Intuitive Machines is one of three companies announced today that will land NASA science experiments on the moon within the next two years. (Credit: Intuitive Machines)
During a NASA press conference Friday, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the agency's Science Mission Directorate, introduced the first three of nine companies awarded contracts to deliver payloads to the moon over the next few years.
Those companies are Astrobiotic of Pittsburgh, Intuitive Machines from Housto ...read more
I spend a lot of time on science Twitter. It's a great source of breaking research news (as long as you curate your Twitter feed carefully), but also a fascinating peek into the human psyche. People who love astronomy naturally connect it to the other things that they are passionate about: politics, family, cats, science fiction...and food. Lots and lots of food.
It's strange that there aren't any constellations dedicated to food, considering how readily the human mind makes the connection. ( ...read more
(Credit: lanatoma/Shutterstock)
The microbes that live in and on our bodies are fundamentally involved in our well-being. How they affect our health, though, is largely unknown due to the number of different bacteria that call us home and the complexity of our interactions with them.
A project from the National Institutes of Health, the Integrated Human Microbiome Project (iHMP) is attempting to dive into those interactions and understand the nitty-gritty of how the microbiome affect ...read more
(Credit: PhotoUG/Shutterstock)
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects at least 1.7 percent of 8-year-olds in the U.S., and it can make social communication like talking and interactions with others difficult. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a hard time at school and often engage in repetitive behaviors.
Now, researchers show the collection of bacteria and other microorganisms in the gut known as the microbiome contributes to autism-like behaviors such as decreased social ...read more
A dubious paper just published in Molecular Neurobiology makes the suggestion that all military recruits should be offered genetic testing to assess their risk of PTSD. According to the authors, Kenneth Blum et al.,
We hypothesize that, even before combat, soldiers with a childhood background of violence (or with a familial susceptibility risk) would benefit from being genotyped for high-risk alleles (DNA variants). This process may assist us in identifying potential military candidates who ...read more
Signs of ammonia on Pluto's surface may hint at liquid water underground. (Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI)
The New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015, is still making new findings. Most recently, researchers used its data to find traces of ammonia on Pluto’s surface. Intriguingly, the ammonia lines up with a cracked region called Virgil Fossae, which has mounds of water ice and shows signs of past tectonic activity. Because ammonia is eventually destroyed in environments like ...read more
A satellite view of the Chuckegg Creek wildfire near High Level, Alberta in Canada on May 26, 2019.
With unusual heat refusing to loosen its grip on Western Canada, ten out-of-control wildfires are now burning in northern Alberta.
Thanks to the hot, dry weather and rising winds, officials in Alberta were concerned on Tuesday (May 29) that the Chuckegg Creek fire near High Level, Alberta could lead to "blow-up fire behavior." The fire has already scorched 580 square miles — an area l ...read more
EF3 tornado from an 2017 tornado outbreak near Washburn, Illinois. Wikimedia Commons.
I live in Ohio and one thing I've had to get used to here that I didn't experience most places I have lived are tornadoes. This week, parts of western Ohio got hit by some big and destructive tornadoes and in total, at least 17 tornadoes were confirmed across the state. This is part of a larger tornado outbreak across the central U.S. Tornadoes are a lot like volcanic eruptions: they've highly destructive a ...read more
New research suggests that LDL cholesterol may play a role in developing early-onset Alzheimer's disease. (Credit: Atthapon Raksthaput/Shutterstock)
Most of us know that high levels of “bad” cholesterol in our blood can increase our risk of developing cardiovascular problems. Now, a new study gives us another reason to keep cholesterol levels in check. High cholesterol may also play a role in the development of early-onset Alzheimer's disease, a research team has found.
T ...read more
A colony of tufted puffins. (Credit: tryton2011/shutterstock)
From beached whales to strange seal die-offs, mass marine life mortality events are getting more common. And thanks to changing temperatures, mass seabird deaths are on the rise as well.
A study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One catalogs a four-month period starting in October 2016 where researchers and volunteers collected dead seabirds from St. Paul Island off the Alaskan coast in the Bering Sea. They foun ...read more
