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Mars Base

Breakthrough cancer-killing treatment has no side-effects, study finds - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...ng-treatment-side-effects.html

scibyte89 scibyte90 Cancer

shared by Mars Base on 07 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Cancer cells grow faster than normal cells and in the process absorb more materials than normal cells
  • took advantage of that fact by getting cancer cells to take in and store a boron chemical
  • When those boron-infused cancer cells were exposed to neutrons, a subatomic particle, the boron atom shattered and selectively tore apart the cancer cells, sparing neighboring healthy cells
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  • The technique worked excellently in mice
  • ready to move on to trials in larger animals, then people
  • This innovative treatment produced none of the harmful side-effects of conventional chemo and radiation cancer therapies.
  • A particular form of boron will split when it captures a neutron and release lithium, helium and energy
  • the helium and lithium atoms penetrate the cancer cell and destroy it from the inside without harming the surrounding tissues.
Mars Base

Nuclear Fusion Could Power Rocket to Mars | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/uclear-fusion-rocket-mars.html

scibyte90 MarsMission

shared by Mars Base on 11 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Previous estimates have found that a roundtrip manned mission to Mars would require about 500 days of space travel
  • Nuclear fusion occurs when the nuclei of two or more atoms combine, resulting in a release of energy
  • The sun and other stars convert this energy into light, and the same process gives hydrogen bombs their destructive power
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  • large metal rings (likely made of lithium
Mars Base

Rocket powered by nuclear fusion could send humans to Mars - 0 views

phys.org/...red-nuclear-fusion-humans.html

scibyte90 MarsMission

shared by Mars Base on 11 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • researchers and scientists
  • are building components of a fusion-powered rocket aimed to clear many of the hurdles that block deep space travel, including long times in transit, exorbitant costs and health risks
  • funded through NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • Last month
  • presented their mission analysis for a trip to Mars, along with detailed computer modeling and initial experimental results
  • one of a handful of projects awarded a second round of funding last fall after already receiving phase-one money in a field of 15 projects chosen from more than 700 proposals
  • NASA estimates a round-trip human expedition to Mars would take more than four years using current technology
  • team have published papers calculating the potential for 30- and 90-day expeditions to Mars using a rocket powered by fusion, which would make the trip more practical and less costly
  • They have demonstrated successful lab tests of all portions of the process
  • Now, the key will be combining each isolated test into a final experiment that produces fusion using this technology
  • The research team has developed a type of plasma that is encased in its own magnetic field
  • Nuclear fusion occurs when this plasma is compressed to high pressure with a magnetic field.
  • The team has successfully tested this technique in the lab.
  • a small grain of sand of this material has the same energy content as 1 gallon of rocket fuel.
  • power a rocket, the team has devised a system in which a powerful magnetic field causes large metal rings to implode around this plasma, compressing it to a fusion state
  • The converging rings merge to form a shell that ignites the fusion, but only for a few microseconds
  • enough energy is released from the fusion reactions to quickly heat and ionize the shell
  • This super-heated, ionized metal is ejected out of the rocket nozzle at a high velocity. This process is repeated every minute or so, propelling the spacecraft
  • successfully demonstrated the metal-crushing process
  • The team had a sample of the collapsed, fist-sized aluminum ring resulting from one of those tests on hand for people to see and touch at the recent NASA symposium
  • Now, the team is working to bring it all together by using the technology to compress the plasma and create nuclear fusion
  • With the flip of a switch, the capacitors are simultaneously triggered to deliver 1 million amps of electricity for a fraction of a second to the magnet, which quickly compresses the metal ring.
  • The mechanical process and equipment used are reasonably straightforward
  • In actual space travel, scientists would use lithium metal as the crushing rings to power the rocket. Lithium is very reactive, and for lab-testing purposes, aluminum works just as well
  • Nuclear fusion may draw concern because of its application in nuclear bombs, but its use in this scenario is very different
  • The fusion energy for powering a rocket would be reduced by a factor of 1 billion from a hydrogen bomb, too little to create a significant explosion
  • Also,
  • concept uses a strong magnetic field to contain the fusion fuel and guide it safely away from the spacecraft and any passengers within
Mars Base

