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RevMedx recently asked the FDA to approve a pocket-size invention: a modified syringe that injects specially coated sponges into wounds

XStat, the device could boost survival

by plugging wounds faster and more efficiently than gauze. 

early efforts were inspired by Fix-a-Flat foam for repairing tires

They bought some ordinary sponges from a hardware store and cut them into 1-centimeter circles

Then, they injected the bits of sponge into an animal injury

After seeing early prototypes, the U.S. Army gave the team $5 million to develop a finished product

The final material would need to be sterile, biocompatible, and fast-expanding

The team settled on a sponge made from wood pulp and coated with chitosan, a blood-clotting, antimicrobial substance that comes from shrimp shells

To ensure that no sponges would be left inside the body accidentally, they added X-shaped markers that make each sponge visible on an x-ray image.

In just 15 seconds, they expand to fill the entire wound cavity, creating enough pressure to stop heavy bleeding

Getting the sponges into a wound,

proved to be tricky.

RevMedx needed a lightweight, compact way to get the sponges deep into an injury

30 millimeter-diameter, polycarbonate syringe that stores with the handle inside to save space

To use the applicator, a medic pulls out the handle, inserts the cylinder into the wound, and then pushes the plunger back down to inject the sponges as close to the artery as possible.

Three single-use XStat applicators would replace five bulky rolls of gauze in a medic’s kit

RevMedx also designed a smaller version of the applicator, with a diameter of 12 millimeters, for narrower injuries

Each XStat will likely cost about $100, Steinbaugh says, but the price may go down as RevMedx boosts manufacturing

When RevMedx submitted its application to the FDA, the U.S. Army attached a cover letter requesting expedited approval

In the future, RevMedx hopes to create biodegradable sponges that don’t have to be removed from the body

To cover large injuries, like those caused by land mines, the team is working on an expanding gauze made of the same material as XStat sponges

The water gets contaminated with dangerous chemicals in the process, requiring costly treatment before factories can dump it back into waterways—or wreaking havoc when factory owners dodge cleanup rules

Scientists are just starting to study this idea, however, it remains to be seen if it's commercially viable

In this experiment, the Indian team tested seven azo dyes, which are cheap and popular in the industry

The scientists found different dyes moved through silkworms' bodies differently. Some never made it into the worms' silk at all

Others colored the worms and their cocoons, but the color molecules settled mostly in the sticky protein the worms add to their cocoons

That sticky stuff gets washed away before the silk is turned into fabric

Only one dye, named "direct acid fast red," showed up in the final, washed silk threads. By the time it made it there, it was a pleasant, light pink.

Chinese national flag

After rolling all six wheels into the dirt, Yutu

drove to a location about nine meters north of the lander, according to CCTV commentators

then turned around so that the red Chinese flag emblazoned on the front side would be facing the lander’s high resolution color cameras for the eagerly awaited portraits of one another

Yutu is nearly the size of a golf cart. It measures about 1.5 m x 1 m on its sides and stands about 1.5 m (nearly 5 feet) tall

Yutu will depart the landing site

and begin its own lunar trek that’s expected to last at least 3 months. Remove this ad

equipped with eight science instruments including multiple cameras, spectrometers, an optical telescope, ground penetrating radar and other sensors to investigate the lunar surface and composition

The radar instrument installed at the bottom of the rover can penetrate 100 meters deep below the surface to study the Moon’s structure and composition in unprecedented detail, according to

senior advisor of China’s lunar probe project,

A UV camera will study the earth and its interaction with solar wind and a telescope will study celestial objects

will also investigate the moon’s natural resources for use by potential future Chinese astronauts

Most of the science instruments are working including at least three cameras and the ground penetrating radar

the extremely cold lunar night and temperature fluctuations of more than 300 degrees Celsius – a great engineering challenge.

The rover will hibernate during the two week long lunar night

A radioisotopic heater will provide heat to safeguard the rovers computer and electronics

interesting possibility of possible interactions of the coma of A1 Siding Spring and the tenuous atmosphere of Mars

researchers considered how active Comet A1 Siding Spring may be at the time of closest approach on October 19th, 2014

Discovered early last year by Robert McNaught from the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia

when it was found that it will pass extremely close to Mars later this year.

with a nominal passage of 138,000 kilometres from Mars. That’s about one third the distance from Earth to the Moon, and 17 times closer than the nearest recorded passage of a comet to the Earth, Comet D/1770 L1 Lexell in 1780.

And although the nucleus will safely pass Mars, the brush with its extended atmosphere might just be detectable by the fleet of spacecraft and rovers in service around Mars

NEOWISE and Hubble are already monitoring the comet for enhanced activity

The Opportunity rover is also still functioning, and Mars Odyssey and ESA’s Mars Express are still in orbit around the Red Planet and sending back data

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission and NASA’s MAVEN orbiter arrive just before the comet.

MAVEN was designed to study the upper atmosphere of Mars, and carries an ion-neutral mass spectrometer (NGIMS) which could yield information on the interaction of the coma with the Martian upper atmosphere and ionosphere.

Proposals for using Earth-based assets for further observations of the comet prior to the event in October are still pending

Amateur observers will be able to follow the approach telescopically

It’s also interesting to consider the potential for interactions of the coma with the surfaces of the moons of Mars as well, though the net amount of water vapor expected to be deposited will not be large

UPDATE: Check out this nifty interactive simulator which includes Comet A1 Siding Springs courtesy of the Solar System Scope

In 1959, Rhesus monkey Abel and squirrel monkey Baker, both female, were launched for a brief suborbital space flight in the nose cone of Jupiter Missile AM-18. They reached 300 miles altitude, and travelled 1500 miles at speeds over 10,000 mph. Heart rate and sounds, body temperature, blood pressure and radiation were monitored, plus muscle performance by electromyogram. Abel was trained to tap a switch when a red light flashed, to collect data on performance. After the mission, their successful recovery was the first for living beings. The monkeys survived the flight. Afterwards Able died during anesthesia as doctors were about to remove an electrode from under her skin. Baker died of kidney failure in 1984 at age 27.

MAVEN arrives about 48 hours ahead of MOM on September 21, 2014.

rendezvous on September 24, 2014

MOM probe

will study the atmosphere and sniff for signals of methane.

Working together, MOM and MAVEN will revolutionize our understanding of Mars atmosphere, dramatic climatic history and potential for habitability

MOM was designed and developed by the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) at a cost of $69 Million and marks India’s maiden foray into interplanetary flight

before reaching Mars, mission navigators must keep the craft

on course

from Earth to Mars through a series of in flight Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TMSs).

The second TCM was just successfully performed on June 11 by firing the spacecraft’s 22 Newton thrusters for a duration of 16 seconds

TCM-1 was conducted on December 11, 2013 by firing the 22 Newton Thrusters for 40.5 seconds

Two additional TCM firings are planned in August and September 2014.

the probe has flown about 70% of the way to Mars, traveling about 466 million kilometers out of a total of 680 million kilometers (400 million miles) overall, with about 95 days to go.

One way radio signals to Earth take approximately 340 seconds

ISRO reports the spacecraft and its five science instruments are healthy. It is being continuously monitored by the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) and NASA JPL’s Deep Space Network (DSN). Remove this ad

Although they were developed independently and have different suites of scientific instruments, the MAVEN and MOM science teams will “work together” to unlock the secrets of Mars atmosphere and climate history, MAVEN’s top scientist

MAVEN’s principal Investigator

“We have had some discussions with their science team, and there are some overlapping objectives,”

“At the point where we [MAVEN and MOM] are both in orbit collecting data we do plan to collaborate and work together with the data jointly,”