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mission would combine a commercial space capsule and inflatable module into a single spacecraft that will carry a man and a woman, possibly a married couple, to Mars and back. 

A number of companies and nonprofit organizations are developing plans to visit Mars, the moon and asteroids, for a variety of purposes

also more receptive to social advances from their peers in the presence of the animals than they were when playing with toys

also increased instances of smiling and laughing, and reduced frowning, whining and crying behaviors in children with ASD more than having toys did.

Previous studies have shown that people are more likely to receive overtures of friendship from strangers when walking a dog than when walking alone

similar effects have been observed for people holding smaller animals like rabbits or turtles

authors suggest that this 'social lubricant' effect of animals on human social interactions can be particularly important for individuals with socio-emotional disabilities

the ability of an animal to help children with ASD connect to adults may help foster interactions with therapists, teachers or other adult figures

animal-assisted interventions may have applications in the classroom as well,

For children with ASD, the school classroom can be a stressful and overwhelming environment

If an animal can reduce this stress or artificially change children's perception

then a child with ASD may feel more at ease and open to social approach behaviors

Using the trajectories shown in videos posted on YouTube, the researchers were able to calculate the trajectory of the meteorite as it fell to Earth and use it to reconstruct the orbit in space of the meteoroid before its violent encounter with our planet.

The results are preliminary

and they are already working on getting more precise results

But through their calculations, Zuluaga and Ferrin determined the rock originated from the Apollo class of asteroids

due to variations in time and date stamps on several of the videos

some which differed by several minutes

they decided to choose two videos from different locations that seemed to be the most reliable

used this data and Google Earth to reconstruct the path of the rock as it entered the atmosphere and showed that it matched an image of the trajectory taken by the geostationary Meteosat-9 weather satellite.

From triangulation, they were able to determine height, speed and position of the meteorite as it fell to Earth

McKay joined NASA in June of 1965

participating extensively in astronaut training leading up to 1969's historic Apollo 11 mission

McKay was lead author of a 1996 paper in the journal Science that suggested ALH84001 may contain evidence of past life on Mars.

The claim still spurs controversy, but it also sparked a shift in perspectives that is alive and well within NASA today

McKay developed innovative new technology for both life detection and the use of lunar regolith as feedstock, radiation protection, fuel, nutrient source for microbial bioreactors and long-term lunar habitation.

data so far indicate the drilled rock is either siltstone or mudstone with a basaltic bulk composition

The CheMin and SAM testing will be revealing

The high powered drill was the last of Curiosity 10 instruments still to be checked out and put into full operation and completes the robots commissioning phase

So far she has snapped over 45,000 images, traveled nearly 0.5 miles, conducted 25 analysis with the APXS spectrometer and fired over 12,000 laser shots with the ChemCam instrument

the astronauts will replace all that cargo load with numerous critical experiment samples they have stored during ongoing research activities, as well as no longer needed equipment and trash totaling about 2300 pounds, for the return trip to Earth and a Pacific Ocean splashdown set for March 25

paper Tito plans to present at the IEEE Aerospace Conference in March, which discusses

a crewed free-return Mars mission that would fly by Mars

no going into orbit or landing

Such a 501-day mission would launch in January 2018, “using a modified SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket,”

existing environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) technologies would allow such a spacecraft to support two people for the mission,

Crew comfort is limited to survival needs only.

sponge baths are acceptable, with no need for showers

the paper outlines how NASA would also have a role in this mission in terms of supporting key life support and thermal protection systems, even though this is a private-sector effort

No estimates of what such a mission would cost are included in the paper, but it does say it would be financed privately

The paper adds that if they miss this favorable 2018 opportunity, the next chance to take advantage of this lower energy trajectory would be in 2031.

Of the nine patients observed in the study, three patients were able to read letters spontaneously

During observation in and outside the laboratory patients also reported the ability to recognize faces, distinguish objects such as telephones and read signs on doors

Results from the first trial

concluding that the implantation of Retina Implant's microchip was successful in restoring useful vision in patients previously blind due to retinitis pigmentosa

second clinical trial with a wireless device that allows patients to use the implant outdoors and at home

has since expanded into the multicentre phase

Not even Super Glue will stick in a fish aquarium because a layer of water forms that keeps the two surfaces from bonding

mussels somehow elbow the water aside and bind themselves to rocks anyway

Over 30 years, Waite’s team has uncovered the basis of this remarkable ability

parts of the proteins that face out toward the hard surface. It enables liquid holdfast proteins to solidify rapidly and stick flawlessly to wet and salty surfaces

If I were to list the desired properties for medical adhesives, they would look exactly the same

colleagues have created a synthetic, thread-like polymer called polyethylene glycol that mimics the mussel protein

To see if the compound worked in live animals, a veterinary surgeon collaborating with Messersmith's team made a 2.5-centimeter incision in the carotid artery of a dog and placed four stitches along the length of that incision to hold it in place

With the stitches alone, the incision bled when the surgeon pressed it.

just 20 seconds after the mussel-based glue was applied, the artery was sealed and didn’t bleed.

recently

team began testing its glue on fetal membranes

For the past few decades, surgeons have begun surgically repairing birth defects like spina bifida while a fetus is still in utero

the process is risky because the surgery risks rupturing the fetal membrane prematurely, sending the mother into premature labor.

There are no good adhesives on the market for surgeons to repair such fetal-membrane tears

in recent, unpublished experiments in rabbits, Messersmith and colleagues found that after a veterinary surgeon poked a 3.5-mm hole in the animal’s fetal membrane, the new, mussel-inspired glue readily sealed up the puncture

without the glue, only 40% of the fetal rabbits survived the surgery, but with the glue, 60% did.

In another recent result

researchers chemically altered the polyethylene glycol polymer so that the glue would shrink when it hardened

This could counter tissue swelling during surgery,

fetal surgeons working with Messersmith are testing whether the glue can help reseal the tissue surrounding the spinal cord to repair a serious birth defect known spinal bifida in rabbits

Instead of ice, later researchers chalked up the observations to piles of rubble.

NASA's Lunar Prospector found possible water in 1998 at both of the moon's poles, but the instrument was only able to detect the presence of hydrogen, not other elements

Then in 2008, new lab work on Apollo lunar samples found hydrogen in lunar volcanic glasses

in September 2009, however, three spacecraft orbiting the moon found "unambiguous evidence" of water on the lunar surface

in November 2009, however, scientists for the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission announced the spacecraft had found large deposits of ice at the moon's south pole

Scientists then discovered a trove of ice in the south pole's Shackleton Crater in 2012