A subtle gravitational-wave “hum” from merging black holes may help settle the cosmic fight over how fast the universe is expanding.
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3D printing with moon dirt for lunar habitats
“By combining different feedstocks, like metal and ceramics, in the printing process, we found that the final material is really sensitive to the environment,” said Sizhe Xu. [ https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30260/3d-printing-mo…habitats-2](https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30260/3d-printing-mo…habitats-2)
How can lunar regolith be used to construct future habitats on the Moon? This is what a recent study published in Acta Astronautica hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated novel methods for using lunar regolith for making structures on the lunar surface. This study has the potential to help scientists, engineers, mission planners, and future astronauts develop methods for working and living on the Moon, which comes as NASA’s Artemis program plans to land humans on the Moon in 2028.
For the study, the researchers examined how a laser 3D printing method called laser directed energy deposition (LDED) could be used for manufacturing structures using lunar simulant under a myriad of environments, specifically lunar conditions of zero atmosphere, oxygen, and complete vacuum. The lunar simulant used for the experiments is known as LHS-1 (lunar highland regolith simulants), with the lunar highlands being the lighter-colored mountainous regions of the Moon as seen from Earth, as opposed to the volcanic regions of the Moon that are darker in appearance.
Along with the environmental conditions, the researchers also examined how printing LHS-1 on various types of surfaces yielded different results. They also examined laser speed, scanning power, and the final microstructure products. In the end, the researchers found that alumina-silicate ceramic surfaces and high temperatures produced the most promising structures but cautioned that laboratory conditions vary from the real-world environment on the Moon.
Genomic reorganization at the transition to gametogenesis
Using a technique called Hi-C analysis, which looks at how DNA is arranged in three dimensions inside the nucleus, the team found that at this transitional point the genome’s three-dimensional organisation becomes less structured and chromosomes become more separated inside the nucleus.
Creating sperm and eggs in the laboratory (in vitro) remains one of the greatest challenges in reproductive biology. To study this process, scientists use primordial germ cell–like cells (PGCLCs), which are lab-generated cells derived from embryonic stem cells that mimic the embryo’s earliest reproductive cells. However, these PCGLCs often fail to complete all the steps of meiosis, making it difficult to create functional sperm and eggs in petri dishes.
After studying the process in germ cells from the embryos, the team studied lab-generated mouse PCGLCs to see if the centromeres migrated to the periphery of the nucleus in vitro too, but they did not see the same phenomenon.
“The presence of this chromosome conformation in embryonic germ cells, but not lab-grown cells, suggests that this structural change could be required for meiosis to proceed properly, and could explain why meiosis is so difficult to recreate outside the body,” says the author, “but we need to do more work to fully characterise the process before we can say for sure.”
“Our study has uncovered a previously unknown and frankly very surprising restructuring of genome architecture that occurs in developing germ cells, which we believe is critical for a successful execution of meiosis,” says the senior author. ScienceMission sciencenewshighlights.
In our cells, our DNA carries chemical or ‘epigenetic’ marks that decide how genes will be used in different tissues. Yet in the group of specialised cells, known as ‘germ cells’, which will later form sperm and eggs, these inherited chemical instructions must be erased or reshuffled so development can begin again with a fresh blueprint in future generations.
MeerKAT discovers record-breaking cosmic laser halfway across the universe
Astronomers using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa have discovered the most distant hydroxyl megamaser ever detected. It is located in a violently merging galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away, opening a new radio astronomy frontier.
Hydroxyl megamasers are natural “space lasers”—extremely bright radio-wavelength emissions produced when hydroxyl molecules in gas-rich, merging galaxies crash into one another. These cosmic collisions compress gas and stimulate large reservoirs of hydroxyl molecules to amplify radio emission.
The physical mechanism is very similar to lasers on Earth, but operates at a much longer wavelength of light of about 18 centimeters, rather than the optical light that our eyes can see. When this special radio light is exceptionally bright, it is termed a megamaser—a “cosmic beacon” that can be seen across vast stretches of the universe.
Alien Reanimation and the Modern Prometheus
An exploration of the themes of Frankenstein in a hard science context and the possibility of biological SETI in deep space.
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