The water-seeking mobile VIPER robot will help pave the way for astronaut missions to the lunar surface beginning in 2024 and will bring NASA a step closer to developing a sustainable, long-term presence on the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. “The VIPER rover and the commercial partnership that will deliver it to the Moon are a prime example of how the scientific community and U.S. industry are making NASA’s lunar exploration vision a reality,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine....

Maurer and Chari completed their major objective for today to install hoses on a Radiator Beam Valve Module that routes ammonia through the station’s heat-rejecting radiators to keep systems at the proper temperature. The crew members also installed a power and data cable on the Columbus module’s Bartolomeo science platform, replaced an external camera on the station’s truss, and conducted other upgrades to station hardware. The pair deferred a few secondary tasks, such as torque resets and cable routing, to a future spacewalk....

Our ever-changing sun continuously shoots solar material into space. The grandest such events are massive clouds that erupt from the sun, called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. These solar storms often come first with some kind of warning — the bright flash of a flare, a burst of heat or a flurry of solar energetic particles. But another kind of storm has puzzled researchers for its lack of typical warning signs: They seem to come from nowhere, and scientists call them stealth coronal mass ejections....

Supermassive black holes are generally stationary objects, sitting at the centers of most galaxies. However, under some circumstances, these black holes that contain millions or even billions of times the mass of the Sun can be set in motion. Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes, astronomers recently hunted down what could be a supermassive black hole that may be on the move. This possible renegade black hole, which contains about 160 million times the mass of our Sun, is located in an elliptical galaxy about 3....

The research was led by graduate student Kishalay De and is described in a paper appearing in the October 12 issue of the journal Science. The work was done primarily in the laboratory of Mansi Kasliwal (MS ’07, Ph.D. ’11), assistant professor of astronomy. Kasliwal is the principal investigator of the Caltech-led Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) project. When a massive star—at least eight times the mass of the sun—runs out of fuel to burn in its core, the core collapses inwards upon itself and then rebounds outward in a powerful explosion called a supernova....

A combined analysis of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), a ground-based observatory in Namibia, suggests the center of our Milky Way contains a “trap” that concentrates some of the highest-energy cosmic rays, among the fastest particles in the galaxy. “Our results suggest that most of the cosmic rays populating the innermost region of our galaxy, and especially the most energetic ones, are produced in active regions beyond the galactic center and later slowed there through interactions with gas clouds,” said lead author Daniele Gaggero at the University of Amsterdam....

Through biomineralization, nature is able to produce such engineering marvels as mother of pearl, or nacre, the inner lining of abalone shells renowned for both its iridescent beauty and amazing toughness. Key to biomineralization is the phenomenon known as “oriented attachment,” whereby adjacent nanoparticles connect with one another in a common crystallographic orientation. While the importance of oriented attachment to biomineral properties long has been recognized, the mechanism by which it occurs has remained a mystery....

The new AI algorithm, part of the open-source Cancer-Net initiative led by Dr. Alexander Wong, could help unsuitable candidates avoid the serious side effects of chemotherapy and pave the way for better surgical outcomes for those who are suitable. “Determining the right treatment for a given breast cancer patient is very difficult right now, and it is crucial to avoid unnecessary side effects from using treatments that are unlikely to have real benefit for that patient,” said Wong, a professor of systems design engineering....

The results of the study, which was conducted by the University of Chicago (UChicago), McMaster University, and the Institut Pasteur, were published on October 19 in the journal Nature. Caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis), the global pandemic of the bubonic plague wiped out 30% to 60% of people in cities across North Africa, Europe, and Asia, with massive repercussions for the human race — and, apparently, our genome....

The researchers examined MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for studies that detailed patients treated with ACE inhibitors and/or ARB medications. They conducted two meta-analyses to evaluate the results of 17 trials: 1) to investigate the rate of COVID-19 positive cases, and 2) to determine the death rate among those hospitalized with COVID-19. Their analyses yielded these findings: Patients taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs did not have an increased rate of COVID-19 infection; andHospitalized COVID-19 patients taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs did not have an increased rate of death....

