NASA’s Cassini reveals surprises with Titan’s Lakes

This near-infrared, color view from Cassini shows the sun glinting off of Titan’s north polar seas.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. Arizona/Univ. Idaho

On its final flyby of Saturn’s largest moon in 2017, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft gathered radar data revealing that the small liquid lakes in Titan’s northern hemisphere are surprisingly deep, perched atop hills and filled with methane.

The new findings, published April 15 in Nature Astronomy, are the first confirmation of just how deep some of Titan’s lakes are (more than 300 feet, or 100 meters) and of their composition. They provide new information about the way liquid methane rains on, evaporates from and seeps into Titan – the only planetary body in our solar system other than Earth known to have stable liquid on its surface.

Scientis...

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Heart Patch could Limit Muscle Damage in Heart Attack Aftermath

Hearts with with the computer optimized patch (second column from the left) remodeled less that those with no patch at all (far left column) and hearts patched with suboptimal properties (right columns).
Credit: Brown/Fudan/Soochow Universities

Guided by computer simulations, an international team of researchers has developed an adhesive patch that can provide support for damaged heart tissue, potentially reducing the stretching of heart muscle that’s common after a heart attack.

The patch, made from a water-based hydrogel material, was developed using computer simulations of heart function in order to fine tune the material’s mechanical properties...

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Mercury has a Solid Inner Core: New Evidence

An illustration of Mercury’s interior based on new research that shows the planet has a solid inner core.
Credit: Antonio Genova

Scientists have long known that Earth and Mercury have metallic cores. Like Earth, Mercury’s outer core is composed of liquid metal, but there have only been hints that Mercury’s innermost core is solid. Now, in a new study, scientists report evidence that Mercury’s inner core is indeed solid and that it is very nearly the same size as Earth’s solid inner core.

Some scientists compare Mercury to a cannonball because its metal core fills nearly 85% of the volume of the planet. This large core – huge compared to the other rocky planets in our solar system – has long been one of the most intriguing mysteries about Mercury...

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Need more Energy Storage? Just hit ‘Print’

Drexel University and Trinity College researchers have developed a conductive ink that can be used to inkjet print energy storage devices.
Credit: Drexel University

Researchers produce conductive MXene ink to print micro-supercapacitors. Researchers from Drexel University and Trinity College in Ireland, have created ink for an inkjet printer from a highly conductive type of 2D material called MXene. Recent findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that the ink can be used to print flexible energy storage components, such as supercapacitors, in any size or shape.

Conductive inks have been around for nearly a decade and they represent a multi-hundred million-dollar market that is expected to grow rapidly into the next decade...

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