Category Astronomy/Space

QUT researchers Dr Julia Bally and Professor Peter Waterhouse have discovered a plant with huge genome properties that can have the potential to be the ‘laboratory rat’ of the molecular plant world. This could open the door for such things as space-based food production Credit: Erika Fish

Professor Peter Waterhouse, a plant geneticist at QUT, discovered the gene in the ancient Australian native tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana, known as Pitjuri to Aboriginals.

Prof Waterhouse made the discovery while tracing the history of the Pitjuri plant, which for decades has been used by geneticists as a model plant upon which to test viruses and vaccines. “This plant is the ‘laboratory rat’ of the molecular plant world,” he said, “we think of it as a magical plant with amazing properties.

“We now ...

This display shows a neutrino event candidate in the MicroBooNE detector. Credit: MicroBooNE

It detected its first neutrinos on Oct. 15, marking the beginning of detailed studies of these fundamental particles whose properties could be linked to dark matter, matter’s dominance over antimatter in the universe and the evolution of the entire cosmos since the Big Bang.

The MicroBooNE detector – a so-called time projection chamber filled with 170 tons of liquid argon – spotted neutrinos that were generated when proton beams from Fermilab’s accelerator complex slammed into a target a few hundred yards away from the detector.

Researchers from Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are developing tools for the acquisition of the experiment’s data and for the reconstruction of...

First-ever examination of medications used by astronauts on long-duration missions to the International Space Station: the meds they used, the reasons they used them and how well they said the medicines worked were analyzed. Much of the medicine taken relates to the unusual and confined microgravity environment in which they work or to the actual work that they are doing to complete their missions. Use of sleep aids and incidence of skin rashes were higher than expected. These findings not only help the world’s space agencies anticipate needs for future ISS inhabitants, but also the day-to-day medical needs of those who may take the trip to Mars.

Wotring examined medical records of ISS crewmembers who gave permission to use their data in this study...

This Microscopic Image Mosaic is the “smoking gun” for this story (the aqueous alteration part, not the acid fog). It shows a pre-existing crack which is being “healed over”, which is evidence for the gel weathering alteration process. This image is from a Watchtower Class outcrop named Hillary on the Husband Hill summit. The full mosaic shown on the left is ~5 cm across. Credit: Image courtesy NASA/JPL and S. Cole.

While Mars doesn’t have much in the way of Earth-like weather, it does evidently share one kind of weird meteorology: acid fog.
Planetary scientist Shoshanna Cole has pieced together a compelling story about how acidic vapors may have eaten at the rocks in a 100-acre area on  ...