A post-mortem analysis of brain tissue from people who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may help explain enduring mysteries about the disorder, such as why women are more susceptible to it and whether a dampened immune system response plays a role in dealing with stress, a team headed by Yale University researchers has found. The analysis of gene expression patterns in brain tissue located in four regions of the prefrontal cortex — areas of the brain associated with higher cognitive function and executive control — revealed distinct differences in those who had been diagnosed with PTSD and those who had not....

A team of researchers has been able to see inside faraway spiral galaxies for the first time to study how they formed and how they change over time, thanks to the powerful capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope. “We’re studying 19 of our closest analogs to our own galaxy. In our own galaxy we can’t make a lot of these discoveries because we’re stuck inside it,” says Erik Rosolowsky, professor in the University of Alberta Department of Physics and co-author on a recent paper — published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters — analyzing data from the James Webb telescope....

Scientists have linked stale beer flavors to aldehyde compounds, such as (E)-2-nonenal and acetaldehyde. Many of these compounds are produced by yeast during fermentation, and chemical reactions during beer storage can increase their levels. Brewers have tried different approaches to reduce levels of these compounds, such as controlling the fermentation conditions or adding antioxidants, but staling remains a problem for the beer industry. That’s why Qi Li and colleagues wanted to genetically modify lager yeast to produce more of a molecule called NADH....

The scientists published their findings in The Journal of Experimental Biology. The Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) was studied by researchers, who measured its metabolic rates. They found that whether the butterflies were lab-bound or released to island meadows in Finland, the ones who flew more energetically lived longer. The findings indicate that there is a connection between oxidative stress, the long-term buildup of free radicals and other harmful molecules, and lifespan is more complex than previously thought....

Laura van Holstein, a Ph.D. student in Biological Anthropology at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, and lead author of the research published today (March 18) in Proceedings of the Royal Society, discovered mammal subspecies play a more important role in evolution than previously thought. Her research could now be used to predict which species conservationists should focus on protecting to stop them from becoming endangered or extinct. A species is a group of animals that can interbreed freely amongst themselves....

Scientists hope that any new understanding gained from quantum simulators will provide blueprints for designing new exotic materials, smarter and more efficient electronics, and practical quantum computers. But in order to reap the insights from quantum simulators, scientists first have to trust them. That is, they have to be sure that their quantum device has “high fidelity” and accurately reflects quantum behavior. For instance, if a system of atoms is easily influenced by external noise, researchers could assume a quantum effect where there is none....

According to a multinational analysis of more than 32 million cardiovascular deaths over four decades, there were more deaths on days when temperatures were at their highest or lowest.Among the types of cardiovascular disease, people with heart failure experienced the most additional deaths when temperatures were at extremes.With climate change, more research is needed to examine and develop strategies to potentially mitigate the impact of extreme temperatures on cardiovascular disease, researchers said....

The discovery, published on March 9, 2020, in Nature Astronomy, was led by an international team of researchers, including scientists at the University of Birmingham, working on the SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars) project. SPECULOOS involves the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the University of Liège, the University of Cambridge, the University of Bern, the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other partner institutions....

The research was published on December 7 in the journal Science Advances. “We envision that this technology will provide new opportunities for high spatiotemporal resolution control of neurons for neuroscience and behavior studies and develop new treatments for neurological disorders,” said Jia Liu, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS and co-senior author of the study. Optogenetics, the use of light to either stimulate or inhibit neurons, has long promised to revolutionize the study and treatment of neurological conditions that are caused by the over or under excitability of neurons....

A new species of Triassic reptile from Brazil is a close cousin of a mysterious group called tanystropheids, according to a study published April 8, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tiane De-Oliviera of the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil, and colleagues. After the Permian mass extinction, 250 million years ago, reptiles took over global ecosystems. Among the early groups to appear after this extinction event were the tanystropheids, a group of long-necked animals whose lifestyles are still mysterious, but who were nonetheless successful in the Triassic Period....