State University unveiled GPS, a machine‑learning platform that predicts how a compound will alter gene expression from its chemical structure. Trained on millions of transcriptomic measurements across more than 70 cell lines, GPS screened...
Artemis II’s April 1 launch delivered the first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo, underscoring NASA’s push for a 2028 Moon landing. SpaceX has filed confidentially for an IPO that could value the company above $1 trillion, the largest market debut ever. Virgin Galactic...
New memory chip survives temperatures hotter than lava 🌋 😳 💬 The electronics inside your phone, your car, and every satellite currently orbiting Earth share one critical weakness: heat. Push them past about 200 degrees Celsius and they start to fail....
Does collagen strengthen connective tissue in muscle? Protein ingestion can increase the synthesis of contractile proteins, but does the same hold true for connective proteins? https://t.co/DbUJVYNRUU https://t.co/CQ2qDGJV6H
Aleksandra Ćiprijanović, a Wilson Fellow and associate scientist at Fermilab, received a 2025 DOE Early Career Award to develop a universal AI analysis framework for high‑energy physics. The project tackles the persistent domain‑shift problem where models trained on simulated data...
The Artemis II Integrity spacecraft is now coasting downwards and will reach perigee of about 195 km late on Apr 2. At 2349:50 UTC it will make the TLI (Trans-Lunar Injection) burn, a 388 m/s burn lasting 5m51s to raise...
Timeline of Artemis 2 key events (in Mission Elapsed Time) is in NASA's press kit. https://t.co/dKNkKadt10 NASA is posting updates on the Artemis blog. https://t.co/WeDPP3en7T TLI burn is next major event ~7:35 pm ET today (1d1h37s post-launch) https://t.co/kQH3BiJIJG
Thanks to the US Space Force, there is finally tracking data for the "Russian Starlink" group, indicating that all 16 satellites are in their nearly original orbit, a few kilometers above the third stage of the Soyuz-2 rocket, which had...
March 2026 was the 4th warmest March on record for the planet's surface in the ERA5 dataset, coming in at 1.48C above preindustrial levels. https://t.co/Z0Jja9ncx4
This thread explores many interesting aspects of brainless clones. It raises the issue of whether this is even useful (including as animal model) It surfaces the terminology "decorticate" which is what's in the literature.
