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Mars Base

New drug reverses loss of brain connections in Alzheimer's disease - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...rses-loss-brain-alzheimer.html

scibyte99 Alzheimer

shared by Mars Base on 18 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • The first experimental drug to boost brain synapses lost in Alzheimer's disease
  • combines two FDA-approved medicines to stop the destructive cascade of changes in the brain that destroys the connections between neurons, leading to memory loss and cognitive decline.
  • The decade-long study
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  • shows that NitroMemantine can restore synapses, representing the connections between nerve cells (neurons) that have been lost during the progression of Alzheimer's in the brain
  • These findings actually mean that you might be able to intercede not only early but also a bit later
  • Alzheimer's patient may be able to have synaptic connections restored even with plaques and tangles already in his or her brain.
  • study, conducted in animal models as well as brain cells derived from human stem cells,
  • team mapped the pathway that leads to synaptic damage in Alzheimer
  • found that amyloid beta peptides, which were once thought to injure synapses directly
  • actually induce the release of excessive amounts of the neurotransmitter glutamate from brain cells called astrocytes that are located adjacent to the nerve cells.
  • Normal levels of glutamate promote memory and learning, but excessive levels are harmful
  • Alzheimer's disease, excessive glutamate activates extrasynaptic receptors, designated eNMDA receptors
  • which get hyperactivated and in turn lead to synaptic loss
  • lab had previously discovered how a drug called memantine can be targeted to eNMDA receptors to slow the hyperactivity seen in Alzheimer's.
  • memantine's effectiveness has been limited.
  • memantine—a positively charged molecule—is repelled by a similar charge inside diseased neurons
  • memantine gets repelled from its intended eNMDA receptor target on the neuronal surface.
  • FDA approval of memantine in 2003
  • a fragment of the molecule nitroglycerin—a second FDA-approved drug commonly used to treat episodes of chest pain or angina in people with coronary heart disease—could bind to another site that the Lipton group discovered on NMDA receptors.
  • memantine rather selectively binds to eNMDA receptors, it also functions to target nitroglycerin to the receptor
  • by combining the two, Lipton's lab created a new, dual-function drug
  • researchers developed 37 derivatives of the combined drug before they found one that worked
  • By shutting down hyperactive eNMDA receptors on diseased neurons, NitroMemantine restores synapses between those neurons
  • NitroMemantine brings the number of synapses all the way back to normal within a few months of treatment in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. In fact, the new drug really starts to work within hours
Mars Base

Concentrator solar cell with world's highest conversion efficiency of 44.4% - 0 views

phys.org/...-world-highest-conversion.html

scibyte98 scibyte99 SolarPower

shared by Mars Base on 16 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Sharp Corporation has achieved the world's highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 44.4%, using a concentrator triple-junction compound solar cell
  • Measurement of the value—which sets a record for the world's highest concentrating conversion efficiency—was confirmed
  • Compound solar cells typically offer high conversion efficiency while utilizing photo-absorption layers made from compounds of multiple elements, such as indium and gallium
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  • triple-junction compound solar cells use a proprietary technology that enables the efficient conversion of sunlight into electricity by means of a stack of three photo-absorption layers
  • o achieve a concentrating conversion efficiency of 44.4%, Sharp worked to widen the effective concentrator cell surface and ensure uniformity of width at the interface of the connecting concentrator cell and electrodes.
  • Because of their high conversion efficiency, compound solar cells have thus far been used primarily on space satellites
Mars Base

Mars Science Laboratory: Billion-Pixel View of Mars Comes From Curiosity Rover - 1 views

mars.jpl.nasa.gov/...index.cfm

scibyte99 Curiosity

shared by Mars Base on 22 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • The first NASA-produced view from the surface of Mars larger than one billion pixels stitches together nearly 900 exposures taken by cameras onboard Curiosity and shows details of the landscape along the rover's route
  • using 850 frames from the telephoto camera of Curiosity's Mast Camera instrument, supplemented with 21 frames from the Mastcam's wider-angle camera and 25 black-and-white frames -- mostly of the rover itself -- from the Navigation Camera
  • The images were taken on several different Mars days between Oct. 5 and Nov. 16, 2012.
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  • The new mosaic from NASA shows illumination effects from variations in the time of day for pieces of the mosaic. It also shows variations in the clarity of the atmosphere due to variable dustiness during the month while the images were acquired
Mars Base

Crowd funds $1 million for asteroid miners' public space telescope | collectSPACE - 0 views

www.collectspace.com/...news-062013a.html

scibyte99 Arkyd

shared by Mars Base on 22 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Planetary Resources intends to mine near-Earth asteroids for resources such as water and precious metals
  • The company has designed its Arkyd-100 space telescope to search for potential target space rocks.
Mars Base

Amazing Shots! Shenzhou-10 Docked to Tiangong-1, Transiting the Sun - 1 views

www.universetoday.com/...-tiangong-1-transiting-the-sun

scibyte99 ChineseSpaceProgram

shared by Mars Base on 22 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • less than half a second to capture these incredible shots of the Shenzhou-10 module docked to Tiangong-1 Chinese station transiting across the Sun
  • The Tiangong-1 space station is just 10.4 meters (34.1 ft) in length, while the Shenzou 10 is 9.25 meters (30.35 ft) long
  • The transit duration was just 0.46 seconds
Mars Base

