News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Organic molecules found in a Mars meteorite that crash-landed on Earth are not signs of life, but instead formed in chemical reactions between water and rock on the Red Planet about 4 billion years ago, a new study finds. These findings could shed light on the origins of the building blocks of life on early … Read more
A huge study of US military personnel suggests almost all cases of multiple sclerosis are triggered by the common Epstein-Barr virus, meaning a vaccine could largely eradicate the condition Health 13 January 2022 By Michael Le Page The Epstein-Barr virus viewed under a microscope Mediscan/Alamy It has long been suspected that the common Epstein-Barr virus … Read more
A slow death is creeping through Earth’s forests and other green landscapes. As animals are killed by hunters or forced away by logging, for example, the plants that depend on them to carry their seeds begin to disappear. Over time, trees and other plants may vanish. Climate change is accelerating this process, a new study … Read more
China’s Shenzhou 13 astronauts conducted a manual rendezvous and docking test over the weekend to test emergency procedures for spacecraft visiting the Chinese space station. The complex test involved the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft undocking from the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station. The astronauts aboard Tianhe then teleoperated Tianzhou 2, guiding it … Read more
A confident detection of a moon orbiting a planet beyond our solar system – called an exomoon – has eluded astronomers so far, but they have found a new candidate Space 13 January 2022 By Leah Crane The exomoon candidate may be orbiting a planet called Kepler-1708b Helena Valenzuela Widerström Astronomers have spotted signs of … Read more
Extreme heat threatens to effect all of California in coming years, prompting state officials to outline life-saving measures in an adaptation report released this week. Average annual temperatures have already jumped in California by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit, and it has exceeded 2 F in some areas, according to the analysis by the California … Read more
Progress in treating Parkinson’s disease—a progressive neurological illness that causes tremors, muscle rigidity, and dementia—has been painfully slow, in large part because scientists still don’t fully understand the molecular events that kill select brain cells. What they do know is Parkinson’s leaves behind a telltale mark: clumps of the misfolded alpha synuclein (αS) protein in … Read more
For over 60 years and more than 230 missions, teams of dedicated engineers and specialists in NASA’s Mission Control have provided ground support for astronauts in space and on the moon. Out of the thousands of people who staffed the consoles and backroom support areas in that time, less than 100 have led the room. … Read more
The term “endemic” usually means that an infection is stable, not that it’s less deadly or that protective measures are no longer required. With the omicron variant surging, covid-19 is unlikely to become endemic soon Health | Analysis 13 January 2022 By Clare Wilson Commuters in London this month TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images The … Read more
Surgeons announced this week they had performed the first transplant of a pig heart to a human. The 7 January surgery was a milestone for research on transplants between species, known as xenotransplantation. It’s still unclear how well or how long the heart will function, but researchers hope the technique can someday make up for … Read more