An artist illustration of the InSight lander on Mars. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough check up since it formed 4.5 billion years ago. The mission will look for tectonic activity and meteorite impacts, study how much heat is still flowing through the planet, and track Mars’ wobble as it orbits the sun. While InSight is a Mars mission, it’s more than a Mars mission. InSight will help answer key questions about the formation of the rocky planets of the solar system.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The touchdown marks the eighth time NASA has successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars. Mars has just received its newest robotic resident...

In young muscle, high levels of Klotho maintain mitochondia, which aids regeneration after injury. Age-related declines of Klotho lead to mitochondrial damage and impaired healing.
CREDIT
Sahu et al. (2018), Nature Communications

One of the downsides to getting older is that skeletal muscle loses its ability to heal after injury. New research from the University of Pittsburgh implicates the so-called “longevity protein” Klotho, both as culprit and therapeutic target.

The paper, published this week in Nature Communications, showed that, in young animals, Klotho expression soars after a muscle injury, whereas in old animals, it remains flat...

A new MIT plane is propelled via ionic wind. Batteries in the fuselage (tan compartment in front of plane) supply voltage to electrodes (blue/white horizontal lines) strung along the length of the plane, generating a wind of ions that propels the plane forward.
Credit: Christine Y. He

The silent, lightweight aircraft doesn’t depend on fossil fuels or batteries. Engineers have built and flown the first-ever plane with no moving parts. Instead of propellers or turbines, the light aircraft is powered by an ‘ionic wind’ – a silent but mighty flow of ions that is produced aboard the plane, and that generates enough thrust to propel the plane over a sustained, steady flight.

Since the first airplane took flight over 100 years ago, virtually every aircraft in the sky has flown with the help of mov...

Support for the Safe Use of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Sunscreens: Lack of Skin Penetration or Cellular Toxicity after Repeated Application in Volunteers. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2018; DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2018.08.024

It’s safe to slap on the sunscreen this summer – in repeated doses – despite what you have read about the potential toxicity of sunscreens. A new study led by the University of Queensland (UQ) and University of South Australia (UniSA) provides the first direct evidence that zinc oxide nanoparticles used in sunscreen neither penetrate the skin nor cause cellular toxicity after repeated applications.

The research, published this week in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, refutes widespread claims among some public advocacy groups – and a growing belief among con...