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Categories: Biology: Molecular, Space: The Solar System

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Scientists gain vital insights into Mars' history and potential for supporting life.

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A new radar technique developed by a graduate student allows imaging of the upper few feet of ice sheets on Earth and icy worlds. The technique uses instruments on airplanes or satellites to survey large regions quickly. The upper few feet of ice sheets are important for measuring melt on Earth or looking for habitable environments on icy worlds. Previous airborne or satellite techniques could not image this narrow region in detail.

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Mars rovers have teams of human experts on Earth telling them what to do. But robots on lander missions to moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter are too far away to receive timely commands from Earth. Researchers developed a novel learning-based method so robots on extraterrestrial bodies can make decisions on their own about where and how to scoop up terrain samples.

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Researchers have tested the software of three satellites. And they found many standard security mechanisms missing.

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A new technique allows scientists to see how intensely rivers used to flow on Mars, and how they currently flow on Titan. The method uses satellite observations to estimate the rate at which rivers move fluid and sediment downstream.

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Astrophysicists have revealed how the slow and steady lengthening of Earth's day caused by the tidal pull of the moon was halted for over a billion years. They show that from approximately two billion years ago until 600 million years ago, an atmospheric tide driven by the sun countered the effect of the moon, keeping Earth's rotational rate steady and the length of day at a constant 19.5 hours. Without this billion-year pause in the slowing of our planet's rotation, our current 24-hour day would stretch to over 60 hours. The paper offers a new perspective on how global warming will affect the length of our day and validates global circulation models as a climate modelling tool.

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A new study shows that the so-called planetesimals that accreted together to form Earth must have been composed of dry, rocky materials.

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A large formation of granite discovered below the lunar surface likely was formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a volcano or volcanoes that erupted early in the Moon's history -- as long as 3.5 billion years ago.

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Saturn's iconic rings seem to glow eerily in this incredible infrared picture, which also unveils unexpected features in Saturn's atmosphere. This image serves as context for an observing program that will test the telescope's capacity to detect faint moons around the planet and its bright rings. Any newly discovered moons could help scientists put together a more complete picture of the current system of Saturn, as well as its past.

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The universe is expanding; we've had evidence of that for about a century. But just how quickly celestial objects are receding from each other is still up for debate.

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A study offers new insights into how water from melting ice could have played a recent role in the formation of ravine-like channels that cut down the sides of impact craters on Mars.

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The star would have inflated up to 1.5 times the planet's orbital distance -- engulfing the planet in the process -- before shrinking to its current size at only one-tenth of that distance.

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Magnetotactic bacteria, which can align with the Earth's magnetic field, have been discovered in a new location. Previously observed on land and in shallow water, analysis of a hydrothermal vent has proven that they can also survive deep under the ocean. The bacteria were able to exist in an environment that was not ideal for their typical needs. Magnetotactic bacteria are of interest not only for the role they play in Earth's ecosystem, but also in the search for extraterrestrial life. Evidence of their existence can remain in rocks for billions of years. Their magnetic inclinations can also provide a record of how magnetic poles have shifted over time. This new discovery brings hope to researchers that the magnetic bacteria might be found in yet more unexpected locations, on Earth and perhaps even on Mars or beyond.

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A milliliter of blood contains about 15 individual drops. For a person with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), each drop of blood could contain anywhere from fewer than 20 copies of the virus to more than 500,000 copies. Called the viral load, this is what is measured to allow clinicians to understand how patients are responding to anti-viral medications and monitor potential progression. The time-consuming viral load testing needs to be repeated several times as a patient undergoes treatment. Now, a research team has developed a time and cost-efficient digital assay that can directly measure the presence of HIV in single drop of blood.

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Just as space holds infinite mysteries, when we zoom in at the level of biomolecules (one trillion times smaller than a meter), there is still so much to learn. Scientists are studying the conformational landscapes of biomolecules and how they modulate cell function. When biomolecules receive certain inputs, it can cause the atoms to rearrange and the biomolecule to change shape. This change in shape affects their function in cells, so understanding conformational dynamics is critical for drug development.

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Researchers have deciphered a biochemical mechanism that ensures that newly formed proteins are processed correctly when they leave the cell's own protein factories. This solves a decade-old puzzle in protein sorting.

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An obscure aquatic plant has helped to explain how plants avoid cracking up under the stresses and strains of growth.

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Isotope ratios found in meteorites suggest that a supernova exploded nearby while the Sun and Solar System were still forming. But the blast wave from a supernova that close could have potentially destroyed the nascent Solar System. New calculations shows that a filament of molecular gas, which is the birth cocoon of the Solar System, aided the capture of the isotopes found in the meteorites, while acting as a buffer protecting the young Solar System from the nearby supernova blast.

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The herpes simplex virus-1 can sometimes cause a dangerous brain infection. Combining an anti-inflammatory and an antiviral could help in these cases, report scientists.

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Engineers designed a technology to probe connections between the brain and the digestive tract. Using fibers embedded with a variety of sensors, as well as optogenetic stimulation, the researchers could control neural circuits connecting the gut and the brain, in mice.