Study unravels central mystery of Alzheimer's disease - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...mystery-alzheimer-disease.html

scibyte90 Alzheimer

shared by Mars Base on 11 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Until recently, Polleux's laboratory has been focused not on Alzheimer's research but on the normal development and growth of neurons
  • In 2011
  • reported that AMPK overactivation by metformin, among other compounds, in animal models impaired the ability of neurons to grow output stalks, or axons
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  • Around the same time, separate research groups found clues that AMPK might also have a role in Alzheimer's disease
  • One group reported that AMPK can be activated in neurons by amyloid beta, which in turn can cause a modification of the protein tau in a process known as phosphorylation
  • a postdoctoral research associate
  • began by confirming that amyloid beta, in the small-aggregate ("oligomer") form that is toxic to synapses, does indeed strongly activate AMPK
  • amyloid beta oligomers stimulate certain neuronal receptors, which in turn causes an influx of calcium ions into the neurons
  • that this calcium influx triggers the activation of an enzyme called CAMKK2, which appears to be the main activator of AMPK in neurons
  • AMPK overactivation in neurons is the essential reason for amyloid beta's synapse-harming effect
  • neurons' dendritic spines—the rootlike, synapse-bearing input stalks that receive signals from other neurons
  • scientists showed that amyloid beta oligomers can't cause this dendritic spine loss unless AMPK overactivation occurs—and indeed AMPK overactivation on its own can cause the spine loss
  • the team used J20 mice, which are genetically engineered to overproduce mutant amyloid beta
  • when we blocked the activity of CAMKK2 or AMPK in these neurons, we completely prevented the spine loss
  • Recent studies have shown that amyloid beta's toxicity to dendritic spines depends largely on the presence of tau, but just how the two Alzheimer's proteins interact has been unclear
  • their colleagues are now following up with further experiments to determine what other toxic processes, such as excessive autophagy, are promoted by AMPK overactivation and might also contribute to the long-term aspects of Alzheimer's disease progression
  • also interested in the long-term effects of blocking AMPK overactivation in the J20 mouse model as well as in other mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, which normally develop cognitive deficits at later stages
  • the pharmaceuticals industry who are potentially interested in targeting either CAMKK2 or AMPK
  • show that brain damage in Alzheimer's disease is linked to the overactivation of an enzyme called AMPK
  • Researchers have known for years that people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease begin to lose synapses in certain memory-related brain areas
  • findings, reported in the April
  • Small aggregates of the protein amyloid beta can cause this
  • but how they do so has been a mystery
  • Tangles of tau with multiple phosphorylations ("hyperphosphorylated" tau) are known to accumulate in neurons in affected brain areas in Alzheimer
  • investigate further, to determine whether the reported interactions of AMPK with amyloid beta and tau can in fact cause the damage seen in the brains of Alzheimer's patients
  • In addition
  • findings suggest the need for further safety studies on an existing drug, metformin.
  • , a popular treatment for Type 2 Diabetes, causes AMPK activation.
Mars Base

Eyeglasses read to the blind (w/ Video) - 0 views

phys.org/...2013-04-eyeglasses-video.html

scibyte90 HandicapAids

shared by Mars Base on 13 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • The Eyetalk
  • initially conceived for a student competition in social entrepreneurship, has been hailed by venture investors as a potentially breakthrough product that could make a difference for disabled people worldwide
  • By using a pair of eyeglasses and lightweight components, Eyetalk will allow a blind user to access printed material while walking around a store or library, which now requires bulkier, more expensive equipment
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  • Eyetalk
  • is designed to be portable, affordable, and operate without requiring an Internet connection
  • Future versions of Eyetalk will target a global market and enable users to hear information aloud in one of many languages.
  • early prototype, known as the FreedomLens, was one of 16 semi-finalists chosen from 29 nations to present at the 2013 Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC), February 25-30 at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business in Seattle
  • The project began with a challenge issued by
  • faculty member Seema Pissaris, a successful entrepreneur who founded Games Trader
  • Last fall, Pissaris urged students in several of her classes to think about developing a social entrepreneurship project
Mars Base

