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Lunar regolith simulant used to grow chickpeas

Dr. Sara Santos: “The research is about understanding the viability of growing crops on the moon. How do we transform this regolith into soil? What kinds of natural mechanisms can cause this conversion?” [ https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30294/lunar-regolith…hickpeas-2](https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30294/lunar-regolith…hickpeas-2)

How will astronauts grow food during long-term missions to the Moon? This is what a recent study published in Scientific Reports hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the prospect of growing food on the Moon. This study has the potential to help scientists, mission planners, engineers, and astronauts develop new methods for growing food on the Moon, which could help advance such techniques when humans go to Mars.

For the study, the researchers grew chickpeas using simulated lunar regolith (often mistakenly called “soil”) and fungi, with the latter being used to test plant stress levels, decrease toxins, and enhance the mixture of regolith simulant and fungi. The team tested a variety of mixtures, including 25 to 100 percent regolith simulant and with and without the fungi. The goal of the study was to ascertain the plausibility of growing food on the Moon under climate-controlled conditions using lunar regolith and Earth-based products. In the end, the researchers found that the most promising mixture was 75 percent regolith simulant with fungi.

This Spacetime Quasicrystal Could Solve Physicists’ Biggest Problem

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What is space, really? That’s one of the biggest questions in science. According to a pair of researchers from the Perimeter Institute, the answer to that is: a quasicrystal. What is a quasicrystal, and how is space a quasicrystal? Let’s take a look.

Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.

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What is space? That’s one of the biggest questions, not just in the foundations of physics, but in all of science. According to a new paper, the answer may be a quasicrystal, an idea from researchers working on quantum gravity. This video explores the implications of this idea, touching on concepts like String Theory and Loop Quantum Gravity, to understand what it might mean for theoretical physics.

Continue reading “This Spacetime Quasicrystal Could Solve Physicists’ Biggest Problem” | >

Martian volcanoes could be hiding massive glaciers under a blanket of ash

When we think of ice on Mars, we typically think of the poles, where we can see it visibly through probes and even ground-based telescopes. But the poles are hard to access, and even more so given the restrictions on exploration there due to potential biological contamination. Scientists have long hoped to find water closer to the equator, making it more accessible to human explorers. There are parts of the mid-latitudes of Mars that appear to be glaciers covered by thick layers of dust and rock.

So are these features really holding massive reserves of water close to where humans might first step foot on the red planet? They might be, according to a new paper from M.A. de Pablo and their co-authors, recently published in Icarus.

The key might be a small, volcanic island in Antarctica. Known as Deception Island, it’s a volcano that has covered some massive glaciers surrounding it with ash and dust from a series of eruptions in the 60s and 70s. The authors think they found a volcano on Mars with a similar history known as Hecates Tholus.

NASA finds extreme star collision in unlikely spot

A fleet of NASA missions has likely uncovered a collision between two ultradense stars in a tiny galaxy buried in a huge stream of gas. Astronomers have never seen this type of explosive event in an environment like this before—and it may help solve two outstanding cosmic mysteries. A paper describing these results is forthcoming in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and currently available on the arXiv preprint server.

Neutron stars are the cores left behind after a star much heavier than the sun runs out of fuel, collapses on itself, and then explodes. They are small (only a dozen or so miles across) but slightly more massive than the sun, making them amazingly dense. Astronomers consider them to be some of the most extreme objects in the universe.

In recent years, astronomers have collected data on collisions, or mergers, of two neutron stars inside of moderately sized or large galaxies. This latest discovery, however, shows that a neutron star collision may take place inside a tiny galaxy.

Solar System Colonization Strategies

Whether its pioneering spirit and an urge to explore or a chance to make a fortune or new life out in space, colonization of our solar system may pursue many strategies across many new worlds.

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Credits:
Solar System Colonization Strategies.
Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur.
Episode 316, November 11, 2021
Written, Produced & Narrated by Isaac Arthur.

Editors:
A.T. Long.
Keith Blockus.
Sig’unnr.

Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier.

Graphics:

Continue reading “Solar System Colonization Strategies” | >

Megastructure Death

Megastructures of the future may range in size from cities to entire galaxies, and must be built to withstand damage and time, but how is this done and what happens when a megastructure dies?

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Credits:
Megastructure Death.
Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur.
Episode 308, September 16, 2021
Written, Produced & Narrated by Isaac Arthur.

Editors:
A.T. Long.
Curt Hartung.
Jason Burbank.
Jerry Guern.
Keith Blockus.

Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier.

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Continue reading “Megastructure Death” | >

Nearby red dwarf star hosts at least four planets—with one in the habitable zone

In 2020, a study confirmed that two planets orbited the nearby red dwarf, GJ 887. Now, astronomers have confirmed the existence of two additional planets orbiting GJ 887 in a new study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The new study suggests that one of these newly confirmed planets is in the habitable zone.

GJ 887 is a bright red dwarf star about 10.7 light years away from our solar system—a relatively short distance compared to other star systems. The previous study showed two non-transiting exoplanets with short orbital periods of 9 and 21 days and a potential third planet with a period of 50 days. At the time, available data could not differentiate whether the signal that was interpreted as potentially being from the third planet was coming from a planet or magnetic activity from the star.

Red dwarf stars are prime targets for finding low-mass planets in the habitable zone (HZ)—a region within a particular distance from a star where a planet’s surface temperature allows for the existence of liquid water. The team involved in the new study aimed to determine whether this potential third planet could be confirmed and whether there might be any additional planets.

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