MIT aerospace engineers are testing a concept for a hovering rover that levitates by harnessing the moon’s natural charge. This illustration shows a concept image of rover. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers A levitating vehicle might someday explore the moon, asteroids, and other airless planetary surfaces. Aerospace engineers at MIT are testing a new concept … Read more
SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft, seen atop a Falcon 9 rocket, at the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 24, 2021, in preparation for the company’s 23rd commercial resupply services mission. Credit: SpaceX NASA commercial cargo launch provider SpaceX is targeting 5:06 a.m. EST Tuesday, December 21, to launch its 24th … Read more
Artist’s conception of the aerial biosphere in the cloud layers of Venus’ atmosphere. In this picture, hypothetical microbial life in the clouds of Venus resides inside protective cloud particles and is carried by winds around the planet. Credit: J. Petkowska A new study shows it’s theoretically possible. The hypothesis could be tested soon with proposed … Read more
Fever was the most likely first symptom in early cases of COVID-19, whereas cough is the most likely first symptom in more recent D614G variant cases. Credit: Peter Kuhn The most likely order of symptoms that COVID-19 patients experience is different for different variants of the virus, according to a new study published on December … Read more
Hunter-gatherers caused ecosystems to change 125,000 years ago. These are the findings of an interdisciplinary study by archaeologists from Leiden University in collaboration with other researchers. Neanderthals used fire to keep the landscape open and thus had a big impact on their local environment. The study was published in the journal Science Advances on December … Read more
NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute Rocket. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab A project developed by community college students is providing the opportunity for the public to see Earth from the perspective of a small rocket in flight. What does Earth look like from 98 miles up? A project developed by Colorado community college students is providing … Read more
By Lorne J. Hofseth, University of South Carolina December 19, 2021 Early-onset colorectal cancer rates have been increasing since the 1990s. Early-onset colorectal cancer incidence among the young, defined as those under age 50, has been rising globally since the early 1990s. Rates for colon and rectal cancers are expected to increase by 90% and … Read more
Credit: Susanna Hamilton, Broad Communications Researchers have boosted the efficiency of prime editing, a highly versatile CRISPR-based gene editing technology, and used the improved system to correct disease mutations in cells. Scientists have developed a suite of molecular tools that increase the efficiency of a gene-editing technique called prime editing for a wide variety of … Read more
Fly brains are capable of performing vector math to calculate direction of travel. Credit: Meishel Desouto Navigation doesn’t always go as planned—a lesson that flies learn the hard way, when a strong headwind shunts them backward in defiance of their forward-beating wings. Fish swimming upriver, crabs scuttling sideways, and even humans hanging a left while … Read more
By American College of Physicians December 20, 2021 A target trial emulation study found that in an elderly population of U.S. veterans with high comorbidity burden, mRNA vaccine efficacy at preventing infection with COVID-19 was substantially lower than previously reported but effectiveness against death was very high. These finding suggest that complementary infection mitigation efforts … Read more