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New Delhi: A team of scientists from the University of Manchester have devised a way to create a concrete-like material composed of alien dust as well as the blood, sweat and tears of astronauts.
Their advance can help solve a crucial problem in the establishment of Martian colonies.
Transporting a single brick to Mars can cost over $ 2 million, making future construction of a Martian colony extremely expensive.
In a new study, the team describes that a human blood protein (human serum albumin) combined with urea (a compound in urine, sweat, or tears) could glue simulated moon soil together or Mars to produce a material stronger than ordinary concrete, which would be ideally suited for construction work in extraterrestrial environments.
The resulting new material was called AstroCrete.
Scientists have calculated that more than 500 kg of high-strength AstroCrete could be produced during a two-year mission to the surface of Mars by a crew of six astronauts.
If the AstroCrete were to be used as a mortar for sandbags or thermofused regolith bricks, each crew member could produce enough to expand the habitat to support an additional crew member, doubling the available accommodation. at each successive mission. Read more.
Read also : 1,000-year-old grave of non-binary person identified in Finland and farewell gestures from monkeys
Amber sample preserves mother spider protecting her newborn babies
Researchers at Capital Normal University in China found a 99-million-year-old amber sample that preserved a spider mother protecting her young.
It has been discovered that many modern spider species take steps to ensure the survival of their offspring; females have been seen crouching to cover the hatchlings and tightly tying the eggs to each other using their silk.
In this study, the researchers found evidence of a mother spider, from the so-called Middle Cretaceous period, exhibiting the same behavior.
Researchers found four pieces of amber that had been extracted from a mine in Myanmar that contained buried spiders.
In one of the pieces, they found an adult female with some of her egg sac still intact under her body. The researchers also noted that the female was in a position very similar to that of modern female spiders who work to protect their eggs from predators. Closer examination showed that the female also used her own silk to tie the eggs together.
The other three pieces of amber contained baby spiders and spider thread. One of them also had what appeared to be an arthropod leg and a wasp. The researchers suggest that it’s likely that each piece of amber contains related spiders, all of which have been identified as members of the same species. Read more.
NASA finds evidence of thousands of super eruptions on Mars
NASA has confirmed evidence that a region in northern Mars called Arabia Terra has experienced thousands of “super eruptions” – the largest known volcanic eruptions – over a period of 500 million years.
These eruptions were so powerful that they released oceans of dust and toxic gases into the air, blocking sunlight and altering the planet’s climate for decades.
By studying the topography and mineral composition of part of the Arabia Terra region in northern Mars, scientists have found evidence of thousands of such eruptions.
By spewing water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide into the air, these explosions tore the Martian surface apart over a period of 500 million years, roughly 4 billion years ago.
Each of these eruptions would have had a significant climate impact – perhaps the gas released made the atmosphere thicker or blocked the Sun and made the atmosphere cooler.
Researchers hope Arabia Terra will teach scientists something new about the geological processes that help shape planets and moons. Read more.
Read also : 15,000-year-old viruses found in China and unique shark intestines that work like a Tesla valve
The oldest work of art in the world discovered on the Tibetan plateau
An international collaboration of researchers has identified what may be the world’s oldest work of art – a sequence of hands and footprints found on the Tibetan plateau.
The prints date back between 169,000 and 226,000 years, three to four times older than famous cave paintings from Indonesia, France and Spain.
The team first examined the “art panel”, which was found on a rocky promontory at Quesang on the Tibetan Plateau, in 2018.
A series of five handprints and five symmetrical prints were stamped into travertine, a freshwater limestone deposited by a nearby hot spring, then hardened over time.
Researchers said it was a slippery, sloping surface, which means people are unlikely to attempt to cross it. The footprints don’t look like someone accidentally fell on the stone. So why create this arrangement of prints?
The fact that the panel includes handprints suggests that it was in fact art.
The oldest such art – hand stencils – found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and the El Castillo cave in Spain, dates back to between 40,000 and 45,000 years ago. In light of the discovery of Tibet, the Chauvet cave paintings in France, some 30,000 years old, are practically contemporary.
The researchers used the dating of the uranium series to determine the origin of the art panel. They assume that the child who took the footprints was around 7 years old and the child who took the handprints was around 12 years old. Read more.
This year’s ozone hole is bigger than usual
Researchers from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service – which monitor the ozone hole – report that it is “rather larger than usual” this year and that it is currently larger than Antarctica.
According to the agency, this year’s hole is growing rapidly and has exceeded 75% of ozone holes at this point in the season since 1979.
A high concentration ozone layer exists about 15-30 km above the Earth’s surface in the stratosphere. It protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet rays.
However, every year a hole forms at the end of the southern hemisphere’s winter. This depletion is due to the presence of man-made chemicals as well as the reaction with sunlight.
The 2021 ozone hole ranks among our record-breaking 25% of the largest ozone holes since 1979 and continues to grow. Read more.
Read also : “Countless” interstellar objects found at the edge of the solar system and how bacteria generate electricity
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