News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Modular moon rovers could reduce the costs of surface exploration of the moon and, potentially, human Mars excursions, a California-based space-tech startup envisions. The start-up, called Venturi Astrolab, announced the development of its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (Flex) rover on March 10. The rover, the company said in a statement will “enhance lunar and planetary … Read more
A NASA spacecraft is on its way to slam into a space rock, but what happens next is still unclear. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission launched in November and will arrive at its destination in late September. If all goes well, the impact will change the orbit of a small asteroid, Dimorphos, around … Read more
Launched into space from the mind of creator Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s, the U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701 was the very first Star Trek spacecraft to reach warp speed on television screens around the world. The time-travelling, ultra-fast and near-invisible “Constitution-class” starship was the most advanced spacecraft at the time of its launch in 2245. Built-in … Read more
A new class of immunotherapy drugs – used to treat arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease – might also work for those with severe asthma. The pharmaceuticals are known as ‘jakinibs‘ because they inhibit the protein JAK1. This protein plays an essential role in the body’s immune response by activating cytokines, which can then lead … Read more
Frustrated with the Australian government’s inaction on climate change, software king Mike Cannon-Brookes is trying to buy several big coal plants so he can shut them down in favour of renewables Environment | Analysis 22 February 2022 By Alice Klein Open-cast coal mining in Hunter Valley, Australia PETER HARRISON/Getty Images Mike Cannon-Brookes, the third-richest person … Read more
Of the many “firsts” from NASA’s Apollo program of lunar exploration, one often overlooked is that the Apollo missions included the first—and so far only—times that humans have driven on another world. Presaging today’s eco-conscious market for carbon-neutral transportation, Apollo’s battery-powered lunar roving vehicles were all-electric as well. Astronaut David Scott, who was the first … Read more
From how food is grown to how we generate power, Vaclav Smil’s new book outlines the basic technologies that keep society going and commands us to know them better Humans 2 February 2022 By Simon Ings IN SUCH a complex world, no one can be expected to understand everything. But for energy expert Vaclav Smil, … Read more
On January 19, co-founders Rick Klausner and Hans Bishop publicly launched an aging research initiative called Altos Labs, with $3 billion in initial financing from backers including tech investor Yuri Milner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. This is the latest in a recent surge of investment in ventures seeking to build anti-aging interventions on the back … Read more
Sakkmesterke/Alamy WHY are fundamental physicists so keen to undermine the very theories that are the bedrock of their success? It is a reasonable question to ask confronted with the excitement bubbling around anomalies that seem to be firming up at CERN’s LHCb experiment. At stake is a particle that might – the “might” bears emphasising – break open … Read more
Rapid COVID-19 tests that use nose swabs alone might not pick up Omicron in the early days of infection, a new study suggests – but experts don’t agree on whether you should also swab your throat. A small study from a group of US researchers, published Tuesday, found that rapid tests with nasal swabs didn’t detect Omicron … Read more