Science, Space, Health & Robotics News - Page 162

A study on the new cell titled "Human distal airways contain a multipotent secretory cell that can regenerate alveoli" has been published in the journal Nature.

Scientists found the new cell tucked away inside human lungs called respiratory airway secretory (RAS) cells. They are found in the bronchioles of the lungs, which connect to alveoli that allow oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange between the air we breathe and the lungs.

The RAS cells have two roles within the lungs; secreting molecules to maintain the bronchioles' fluid lining to increase the lungs' efficiency and rigidity and can serve as a progenitor cell to alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells. When other alveoli cells are damaged, these RAS cells can differentiate into the AT2 cells (similar to how a stem cell can differentiate into other cell types) and will be able to secrete a chemical that is used to repair the other damaged alveoli cells.

On April 3, a 12,000 mile-long "canyon of fire" opened up on the surface of the sun, causing a coronal mass ejection (CME) to be shot towards Earth.

Officials from the UK weather forecaster Met Office said the sun experienced two "filament eruptions", with the first occurring on Sunday, April 3, and the second on Monday, April 4. Forecasters have confirmed that both eruptions have caused CMEs, which are waves of charged plasma ejected from the sun's atmosphere.

When a CME impacts Earth, it interacts with Earth's magnetic field, and that interaction between the charged particles from the sun and Earth's atmosphere can be seen in the form of auroras such as the southern/northern lights. Additionally, larger CMEs can cause many problems for Earth as they can interrupt satellite communications, power networks, GPS, and even electrical grids.

Today an asteroid approximately the size of a bus will zoom past Earth at around 34,500 mph, according to NASA's database.

The asteroid is categorized as a "potentially hazardous object" and is called 2022 GN1. According to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) database, the space rock will come within 79,000 miles of Earth, and doesn't pose any threat of impact. Astronomers discovered the asteroid on April 1 and have estimated that its diameter is anywhere between 24 and 52 feet wide, making it a smaller asteroid when compared to some others floating around in space.

Read more: NASA confirms 1,000+ foot-wide asteroid will approach Earth this April

A Californian-based company has announced it will be attempting to catch the first stage of a rocket booster with a helicopter at the end of April, 2022.

Rocket Lab has put out a press release that announces it will attempt to catch the falling Electron first-stage rocket booster mid-air after it has separated from the main stage. Here's the plan for the mission called "There and Back Again". The 59-foot-tall Electron rocket will launch from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site carrying 34 satellites into orbit.

Before Electron is launched, Rocket Lab will already have set up a customized Sikorsky S-92 helicopter that will be located around 150 nautical miles off the New Zealand coast, where it will wait to catch the falling rocket stage. Here's what Rocket Lab expects to happen. Around 2.5 minutes after the launch, the second and first stage will separate, with the first will fall back down to Earth, and the second will continue transporting the cargo to its designated location.

NASA and the European Space Agency's Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for 32 years now, and of those 32 years, it has been observing a baby planet forming for 13 years.

Throughout its operation, Hubble has been periodically looking back at the protoplanet AB Aurigae b that's located in a young solar system 530 light-years away from Earth. At the center of that solar system is the star AB Aurigae which is only two million years old. Hubble has been observing the baby planet form around its local star and found that its very similar to Jupiter, but is actually nine times larger than Jupiter and orbits its star at a distance that is twice the distance between Pluto and our Sun (8.6 billion miles).

Now, why is this interesting? Typically gas giants form through a process called "core accretion", which is the process of a planet being built from the accumulation of smaller pieces of rock, ice, dust, and pebbles that combine together over millions of years to form a planet. At the distance AB Aurigae b is orbiting its star, researchers believe it's unlikely that it would form through core accretion, which led them to observe the baby planet with multiple different telescopes over an extended period to find an answer.

An extremely wealthy Russian oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin is being targeted by the US government.

Under the new sanctions imposed by the US government following Russia's invasion into Ukraine, US officials began targeted Russian oligarchs which are the extremely wealthy elite that are close with Putin. Russian oligarchs have had their assets targeted by the Biden administration and recently the US Justice Department secured a warrant to seize the 77-metre superyacht called Tango valued at $120 MILLION.

The superyacht is one of the most expensive superyachts in the world and is linked to billionaire Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg, who was accused by the US Justice Department of attempting to conceal ownership of the superyacht through various shell companies. Tango was seized by Spanish police and US federal agents at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea.

The United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released another alarming report on climate change.

Climate experts have warned that we have less than three years to stop the increasing greenhouse gas emissions and less than a decade to cut them almost in half to secure a "liveable future." The IPCC says this can still be accomplished, but current policies will see that possibility slip away if allowed to continue. The new 2,800-page report marks the third installment of the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report.

"Some government and business leaders are saying one thing, but doing another. Simply put, they are lying. And the results will be catastrophic," said UN chief Antonio Guterres.

The Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion are currently undergoing a wet dress rehearsal.

NASA confirmed that four lightning strikes landed within the perimeter of Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where the spacecraft was executing operations for its wet dress rehearsal. The rocket and spacecraft stacked atop it are undergoing tests to prepare for the upcoming Artemis I mission to the moon. Three strikes were low intensity and struck lightning tower two, while a fourth, higher intensity strike struck tower one.

"Teams currently see no constraints to proceeding with the test countdown timeline as planned and will continue procedures to power up the SLS boosters and ICPS overnight. Overnight, engineers will also work to make up time for activities that were paused due to the severe weather," NASA wrote in a statement.

The World Health Organization (WHO) tightened its guidelines on air quality roughly six months ago, and has now released a new update on its Air Pollution Data Portal.

The WHO estimates that 99% of the global population is experiencing higher risks of heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, and pneumonia, due to current air pollution levels. Drawing on data from over 6,000 municipalities, the WHO has found air quality is poorest in the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions, with Africa following.

"After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution. Yet too many investments are still being sunk into a polluted environment rather than in clean, healthy air," said Dr. Maria Neira, the head of the WHO's department of environment, climate change, and health.

NASA has announced that it has broken two records on the surface of Mars with its newest Mars rover called Perseverance.

According to NASA JPL, the Perseverance rover has recently broken two records, the first record being the longest drive in a single solar day, and the second being the longest AutoNav drive. The space agency announced that Perseverance has broken the previous record of 748 feet set by the Opportunity rover in March 2005. Now, Perseverance holds the record by recently completing a drive of 803 feet.

NASA also announced that Perseverance has broken its own record for the longest AutoNav drive, which is the rover's self-driving function. As you can probably imagine, Perseverance's AutoNav function allows for the rover to drive across the Martian surface autonomously using 3D maps and advanced software that maps any potential obstacles around Perseverance. With autonomous driving, Perseverance can move 393 feet in an hour.