121 articles from WEDNESDAY 21.9.2022

Neptune and its rings shown in striking new light by Webb telescope

Farthest planet from sun and its satellites revealed in unprecedented detail by space telescope’s infrared imagerThe James Webb space telescope has turned its gaze away from the deep universe towards our home solar system, capturing an image of a luminous Neptune and its delicate, dusty rings in detail not seen in decades.The last time astronomers had such a clear view of the farthest planet...

New method allows scientists to determine all the molecules present in the lysosomes of mice

Small but mighty, lysosomes play a surprisingly important role in cells despite their diminutive size. Making up only 1-3% of the cell by volume, these small sacs are the cell's recycling centers, home to enzymes that break down unneeded molecules into small pieces that can then be reassembled to form new ones. Lysosomal dysfunction can lead to a variety of neurodegenerative or other diseases, but...

Search for clues may explain collapse of ancient city in Mexico

Built more than a thousand years before the Aztec arrived in central Mexico, Teotihuacan was once one of the largest cities in the world. Its stone temples, comparable in size to Egypt's pyramids, still draw fascinated visitors, as does the mystery surrounding the city's sudden fall around 550 AD.

Researchers demonstrate chemically sensitive LiDAR method

Researchers have developed a new laser-based technique that can simultaneously perform LiDAR and remote chemical measurements. LiDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, uses a laser to measure distances, or ranges. Adding chemical information to LiDAR measurements could be useful for applications like remote chemical mapping, detecting trace amounts of chemicals, monitoring industrial...

Experimental drug shows signs of slowing motor neurone disease

Biogen drug Tofersen showed promising results when taken for six months beyond previous trialAn experimental drug for motor neurone disease (MND) has shown signs of slowing the progress of the devastating illness in a landmark trial.The results provide fresh hope after a phase-three trial of the same drug had previously failed to make a meaningful difference to patient outcomes after six months of...

The priorities for food-security research under extreme events

Fixing hunger is as challenging as ever. Many food producers, including farmers, hunters and fishers are food-insecure; meaning they're not always sure where their next meal will come from. More than 50% of the roughly 600 million who are food insecure live in conflict zones. The risk that multiple misfortunes can cascade, such as a war in one region and crop failures in others, increase the...

Mexico ups protection at pre-Hispanic ceremonial site

Mexico has declared a pre-Hispanic site in the central state of Guanajuato as an archaeological monument zone protecting it from the possibility of encroaching development and expressing a commitment to continue excavating the ancient ruins.

Four-legged jumping robots to explore the moon

A four-legged robot trained through artificial intelligence has learned the same lesson as the Apollo astronauts—that jumping can be the best way to move around on the surface the moon. An update on LEAP (Legged Exploration of the Aristarchus Plateau), a mission concept study supported by ESA to explore some of the most challenging lunar terrains, has been presented today at the Europlanet...

Simulator illuminates the search for life around the Milky Way's most common stars

Italian researchers have demonstrated experimentally for the first time that microorganisms can photosynthesize using the infrared-dominated light emitted by the most common type of star in the Milky Way. The results from the Star Light Simulator, presented at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022, suggest that life could develop around stars different from our Sun and produce oxygen-rich...