New Calculations Effectively Rule Out Comet Impacting Mars in 2014 - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...t-comet-impacting-mars-in-2014

scibyte90 mars

shared by Mars Base on 13 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • the latest orbital plot places the comet’s closest approach to Mars slightly closer than previous estimates
  • new data now significantly reduces the probability the comet will impact the Red Planet, JPL said, from about 1 in 8,000 to about 1 in 120,000.
  • The closest approach is now estimated at about 68,000 miles (110,000 kilometers). The most previous estimates had it whizzing by at 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers).
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  • The comet was discovered in the beginning of 2013 by comet-hunter Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia
  • future observations of the comet are expected to refine the orbit further
  • The latest estimated time for close approach to Mars is about 11:51 a.m. PDT (18:51 UTC) on Oct. 19, 2014
  • When the discovery was initially made, astronomers
  • looked back over their observations to find “prerecovery” images of the comet dating back to Dec. 8, 2012.
  • These observations placed the orbital trajectory of comet C/2013 A1 right through Mars orbit on Oct. 19, 2014
Mars Base

Soviet Lander Spotted by Mars Orbiter - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...emains-spotted-by-mars-orbiter

scibyte90 MarsSovietLander MRO

shared by Mars Base on 12 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • On May 28, 1971, the Soviet Union launched the Mars 3 mission which
  • consisted of an orbiter and lander destined for the Red Planet. Just over six months later on December 2, 1971, Mars 3 arrived at Mars
  • The Mars 3 descent module separated from the orbiter and several hours later entered the Martian atmosphere, descending to the surface via a series of parachutes and retrorockets
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  • Once safely on the surface, the Mars 3 lander opened its four petal-shaped covers to release the 4.5-kg PROP-M rover contained inside… and after 20 seconds of transmission, fell silent
  • Due to unknown causes, the Mars 3 lander was never heard from or seen again
  • The set of images
  • shows what might be hardware from the 1971 Soviet Mars 3 lander, seen in a pair of images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
  • Russian citizen enthusiasts found four features in a five-year-old image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that resemble four pieces of hardware from the Mars 3 mission: the parachute, heat shield, terminal retrorocket and lander. A follow-up image by the orbiter from last month shows the same features
  • the largest Russian Internet community about Curiosity.
  • subscribers did the preliminary search for Mars 3 via crowdsourcing
  • modeled what Mars 3 hardware pieces should look like in a HiRISE image, and the group carefully searched the many small features in this large image, finding what appear to be viable candidates
  • Each candidate has a size and shape consistent with the expected hardware, and they are arranged on the surface as expected from the entry, descent and landing sequence
  • The predicted Mars 3 landing site was at latitude 45 degrees south, longitude 202 degrees east, in Ptolemaeus Crater
  • HiRISE acquired a large image at this location in November 2007, and promising candidates for the hardware from Mars 3 were found on Dec. 31, 2012
  • The candidate parachute is the most distinctive feature
  • an especially bright spot for this region, about 8.2 yards (7.5 meters) in diameter
  • The parachute would have a diameter of 12 yards (11 meters) if fully spread out over the surface
  • this set of features and their layout on the ground provide a remarkable match to what is expected from the Mars 3 landing, but alternative explanations for the features cannot be ruled out
Mars Base

Mars orbiter images may show 1971 Soviet lander - 0 views

phys.org/...iter-images-soviet-lander.html

scibyte90 MarsSovietLander MRO

shared by Mars Base on 12 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Russian citizen
  • found four features in a five-year-old image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that resemble four pieces of hardware from the Soviet Mars 3 mission: the parachute, heat shield, terminal retrorocket and lander
  • follow-up image by the orbiter from last month shows the same features
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • the first spacecraft to survive a Mars landing long enough to transmit anything
  • Further analysis of the data and future images to better understand the three-dimensional shapes may help to confirm this interpretation
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