Crowdfunding Raises $1 Million for Asteroid Miners' Public Space Telescope: Scientific ... - 0 views

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

scibyte99 Arkyd

shared by Mars Base on 22 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Planetary Resources' online fundraising campaign soared past the seven-figure mark
  • (June 19
  • More than 11,000 people pledged at least $10 to the project
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  • It took 20 days to raise the $1 million.
Mars Base

Russia May Land Probe on Jupiter's Moon Ganymede with Europe's JUICE Mission | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/sia-europe-jupiter-probes.html

scibyte99

shared by Mars Base on 20 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • A Russian probe being designed to land on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, could launch toward the gas giant with a European spacecraft being developed to explore Jupiter's icy ocean-covered satellites, according to European space officials.
  • more Earthly concerns, such as government finances and the realities of technical developments, could thwart the proposal
  • JUICE is scheduled to launch in 2022 and arrive at Jupiter in 2030, entering orbit around the huge planet and making repeated flybys of three of its largest moons — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa
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  • In September 2032, the European spacecraft will arrive at Ganymede, becoming the first probe to enter orbit around the moon of another planet
  • Equipped with radar, a mapping camera and other instruments, JUICE will measure the thickness of global ice sheets covering Jupiter's moons and produce terrain and mineral maps of Ganymede
  • Russia's plan is to implement a Ganymede Lander
  • Russian mission planners initially proposed the lander to target Europa, another of Jupiter's moons with a frozen crust thinner than the ice cap covering Ganymede
  • After a NASA mission to orbit Europa never materialized, Russia retooled the project to focus on Ganymede, falling in line with the goals of Europe's Jupiter mission
  • advantages of landing on Ganymede as opposed to Europa
  • The radiation environment at Ganymede is less severe than at Europa, which lies closer to Jupiter
  • this is one of the reasons ESA picked Ganymede as the destination for JUICE
  • Russian scientists say mapping and reconnaissance of Ganymede are required before any attempted landing
  • If Russia becomes a full partner in Europe's JUICE mission, the development of the lander will need to be accelerated to launch in 2022, if managers want the Russian craft to ride to Jupiter as a piggyback payload.
Mars Base

China Readying 1st Moon Rover for Launch This Year | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/na-moon-rover-launch-2013.html

scibyte99

shared by Mars Base on 20 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • China's robotic Chang'e 3 mission, reportedly slated to blast off toward the end of 2013
  • Chang'e 3 will become China's first craft to attempt a soft landing and rover deployment on the surface of the moon
  • the nation's manned spaceflight program continues to move forward. Three "taikonauts" arrived at China's Tiangong 1 space module on June 13, beginning a 12-day stint aboard the orbiting laboratory
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  • The three crewmembers are slated to spend a total of 15 days in orbit, which would make their Shenzhou 10 mission the longest manned spaceflight in China's history.
  • According to a statement from the China National Space Administration, the nation carried out a 40-day ground test to mimic the lunar environment, in an attempt to make sure that Chang’e 3 can endure the extreme temperatures on the moon
  • Chang'e 3 lunar probe consists of two main parts: a service module and a lunar landing vehicle
  • Dragon in Space, a website that monitors China's space program
  • the mission will be launched this December
  • The probe would land softly on the moon’s surface and deploy a six-wheeled rover to explore the areas surrounding the landing spot
  • Ready to watch the Chinese moon landing and rover action from above is NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO
  • Looking further into the future, China's step-by-step robotic moon effort also includes a return to Earth of lunar surface materials
  • head of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist of the lunar exploration program, said some lunar materials would be scooped up from the moon’s surface, while other material would be acquired from a depth of about 6.6 feet (2 meters).
Mars Base

Did a Piece of Mir Really Land in Massachusetts? - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...r-really-land-in-massachusetts

scibyte99

shared by Mars Base on 20 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • What at first glance was a simple “Man finds space rock” story morphed into an extraordinary claim
  • Phil Green of Amesbury, Massachusetts.
  • was searching the local riverbed for arrowheads when he came across the
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  • black pitted rock immediately struck him as something bizarre
  • didn’t register as metallic to his metal detector, but Mr. Green kept it in his backyard for about five years until it was noticed by a friend
  • Green told local reporters that the rock was sent off for analysis, only to be returned to him just a few weeks ago
  • The media quickly ran with the “Man finds a piece of Mir” story
  • The analysis
  • stated that the vitreous material “shows a composition similar to that used in ballast by the Soviet space program starting in the mid-1980s
  • There are
  • problems with
  • Mir reentered in 2001, six years before the 2007
  • Mir ended its career in the “so-called spacecraft cemetery of the southern Pacific Ocean
  • possibility of a reentry of a Progress resupply vehicle being a potential source, or perhaps an unrelated Russian space vehicle.
  • problem of the certification
  • Several articles state that the piece of debris coming from Mir was “confirmed by NASA.”
  • NASA Chief Scientist for Orbital Debris
  • that no such NASA validation exists
  • NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has not been presented with any claim regarding debris from the Mir space station
  • it is not possible for debris from the Mir reentry to have landed in the U.S.”
  • the find does look like something interesting. The pitting and the melted fusion crust are all reminiscent of reentry
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